Put these under a spoiler.
(1 point each)
AL West:
AL Central:
AL East:
AL Wild Card 1:
AL Wild Card 2:
NL West:
NL Central:
NL East:
NL Wild Card 1:
NL Wild Card 2:
(2 points each)
ALDS Winners:
ALCS Winner:
NLDS Winners:
NLCS Winners:
(5 points)
World Series Winner:
(2 points each)
AL MVP:
AL CY:
AL ROY:
AL MOY:
NL MVP:
NL CY:
NL ROY:
NL MOY:
1944 and 1945 were different years for MLB, with most of the stars joining the service. However, a lot of old stars with decrepit bodies were retiring at the same time.
See below for your write-up assignments. Random.org once again believes only Scot should write about the Senators. I gave some of you two assignments. If you feel you can't do them, let me know as soon as possible.
Blurb Date: March 7th
Final Ballot
Red Faber: 71%
Wally Schang: 41%
Joe Sewell: 47%
New Hitters
Dolph Camilli (yickit)
Harlond Clift (bhiggum)
Joe Cronin (Scot)
Tony Cuccinello (DPWY)
Jimmie Foxx (CanofCorn)
Babe Herman (daneekasghost)
Bob Johnson (Beau)
Chuck Klein (philosofer)
Al Simmons (New Britain Bo)
Lloyd Waner (nibbish)
Paul Waner (nibbish)
New Pitchers
Paul Derringer (bhiggum)
Willis Hudlin (DPWY)
Van Mungo (Beau)
Lon Warneke (yickit)
So yeah, that was a long break. Part of that is I got a promotion that makes me a lot busier. Part of that is hungry joe is no longer able to help with plaques. If anyone else wants to take that on, let me know. Meanwhile, you get horrendous, barely able to read plaques made in Microsoft Paint.
We had a record low 17 voters this time around. But we managed to get a few people into the Hall, including one player who was on his 6th ballot.
And I'm home, even!
“Among our closest friends and family members, we operate furtively without even trying to, for no reason other than that we are using a nearly omnipresent, highly convenient tool, the specific use of which is almost never apparent.”
—Susan Dominus, “Motherhood, Screened Off”
I am pretty sure I didn’t always love family gatherings, but I started loving them around the time I went off to college. There’s something wonderful about being in a crowded kitchen, everyone preparing a different side dish as we chatter about the minutia that make up our everyday lives.
I am not at all good about keeping in touch with family members other than my own parents, so holidays are one of those rare times when I have a chance to connect with extended family. Growing up, I was close to my sister (we’re just two years apart), but after she got married and started that all-consuming thing known as medical school, we mostly followed our separate paths.
On a vacation to a cabin up north this past summer—which involved my parents, my sister, her husband, and their three-year-old son, plus Mr. NaCl and our two kids—as well as during a Thanksgiving spent with Mr. NaCl’s family in Iowa, it seemed to me that the nature of our interactions was different than it had been in years past. At the end of a long day that involved some combination of cooking, dish washing, and keeping the exuberant children well occupied, the adults were tired. Both families include a good number of introverts, so after the kids were all in bed, evenings offered a chance to recharge.
I come from a family of readers, so it used to be that we would all gather in a common space and each curl up with a book (or perhaps some knitting, for my mom and me). Conversation would happen in fits and starts; someone would start laughing at something they read and then share it with the rest of us. But now, the evenings are spent with each person absorbed in his or her own electronic device. I couldn’t really put my finger on why that bothered me until I read the essay from which I quoted at the beginning of this piece. That’s it! Our devices obscure what we’re doing from each other even when we’re all in the same room.
Despite all this, there’s something to be said for the brief moment of respite provided by escaping into a screen. Someone might have emailed me in the last ten minutes! Or perhaps someone at this very website said something witty that I really need to see right now! But it’s so easy to slip into something more than a quick check of a website. The minutes pass by and suddenly a child is calling my name and I’m responding, “just one more minute.”
I’m not on Facebook, but every month or so I’ll use Mr. NaCl’s account to check what my sister has posted. What I love about her is that she does not document her life’s highlights. Instead she notes every sickness (her son is a puker), every flat tire, every vet appointment for her aging dog.
Our screens keep us apart, our screens bring us together. I’m not sure I have any answers here, but I feel certain that years from now, what I remember most about the time spent with my extended family will not be those times when we all sat around looking at our devices.
The next time I’m with extended family, there isn’t any reason that I couldn’t propose that the adults all play a game together one evening—the kind of game played on a board or with a deck of cards. The fact that the kids are young right now restricts what our options are, both in terms of their limited attention spans and in terms of their relatively early bedtimes. So I realize we won’t always be in circumstances that require us to be engaging in quiet activities at home starting at 8:00 in the evening.
I don’t think technology is the enemy—some of my closest friends are people I know “from the Internet.” And I don’t think that family interactions must be entirely devoid of tech devices. But I am trying to figure out how we can overcome the lure of our individual screens and really connect with one another on those occasions when we are all together. I’m more than a little curious to hear from others here about how technology has affected your family gatherings and what you make of this brave new world of screens.
Only ten new players on this ballot. For those who do writeups, look below for your assignments.
The stats page hasn't been updated yet. Nibbish will let everyone know when he gets to it.
The votes page hasn't been updated yet. Daneeksaghost will let everyone know when he gets to it.
Fun Fact: 1943 is the first year that zero players retired who had over 30 WAR.
Blurb Due Date: December 11
Final Ballot
Max Carey 37%
Stan Coveleski 68%
Urban Shocker 42%
Zack Wheat 63%
New Hitters
Earl Averill (daneekasghost)
Wally Berger (CanofCorn)
Charlie Gehringer (Beau)
Gabby Hartnett (philosofer)
Buddy Myer (Scot)
New Pitchers
Wes Ferrell (yickit)
Larry French (New Britain Bo)
Lefty Grove (nibbish)
Bump Hadley (bhiggum)
Charlie Root (DPWY)
When philosopher writes about someone, they get voted in unanimously. I love this plaque.
Two unanimous players on one ballot! Rogers wasn't as well-liked, but when you're the best second baseman ever, nobody cares.
Sam Rice hasn't gotten any Twins franchise love, but Goose sure didn't have to wait around. With 90% of the vote, he coasts in on his first ballot.
I love this picture. Great find hungryjoe. Mickey Cochrane garners 84% of the vote, and the Hall hates catchers just a little less.
Remaining On The Ballot (20 Players)
Frankie Frisch debuts as well as one can without getting elected (unless you're Billy Hamilton). Otherwise, not a whole lot of movement, with several players still stuck in the 60th percentile. Joe "Strikeouts Are Fascist" Sewell makes the biggest jump, gaining 25 percentage points. Firpo Marberry's support is dwindling fast.
Frankie Frisch: 74%
Stan Coveleski: 68% +1
Red Faber: 68% -4
Bill Terry: 68% +1
Zack Wheat: 63% +2
Joe Sewell: 58% +25
Sam Rice: 53% +3
Urban Shocker: 42% -8
Max Carey: 37% +4
Hack Wilson: 37% -2
Pie Traynor: 32%
Earl Combs: 26% -2
Wally Schang: 26% +4
Waite Hoyt: 21%
Firpo Marberry: 21% -12
Kiki Cuyler: 16%
Burleigh Grimes: 16% -17
Tony Lazzeri: 16%
Heinie Manush: 11%
George Uhle: 11% -6
Falling Off The Ballot (9 players)
Jim Bottomley was one of those guys I thought was amazing when I was a kid, almost certainly because he was in the Hall. I was baffled to see how pedestrian he seems when looking at his b-ref page. It seems most of you felt the same way.
Travis Jackson: 21% +10
Eppa Rixey: 21% -12
Jim Bottomley: 16%
Jimmy Dykes: 11%
Jesse Haines: 11%
Red Lucas: 5%
Chick Hafey: 0%
Rube Wallberg: 0%
Earl Whitehill: 0%
As I always say, when all else fails . . . make waffles. Actually, I never say that. But these are tasty enough to make a bad day tolerable and a good day better.
1 7/8 cups (8 oz.) all-purpose flour
2 cups (8 oz.) white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (4 oz.) packed light brown sugar
3 3/8 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
heaping 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 15-oz. can solid-pack pumpkin
9 tablespoons (4.5 oz) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
vegetable oil spray for waffle iron
maple syrup
Preheat oven to 250°F and preheat waffle iron.
In a medium bowl, combine flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
In a large bowl, whisk eggs until blended. Then whisk in milk, buttermilk, pumpkin, and butter until smooth. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula just until smooth. (Note: my batter had a few lumps, and this did not seem to be a problem.)
Spray a light coat of vegetable oil onto waffle iron (mine is nonstick, so I did't need much). Using a ladle, pour batter onto waffle iron. Cook according to manufacturer’s instructions. I can never manage to fill the waffle iron the right amount to get full-sized waffles without also ending up with batter spilling out the sides, but perhaps you’re more skilled than I am or own a better waffle iron.
When waffles are lightly browned, transfer them to a cooling rack positioned over a cookie sheet in the oven. This is an important step; it allows them to become crisp. You want to give them about 5 minutes in the oven, though longer is fine too if you want to make all the waffles first and then serve them.
Continue making the rest of the waffles. Serve with butter and maple syrup.
NOTES: Recipe source here. I basically multiplied the ingredients by 1.5 and ended up with 20 waffles. Check out that link if you want to end up with a less ridiculous quantity. I just freeze what we don’t eat. To reheat frozen waffles, defrost in the microwave and finish in the toaster.
A week late, but whatever. I've been a busy dude this month and viewing has been minimal. I did fiiiinally see Network, and the script was as good as I'd heard. It's amazing how prescient the film was.
Last ballot we had one person get elected. I have a feeling this time we might get more than one.
Your random blurb assignments are below.
Blurb Due Date: October 22nd
New Hitters
Jim Bottomley (New Britain Bo)
MIckey Cochrane (daneekasghost)
Kiki Cuyler (bhiggum)
Jimmy Dykes (Beau)
Frankie Frisch (nibbish)
Lou Gehrig (philosofer)
Goose Goslin (Scot)
Chick Hafey (CanofCorn)
Rogers Hornsby (Beau)
Tony Lazzeri (DPWY)
Heinie Manush (nibbish)
Pie Traynor (Pepper)
New Pitchers
Jesse Haines (DPWY)
Waite Hoyt (AMR)
Red Lucas (yickit)
Rube Wallberg (freealonzo)
Earl Whitehill (philosofer)
A few of you got more than one assignment. I purposely gave philosofer two because last time he got assigned a Yankee slugger he whined about it. The others I just randomly assigned. If you can't do two, just let us all know and we'll try to cover it.
Also, thanks Pepper for the assist.
