Hall of Merit: 1913 Results - Bid McPhee elected

Bid McPhee has been elected to the Hall of Merit by the narrowest margin in the 16-year history of the voting.

McPhee defeated Cal McVey 751-747. The previous closest balloting was in 1906 when Al Spalding defeated Ezra Sutton 758-749.5. Sutton was elected in 1908. McPhee and McVey were separated by 8 points in the 1912 balloting.

Harry Stovey broke out of what had been a neck-and-neck battle with Charlie Bennett since 1909, to move solidly into 3rd place. Hugh Duffy moved into the #5 spot, while Sam Thompson leaped over Frank Grant and Jimmy Ryan into 6th place.

Newcomer Jake Beckley finished 9th, one point ahead of Lip Pike who rounded out the top 10 by passing George Van Haltren in the balloting.

Other first-year eligibles to receive votes were Lave Cross, who finished a disappointing 20th and Kid Gleason who finished tied for 39th.

Rk   LY Player            Pts Bal    1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15
 1    3 Bid McPhee        751  40   16  5  6  4  1  1  1  1  1              2  2
 2    4 Cal McVey         747  40   13 11  2  4  1  1  2     1  2  2  1
 3    6 Harry Stovey      635  39    4  5  6  5  6  1  3  3  1  2     1  2
 4    5 Charlie Bennett   573  34    4  5  6  7  3     2  2  2     2  1
 5    7 Hugh Duffy        515  39       3  4     4  3  4  5  3  3  4  3     2  1
 6   10 Sam Thompson      488  34    2  2  1  4  3  6  2  4  2  2  1  2  3
 7    8 Frank Grant       394  30    1     2  2  4  3  3  1  2  5  2  1  1  2  1
 8    9 Jimmy Ryan        391  30       1  1  3  3  5  3  1  2  2  3  3  1  2
 9  n/e Jake Beckley      336  29          2     2  2  2  6  2  1  2  5     2  3
10   12 Lip Pike          335  22    1  2  1  4  2  5  1  2     1  2  1
11   11 George VanHaltren 329  27.5     1  1     3  5  2  1  2  2  2  2  2  1  3.5
12   13 Hughie Jennings   295  25.5  1  2  1  1        2  2  3  1  1  2  4  4  1.5
13   15 Dickey Pearce     260  20       1  2  1  2  1  2  1  5  1     1  1     2
14   17 Clark Griffith    220  21       1        1  2  1  1  1  4     4  2  3  1
15   14 Cupid Childs      218  20          1     1  1  1  2  2  3  3  1  1  1  3
16   18 Pete Browning     212  18             2     3  3  1  1  2  1  1     1  3
17   16 Mike Tiernan      200  20             1        2     3  2  1  3  5  2  1
18   19 Jim McCormick*    186  17             2  1  1  1     2  1  2  2  1  2  2
19   20 Bob Caruthers     186  14       3  2     1        1  1     3     2     1
20  n/e Lave Cross        177  18                1  1  1  1  2  2     1  4  2  3
21   22 Mike Griffin      131  13                      2  2  1     3     1  3  1
22   24 Charlie Jones     116  12                1        1     2  1  3  1  2  1
23   21 Mickey Welch      112  10          2     1        1           3     2  1
24   23 Joh McGraw         85   8             1              3           4
25   26 Tony Mullane       64   7                      1  1        1     1  1  2
26   25 Harry Wright       61   4          1     1     1  1
27   27 Ed Williamson      59   7                               1  1     3  2
28   30 Herman Long        48   5.5                       1     1        1  1  1.5
29   28 Deacon McGuire     43   5                               2     1        2
30   29 Jim Whitney        42   3          1  1                             1
31   31 Tip O'Neill        37   4.5                    1                    2  1.5
32   36 Fred Dunlap        21   2                   1                          1
33   34 Tommy Bond         17   2                               1              1
34   38 Tom York           14   2                                        1     1
35T  39 Bill Hutchison     11   1                               1
35T  -- Bobby Mathews      11   1                               1
37   37 Levi Meyerle       10   1                                  1
38   -- Noodles Hahn        8   1                                        1
39T  33 Billy Nash          7   1                                           1
39T n/e Kid Gleason         7   1                                           1
41   -- Kip Selbach         6   1                                              1
*won tiebreaker (ahead 15-10 on individual ballots)
Dropped Out: Duke Farrell (32), Jack Clements (35).

Hall of Merit: 1913 Ballot

Jake Beckley and Lave Cross are the top newcomers, joining top holdovers Bid McPhee and Cal McVey. Only one will get in, who will it be?

Hall of Merit: 1912 Results - Burkett and Start elected

The class of 1912 has been named—Jesse Burkett and Joe Start.

Burkett, 44, was the only player named on each of the 42 ballots. He received 22 first place votes and 36 of the 42 had him in the top 2 (meaning they endorsed his election this year). He cruised to election in his second year of eligibility, finishing with 957 points.

The most discussed candidate in the 15 years of Hall of Merit balloting, Start has finally made it in his 15th try. The 69 year-old Start has been on every ballot since the first election in 1898, when he finished 11th. He was the first runner-up from 1908-1910, and slipped to second runner-up in 1911 when Burkett came on the ballot. Start finished with 731 points (15 of the 42 voters had him in the top two, 16 more had him third or fourth).

Bid McPhee and Cal McVey have moved into 3rd and 4th place, separated by just 8 points (658-650). Like Start, McVey has been on the ballot since 1898 (when he finished 13th).

Charlie Bennett and Harry Stovey continue to see-saw, this year Bennett is in front, finishing 5th with 557 points, Stovey was 6th with 555.

Hugh Duffy was 7th, Frank Grant 8th, Jimmy Ryan finished 9th and Sam Thompson rounds out the top 10.

The top newcomer was Clark Griffith who finished 17th. Deacon McGuire also debuted in 1912, finishing 28th.

Dickey Pearce is creeping higher up the radar, he was named on 4 additional ballots this year, and he jumped ahead of Mike Tiernan and Pete Browning, into 15th place.

RK   LY Player             Pts Ballots  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15
 1    2 Jesse Burkett      957  42.0   22 14  5  1
 2    3 Joe Start          731  38.0    6  9 11  5  2  2  1        1  1
 3    4 Bid McPhee         658  39.0    6  3  9  5  2  4  3  1     1  2     1     2
 4    5 Cal McVey          650  38.0    4  4  7 11  3  1  1  2  1     1  1  1  1
 5    7 Charlie Bennett    557  35.0    3  3  3  3  8  3  2  1  4  2  1  1  1
 6    6 Harry Stovey       555  39.0       4     6  4  3  4  6  5  1  1  2     1  2
 7    8 Hugh Duffy         434  36.0          2  1  3  3  3  5  1  6  2  6  2  1  1
 8    9 Frank Grant        382  31.0       1        5  4  2  3  3  4  2  2  1  2  2
 9   10 Jimmy Ryan         378  33.0             2  1  4  7  1  4     3     3  7  1
10   11 Sam Thompson       375  30.0    1     2     2  3  6  2  1  3  2  4  1  1  2
11   12 George Van Haltren 287  27.5             1  1  1  3  2  3  2  3  1  3  5  2.5
12   13 Lip Pike           286  20.0       2     1  3  2  4  2  3  1     1     1
13   14 Hughie Jennings    263  24.5       1  1  1  2  1     1  1  2  2     6  4  2.5
14   15 Cupid Childs       209  20.0                1     1  1  3  4  3  2  3  2
15   18 Dickey Pearce      201  17.0             2     2  2  1  3  1  2  1  1     2
16   16 Mike Tiernan       195  20.0                   1     4     1  4  3  3  2  2
17  n/e Clark Griffith     178  18.0       1     1        1     2        2  6  4  1
18   17 Pete Browning      174  16.0                   1     5  3  1  2  1        3
19   19 Jim McCormick      164  16.0                   2  1  1     4  1  2  1  3  1
20   20 Bob Caruthers      147  11.0          2  1  1  1        3        3
21   22 Mickey Welch        91  10.0                1  1           1        2  3  2
22   21 Mike Griffin        81   8.0                   1     1        3  1  1     1
23   23 John McGraw         75   8.0                   1           1  2     2  1  1
24   28 Charley Jones       64   8.0                            1     1  1  1  1  3
25   26 Harry Wright        63   5.0                1        2  1        1
26   25 Tony Mullane        59   6.0                      1        2     1  1     1
27   24 Ed Williamson       58   7.0                1                 1     1     4
28  n/e Deacon McGuire      42   5.0                                  3           2
29   27 Jim Whitney         40   3.0                1  1                 1
30   29 Herman Long         32   4.0                               1     1        2
31   32 Tip O'Neill         19   2.0                         1                    1
32   30 Duke Farrell*       18   2.0                               1           1
33   33 Billy Nash          18   2.0                                     2
34   37 Tommy Bond+         17   2.0                               1              1
35   31 Jack Clements^      17   2.0                                     1  1
36   34 Fred Dunlap         17   1.0             1
37   35 Levi Meyerle        16   2.0                                     1     1
38   36 Tom York            11   1.0                               1
39  38T Bill Hutchison       7   1.0                                           1
*won tiebreaker (ahead on individual ballots 2-1)
+won tiebreaker (more 10th place votes)
^won tiebreaker (ahead on individual ballots 2-1)
Dropped Out: Chief Zimmer (38T), Perry Werden (40).

Hall of Merit: Ballot explanation issues

This is an attempt to move the discussion started with RMc, Rob C and John Murphy to it’s own area.

I have to agree with John and Rob, we’ve got to enforce the policies we’ve agreed to. I realize that RMc thoughtfully thinks through his ballot and he isn’t just throwing darts or anything. But, explaining the ballots is part of the process, in fact it’s been one of the foundations of this whole project from the outset.

I don’t have any problem with including his (or others like it) for this week, as he has established credibility, it’s really late in the process, etc..

However, if we don’t nip this in the bud now, there will be more people only submitting lists of names in the future, and we’re just asking for trouble. Remember the first Historical Abstract, where Bill James wrote about rules that are selectively enforced (like speed limits) and how that is just asking for trouble? That’s what I’m thinking of.

For example, I realize you might not have anything to add on the Start debate, but explaining what arguments convinced you to vote him 3rd (as opposed to 12th, 5th or 1st) is important. Please include more explanation next week. JeffM, Ed, Mark McKinniss, Dan B, Ken Fischer and MichaelD . . . this would apply to you guys also. It’s possible I missed one, but I think all of the other ballots have at least a minimal explanation for each player.

As for the policy regarding explaining players that are left off a ballot, if they were in the top 10 in the voting the year before . . . I think we need to enforce that also. We are asking everyone to explain who they are voting for - it’s not unreasonable to ask people why they are leaving off players most of the others are voting for.

Some people feel strongly about this issue, and they really are on the right side of the coin; so I will do a better job of enforcing both of these policies in the future.

Hall of Merit: 1913 Ballot Discussion

The 1912 results will be posted later today, but we can start the discussion for 1913 now . . .

Hall of Merit: 1912 Ballot

Will this finally be the year that one of the holdovers gets in?

Hall of Merit: 1911 Results - Kid Nichols elected

Kid Nichols, a star pitcher for the Boston Braves in the 1890s, has been elected to the Hall of Merit.

Nichols narrowly missed becoming the second player to be unanimously elected to the Hall of Merit. Dan Brouthers was named first or second on every ballot in 1902, a 2 electee year, and is the only such honoree so far. Nichols received 40 of 42 first place votes the highest percentage to date (Billy Hamilton had 40 of 43, and Brouthers 39 of 42).

Jesse Burkett debuted on the ballot with a strong 2nd place showing, being named 2nd or 3rd on 34 ballots.

Joe Start once again led the returning candidates, finishing 3rd overall. Bid McPhee and Cal McVey finished 4th and 5th. Harry Stovey and Charlie Bennett have been neck and neck, this week Stovey edged Bennett for 6th by 5 points.

Hugh Duffy, Frank Grant and Jimmy Ryan rounded out the top 10. Sam Thompson was 1 point behind Ryan, finishing 11th.

Major thanks to Patrick W and John Murphy for tallying the ballots and especially to Patrick for doing the formatting for the table you see below, which is one of the duties I dread every other week!

RK   LY Player             Pts Ballots  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15
 1  n/e Kid Nichols        997   42.0  40  1  1
 2  n/e Jesse Burkett      765   42.0     21 13  6  1     1
 3    2 Joe Start          634   38.0      7  8 13  2  2  3  1        1  1
 4    3 Bid McPhee         598   39.0   1  5  6  7  6  1  4  3     1  1        1  3
 5    4 Cal McVey          581   38.5      4  4  7 12  1  1  2  1  2     1  1  1  1.5
 6    6 Harry Stovey       510   38.0      1  3     5  7  2  6  6  4     1  1  1  1
 7    5 Charlie Bennett    505   36.0      3  3  3  4  7  3  2  2  2  3  1  1  1  1
 8    7 Hugh Duffy         400   36.0            3  2  3     4  3  4  3  4  7     3
 9   10 Frank Grant        367   32.0         1     1  4  3  4  5  1  4  1  4  3  1
10    9 Jimmy Ryan         342   31.0               1  2  6  5     5  1  1  4  5  1
11    8 Sam Thompson       341   29.0   1     1  1  1  3  3  1  5  3     1  3  4  2
12   11 George Van Haltren 280   30.0                  2  1  4  1  2  3  4  1  4  8
13   13 Lip Pike           246   20.0         1     1  2  4  3  1  2  3  1  1     1
14   12 Hughie Jennings    221   22.0         1  1  1  1  1  2        1  3  3  6  2
15   14 Cupid Childs       201   20.0                  2  1  1  2  3  2  2  3  1  3 
16   16 Mike Tiernan       147   16.0                           4  1  1  4  1  4  1
17   15 Pete Browning      146   13.5                     1     5  3  3           1.5 
18   18 Dickey Pearce      143   13.0               1     2  1     3  2  1  3
19   17 Jim McCormick      138   13.0                  1  1  2  1     4  2     1  1
20   19 Bob Caruthers      130   10.0            1  2  1  1     1  1  2  1
21   20 Mike Griffin        82    9.0                     1     1        4     2  1
22   23 Mickey Welch*       75    8.0               1     1              2     3  1 
23   22 John McGraw         75    8.0                     1        1  1  2  2     1
24   21 Ed Williamson       56    7.0                  1                 1  1     4 
25   24 Tony Mullane        51    5.0                  1              2     2 
26   28 Harry Wright        48    4.0                        1  2  1    
27   25 Jim Whitney         41    3.0               1     1        1
28   26 Charley Jones       40    5.0                                 2     1     2 
29   27 Herman Long         34    4.0                                 1  1  1  1   
30   29 Duke Farrell        26    3.0                              1        1  1
31   30 Jack Clements       25    3.0                                 1  1        1
32   31 Tip O'Neill         20    2.0                           1           1      
33   33 Billy Nash          17    2.0                                 1        1   
34   32 Fred Dunlap         15    1.0                  1                           
35   38 Levi Meyerle        14    2.0                                          2    
36   35 Tom York            12    1.0                           1                  
37   37 Tommy Bond          11    1.0                              1               
38T  34 Chief Zimmer         9    1.0                                    1         
38T  36 Bill Hutchison       9    1.0                                    1         
40   -- Perry Werden         6    1.0                                             1
*won tiebreaker, ahead on individual ballots 8-7.
Dropped Out: Silver King (39).

Hall of Merit: 1912 Ballot Discussion

Sorry about the delay, training class and MLB Playoffs have slowed me down this week . . . I’ll have the results up some time later today, but here’s the 1912 discussion thread.

Someone please post new eligibles, as I don’t have time to look them up right now. Thanks!

Hall of Merit: 1911 Ballot

Balloting is now open for 1911 . . . Kid Nichols and Jesse Burkett join the top returning candidates, Joe Start, Bid McPhee, Cal McVey, Charlie Bennett and Harry Stovey in one or the strongest fields yet. Only one will be elected.

Don’t forget to follow the ‘best practices’ as we’ve discussed . . .

Hall of Merit: Get together in Arlington, VA today

Hey guys, I posted this as a clutch hit as a suggestion from Game Chatter, it just crossed my mind that some of you may have missed that. Sorry for the short notice, but if you want to come out the Crystal City Sports Pub today, there’ll be a group of us watching the games.

Check the link above for any details, there’s a link in there (homepage in post #40) for the pub’s website if you need an address or directions. Ask for the “Mabry” table.