Hall of Merit: John Henry Lloyd

Was he the “black Honus Wagner” or was Wagner the “white Pop Lloyd?”

Hall of Merit: Cristóbal Torriente

Rube Foster’s “big gun” for the Chicago American Giants is another centerfielder to compare with Cobb,  Speaker, Roush and Carey.

Hall of Merit: Smokey Joe Williams

Who was better during the Deadball Era: Johnson, Alexander or Williams?

That’s how good Smokey Joe was that he doesn’t look foolish being in that question.

Hall of Merit: 1933 Ballot Discussion

1933 (August 29)—elect 2
WS W3 Rookie Name-Pos (Died)
560 197.9 1907 Walter Johnson-P (1946)
380 95.2 1909 Zack Wheat-LF (1972)
272 83.5 1913 Heinie Groh-3B (1968)
239 69.9 1912 Roger Peckinpaugh-SS (1977)
225 73.6 1916 Urban Shocker-P (1928)
223 65.5 1913 Bob Shawkey-P (1980)
231 50.9 1913 Jack Fournier-1B (1973)
191 62.7 1913 Ray Schalk-C (1970)
178 50.8 1915 Baby Doll Jacobson-CF (1977)
191 46.0 1915 Lee Meadows-P (1963)
179 40.9 1914 Jack Tobin-RF (1969)
146 42.0 1912 George Mogridge-P (1962)
151 34.4 1917 Dutch Ruether-P (1970)
156 36.9 1915 Jesse Barnes-P (1961)
137 36.1 1915 Sherry Smith-P (1949)
161 38.4 1918 Irish Meusel-LF (1963)
139 43.1 1914 Frank Snyder-C (1962)
141 36.5 1915 Billy Southworth-RF (1969)
107 26.6 1920 Aaron Ward-2B (1961)
100 33.2 1921 Johnny Bassler-C (1979)

HF% Career Name-pos (born) BJ – MVP - All-Star
04% 21-27 Pablo Mesa-OF (1902) - 0 - 0*
00% 16-27 Bartolo Portuondo-3B (??) - 0 - 3*

Not as good as the crop from 1934 (what other year is?), but this year’s candidates are a strong bunch in their own right. 

Players Passing Away in 1932

HoMers
Age Elected
74 1902 Dan Brouthers-1B

Candidates
Age Eligible
77 1895 John Morrill-1B
72 1903 Fred Pfeffer-2B
68 1898 Charlie Getzein-P
62 1911 Candy LaChance-1B
55 1914 Sammy Strang-3B/2B

Future Candidates
29 1937 Chino Smith-RF

Thanks to Dan G. for the necrology!

Hall of Merit: 1932 Ballot

I hope Joe doesn’t get mad at me for creating this ballot thread. :-0

Of the new candidates, Babe Adams, Wilbur Cooper, Hooks Dauss, Stuffy McInnis, Jose Mendez, Dobie Moore,  Louis Santop and Ross Youngs are the strong ones this year.

We’re back to electing two players again this year. Strong holdovers who will give the newbies some competition are Rube Foster, George Van Haltren, Clark Griffith, Lip Pike, Jake Beckley and Hughie Jennings.

Remember: only you can prevent forest fires.

Hall of Merit: Dobie Moore

Bill James’ #4 all-time Negro League SS. Post all things Dobie Moore here.

Hall of Merit: 1931 Election Results - Congrations John Mur . . . uh Dickey Pearce!

At long-last Dickey Pearce has been elected to the Hall of Merit.

In the first election (1898), Pearce, a star in the not very well organized/documented 1860s received one 15th place vote - finishing tied for 29th. He was behind 16 players that are still not HoMers in that inagural tally.

At the time of his death in 1908 (he was 72) his support had grown - but his election still appeared quite unlikely. He had finished 19th in the most recent election, named on just 12 of 42 ballots. Nine future HoMers were ahead of him; as were 9 others who still haven’t been elected, including: Hugh Duffy, Hughie Jennings, Cupid Childs, Mike Tiernan, Pete Browning, Lip Pike, Ed Williamson, Mike Griffin and Jim McCormick.

In 1925 his candidacy got a shot in the arm, he was named on 7 additional ballots (there were two new voters), up from 19 to 26. From there it’s been a steady rise to the top - he was named on 40 of 53 ballots this year.

Dan Greenia cast that lone vote for Pearce in 1898, but the most fervent support has come from John Murphy. If not for this early shred of light but intense support, Pearce likely would have slipped into obscurity. Now he’ll be the example people point to when they have a ‘pet’ candidate. More importantly he’s a great example of how this group will listen to the case for anyone, if someone is willing to make the case and it makes sense.

Rube Foster shot from #8 to #2 this week, the biggest such one-year jump (to near the top of the ballot) that I can remember. George Van Haltren finished 3rd, just two points behind Foster.

Clark Griffith moved past Lip Pike and Jake Beckley into 4th place. Pike moved past Beckley as well and into 5th.

Hughie Jennings, Cupid Childs, Roger Bresnahan and Jimmy Ryan rounded out the top 10.

RK   LY  Player             PTS  Bal   1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1    3  Dickey Pearce      661   40  12  5  3  2     2  3     3     1  4  2  2  1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2    8  Rube Foster        616   41   5  5  2  4  6  2  2  1  4     4     2  2  2
 3    4  George Van Haltren 614   41   5  6  4  2  2  2  3  1  4  3  4  1  1  1  2
 4    7  Clark Griffith     549   41   2  4  3  1  2  3  4  4  4  2  3  1  4  4
 5    6  Lip Pike           533   34   4  5  5  2  2  2  2  5  2  1        1  2  1
 6    5  Jake Beckley       511   33   3  3  8  3  3  2     2  2     2  2  1  1  1
 7   10  Hughie Jennings    500   33   3  2  3  3  5  3  3  4     3     3        1
 8   13  Cupid Childs       472   40      3  2  1  3     5  2  4  2  4  4  4  4  2
 9   11  Roger Bresnahan    446   35      1  2  2  3  6  3  4  2  3     2  3  2  2
10    9  Jimmy Ryan         446   32   3  2  2  4  2  1  2  3     5  2  1  1  2  2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11   15  Hugh Duffy         427   32   3  1  2  2  2  1  3  3     3  7     1  3  1
12   14  Rube Waddell       426   30      1  5  4  4  1  5  3  1  1        4     1
13   12  Mickey Welch       407   28   5  2  1  6     1     1     1  2  3  3  1  2
14   16  Pete Browning      361   25   1  4  1  6     2     1  4  2        2     2
15   18  Tommy Leach        324   26   1  1     3     1  1  3  4  3  4  3  1     1
16   17  Bill Monroe        287   24   1  1        3  1     1  3  5  2  3  3     1
17   21  Spotswood Poles    264   25      1        1  1  3  2  2  2  1  2  4  4  2
18   20  Larry Doyle        255   19   2  1  1        1  2  2  2  4     3        1
19  n/e  Harry Hooper       233   19      2  1  1  2  2     2  1           4  4
20   19  Charley Jones      220   15   1  1  1  2  1  3        1  2  3
21  n/e  Bobby Veach        217   19         1     3  1  1  1  3  2     2     3  2
22   23  Frank Chance       176   15      1  1     1  2  1  1     1  1  2  1  1  2
23   22  Ed Cicotte         148   11      1  2     1  2        1     2     1  1
24  n/e  George J. Burns    134   14                  1  2        2  2  1  1  2  3
25   24  Gavy Cravath       134   12         1  1     2  1        1     1  1  3  1
26   25  Ed Williamson      127   11               1  1     3  1  1  1  1  1  1
27   27  Addie Joss         126   11               1  2  1  1  1  1     1  1  1  1
28   26  John McGraw        124    9   1     1  1     2              2  1        1
29   28  Fielder Jones       88    7               1  1  1  1     1  1  1
30   30  Vic Willis          70    7                  2                 3     1  1
31   34  Ed Konetchy         65    6            1        1  1           1        2
32   31  Lave Cross          64    6               1              2  1  1     1
33   32  Jim McCormick       57    6                        1  1     1  1     1  1
34   36  Herman Long         46    5                           1     1  2        1
35   35  Tommy Bond          46    4            1        1                 1  1
36   33  Mike Tiernan        44    4               1           1     1           1
37   29  Del Pratt           42    3         1           1           1
38   38  Tony Mullane        38    6                                          2  4
39   37  Bruce Petway        38    4                     1              2        1
40   43  Mike Griffin        36    4            1                             1  2
41   39  Silver King         24    2               1                       1
41   41  Donie Bush          24    1   1
43   40  John Donaldson      20    2                     1                       1
44   45T Fred Dunlap         19    2                           1              1
45   42  Tom York            16    1               1
46   48  Joe Tinker           9    1                                    1
47T  45T Jake Daubert         8    1                                       1
47T  49T Billy Nash           8    1                                       1
47T  51T Roy Thomas           8    1                                       1
47T  51T Bobby Mathews        8    1                                       1
51   49T Levi Meyerle         7    1                                          1
52T  44  Harry Wright         6    1                                             1
52T  45T Jimmy Williams       6    1                                             1
52T  51T Jim Whitney          6    1                                             1
52T  --  Johnny Evers         6    1                                             1
Dropped Out: R. Chapman (51T).

Hall of Merit: 1932 Ballot Discussion

1932 (August 15)—elect 2
WS W3 Rookie Name-Pos (Died)
266 65.1 1913 Wilbur Cooper-P (1973)
215 70.4 1913 Hooks Dauss-P (1963)
243 60.1 1909 Babe Adams-P (1968)
227 51.1 1910 Stuffy McInnis-1B (1960)
206 59.6 1918 Ross Youngs-RF (1927)
142 38.5 1914 Everett Scott-SS (1960)
134 37.0 1912 Hank Severeid-C (1968)
157 32.0 1914 Jimmy Johnston-3B/RF (1967)
106 25.8 1914 Bill Wambsganss-2B (1985)
105 28.2 1916 Whitey Witt-CF/SS (1988)
120 27.2 1916 Carson Bigbee-LF (1964)
Negro Lg 1910 Louis Santop-C (1942)
Negro Lg 1908 Jose Mendez-P (1928)
Negro Lg 1920 Dobie Moore-SS ()

Thanks to DanG for the necrology:

Players Passing Away in 1931

HoMers
Age Elected
75 1905 Hardy Richardson-2B/LF
73 1903 Roger Connor-1B

Candidates
Age Eligible
79 1894 Jack Burdock-2B
79 1890 George Bradley-P
74 1896 Joe Hornung-LF
72 1900 Charlie Comiskey-1B/Mgr
66 1904 Jimmy McAleer-CF
62 1913 Jack McCarthy-LF
57 1915 Jack Chesbro-P

Hall of Merit: 1931 Ballot

Harry Hooper, Bobby Veach and George Burns join the ballot for 1931. Also joining is real life Hall of Frischer . . . I mean Hall of Famer Rube Marquard, who wasn’t too deserving and doesn’t figure to get much support here.

We’re only electing one this year. Will it be one of the ones mentioned above or a top holdover like Dickey Pearce, George Van Haltren, Jake Beckley or Lip Pike?

Hall of Merit: 1930 Results - Sheckard, Caruthers latest HoMers

Jimmy Sheckard and Bob Caruthers have been elected to the Hall of Merit. Like 1929, two players who had been waiting awhile were finally elected.

Sheckard, the top runner-up in 1929, was elected in his 12th time on the ballot.

Caruthers had been eligible since the 1899 election and was elected posthumously in his 32nd try (he died at the age of 47 in 1911). Parisian Bob finished 11th in 1899, three players that he outpointed that year have been inducted; Charlie Bennett (12th), Cal McVey (15th), and Pud Galvin (16th).

Dickey Pearce, who finished 64 points behind Caruthers is the top returning vote getter for 1931. George Van Haltren leapt into 4th place, edging Jake Beckley by two points and Lip Pike by 18. Clark Griffith, Rube Foster, Jimmy Ryan and Hughie Jennings rounded out the top 10.

RK   LY  Player             PTS  Bal   1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1    3  Jimmy Sheckard     754   40   9 10  6  4  2  2  1     1  2     1     1  1
 2    4  Bob Caruthers      693   41   9  5  6  3  1  3  1  1  4     2  1  3  2   
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3    5  Dickey Pearce      629   39   7  6  4  2  3  2  2  1     3     1  2  4  2
 4    8  George Van Haltren 534   37   1  3  5  5  1  3  4  2  2  2  2  3  2  2   
 5    7  Jake Beckley       532   34      7  4  5  4  2  1  2  2  1     1  3     2
 6    6  Lip Pike           516   32   6  3  3  2  3     2  2  5  1  1     4      
 7    9  Clark Griffith     481   38   2     1  3  2  3  3  4  3  3  6  3  3  1  1
 8   10  Rube Foster        479   31   4  2  1  5  4  1  3  1  4  2  1     1     2
 9   11  Jimmy Ryan         443   33   1  2  3  2  3  2  2  4  2  3  2  1  2  1  3
10   15  Hughie Jennings    429   31   1  2  3  1  1  4  6  3  2     3  1     2  2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11   12  Roger Bresnahan    399   32      1  1  2  1  5  1  7     4  2  4  1  2  1
12   13  Mickey Welch       384   27   5  1  1  2  3  2  1  1        2  1  1  5  2
13   14  Cupid Childs       380   33      1  1  2  1  4  2  1  2  5  4  1  1  4  4
14   16  Rube Waddell       350   26         5  1  4  2  2  2  2  3  1     1  2  1
15   17  Hugh Duffy         345   28   1  1  1  2  1  2     4  1  3  5  3  1     3
16   18  Pete Browning      344   24   1  2  2  3  4     2     1  4     1  3     1
17   20  Bill Monroe        272   23   1  1        3  1     1  2  2  5  3     2  2
18   21  Tommy Leach        240   23               2  1     4  2  2  1  3  4  2  2
19   22  Charley Jones      229   16      2     2     3  2     3  2     2         
20   19  Larry Doyle        227   17   2  1        1     2  2  1  1  2  4     1   
21   23  Spotswood Poles    219   22         1        1  1  3  2  1  1  3  2  3  4
22   24  Ed Cicotte         148   11      1  1  1  1  2              3     1     1
23   26  Frank Chance       143   12            1  1  1  1  2     1  1  3     1   
24   25  Gavy Cravath       129   12         1  1        2     1        1  4  1  1
25   27  Ed Williamson      123   11                  1     2  3  1  2     1  1   
26   30  John McGraw        120   10   1     1     1  1        1           1  3  1
27   28  Addie Joss          88    7                  1  3     1  1        1      
28   29  Fielder Jones       75    7               1           1  1  2  1     1   
29   n/e Del Pratt           61    6               1  1                 2        2                               
30   32  Vic Willis          55    5                  1  1           1  1     1
31   36T Lave Cross          54    5               1        1           1  2   
32   34  Jim McCormick       53    6                     1           1  1  1     2
33   38  Mike Tiernan        51    5                     1     1     1     1  1   
34   31  Ed Konetchy         48    4            1        1        1              1
35   35  Tommy Bond          43    4                     2              1        1
36   33  Herman Long         42    5                           1           2  2   
37   36T Bruce Petway        41    4                     1  1                 2
38   41  Tony Mullane        32    4                              1        1  1  1
39   39  Silver King         19    2                              1        1  
40   n/e John Donaldson      18    2                           1                 1
41   40  Donnie Bush         17    1            1
42   42  Tom York            16    1               1
43   --  Mike Griffin        13    2                                          1  1 
44   46T Harry Wright        12    2                                             2 
45T  46T Jimmy Williams       9    1                                    1
45T  51T Fred Dunlap          9    1                                    1         
45T  n/e Jake Daubert         9    1                                    1
48   48T Joe Tinker           8    1                                       1
49T  44T Levi Meyerle         7    1                                          1
49T  51T Billy Nash           7    1                                          1
51T  48T Ray Chapman          6    1                                             1
51T  --  Roy Thomas           6    1                                             1
51T  --  Bobby Mathews        6    1                                             1
51T  --  Jim Whitney          6    1                                             1
Dropped Out: S.White(43), J.Evers(44T), G.Beaumont(48T), H.Vaughn(51T)