Hall of Merit: 1929 Results - Wallace, Thompson finally elected

Two long waits have finally ended, as Bobby Wallace and Sam Thompson were elected to the Hall of Merit.

Wallace was elected in his 10th try. For Thompson the wait was the longest in the history of the Hall of Merit. Big Sam came on the ballot in 1902, and was elected in his 28th year of eligibility. Thompson died in 1922, and will be inducted posthumously. Four players that Thomspon beat in 1902 have since been inducted (Pud Galvin-1910, Harry Stovey-1916, Charlie Bennett-1921 and Cal McVey-1914).

Thompson’s election was a fairly major upset. He was outpointed 601-526 by Sheckard in 1928. Thompson found his way onto two more ballots this year, while Sheckard fell off of one. Wheras both were named first or second on 7 ballots in 1928, Thompson managed 15 such votes this year, to Sheckard’s nine and beat him 629-616.

Sheckard remains the favorite for 1930, with Bob Caruthers and Dickey Pearce close behind.

RK   LY  Player             PTS  Bal     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15
 1    3  Bobby Wallace      703   40     8  6 11  2     3     3  1     1     2  1  2
 2    5  Sam Thompson       629   38     7  8  2  1  2  2     4  1  3  1  2  2  3
 3    4  Jimmy Sheckard     616   35     5  4  4  9  7        2  1     2  1
 4    6  Bob Caruthers      582   37     5  5  2  4  5     2  2  2  1  3  1  1  3  1
 5    7  Dickey Pearce      551   36     7  3  4  2  2  3     1     3  1  3  1  4  2
 6    8  Lip Pike           488   31     4  4  2  2  1  1  5  2  2  2  4  1  1
 7    9  Jake Beckley       448   31        4  2  5  1  6  4     1  1  2           5
 8   10  George Van Haltren 446   34        2  2  3  3  3  2  1  6  4  1  2  2  1  2
 9   12  Clark Griffith     381   33     1     1  1  2  2  5  4  1  1  3  2  2  3  5
10   15  Rube Foster        367   25     3  1  2     2  1  4  4  2     4  1  1
11   11  Jimmy Ryan         361   28           3  2  3  3  2  2  3  3  2  1  2     2
12   13T Roger Bresnahan    332   25     1  2     1  2  2  3  2  4  2        4  1  1
13   16  Mickey Welch       315   20     3  3  1     5     1  1  1        1  1  2  1
14   19  Cupid Childs       296   26        1     1  1  3  1  3  1  3  1  4  3  3  1
15   17  Hughie Jennings    295   22     1  1  1  2     2  2  3  2  3  2  1     1  1
16   13T Rube Waddell       293   22           2  4  2  3  2  2  2           2     3
17   18  Hugh Duffy         259   24           1  2  2     3  1        2  3  5  3  2
18   21  Pete Browning      246   18     1  1  1  3  2  1  1  1     1     3        3
19   22  Larry Doyle        218   18     1  2  1           1     1  2  3  1  2  3  1
20   20  Bill Monroe        216   19        1  1        1  1  1  3  1  1  6  1  2
21   23  Tommy Leach        205   20                 1  2  1     2  3  3  1  2  3  2
22   25  Charley Jones      186   15           1  1  1  1  2  1  3  2        1  1  1
23  n/e  Spotswood Poles    161   16           1  1              3  2  2  1     3  3
24   24  Ed Cicotte         147   12           1  1  1  2     2        1  1  1  1  1
25   26  Gavy Cravath       125   11                 2     1  2     2     1  2     1
26   30  Frank Chance       109    9.5            1     2  1           2  1  2     0.5
27   28  Ed Williamson       96    9                       1     1  3  2  1  1
28   27  Addie Joss          80    7                          3  1  2           1
29   29  Fielder Jones       68    7                       1     1  1     1  2     1
30   31  John McGraw         68    5     1              1  1              1        1
31   32  Ed Konetchy         53    4.5         1           1              2        0.5
32   33  Vic Willis          44    4                    1        1     1        1
33   39T Herman Long         41    5                                   2     1  1  1
34   34  Jim McCormick       38    4                                1     3
35   35  Tommy Bond          36    3                    1     1              1
36T  36  Lave Cross          34    3                    1        1              1
36T n/e  Bruce Petway        34    3                    1        1              1
38   39T Mike Tiernan        25    3                                1        1     1
39   37  Silver King         18    2                                1           1
40   38  Donnie Bush         18    1           1
41   42  Tony Mullane        17    2                                   1        1
42   41  Tom York            16    1                 1
43   43  Sol White           10    1                                   1
44T  44T Levi Meyerle         9    1                                      1
44T  44T Johnny Evers         9    1                                      1
46T  47T Harry Wright         8    1                                         1
46T  47T Jimmy Williams       8    1                                         1
48T  --  Ginger Beaumont      7    1                                            1
48T  47T Joe Tinker           7    1                                            1
48T  47T Ray Chapman          7    1                                            1
51T  --  Fred Dunlap          6    1                                               1
51T  --  Billy Nash           6    1                                               1
51T  44T Hippo Vaughn         6    1                                               1
Dropped Out: none.

Hall of Merit: 1930 Ballot Discussion

Another fairly light incoming class, with just 4 viable (all extremely borderline for serious consideration) candidates.

WS W3 Rookie Name-Pos (Died)
242 79.2 1912 Del Pratt-2b (1977)
258 64.6 1910 Larry Gardner-3b (1976)
263 56.4 1910 Jake Daubert-1b (1924)
174 49.2 1910 Amos Strunk-CF (1979)
178 44.8 1914 Jeff Pfeffer-P (1972)
149 35.5 1910 Shano Collins-RF (1955)
148 25.4 1914 Hy Myers-CF (1965)
113 25.3 1918 Charlie Hollocher-SS (1940)
125 16.5 1911 Ivy Olson-SS (1965)

HF% Career Name-pos (born) BJ – MVP - All-Star
36% 13-24 John Donaldson-P (1892) - 2.5 - 1*
00% 04-26 Candy Jim Taylor-3B (1884) #9 3b - 0 - 5*
00% 10-24 Doc Wiley-C (1892) - 1 - 3*
00% 09-24 Jess Barbour-LF (??) - 0 - 5*
00% 08-24 Tully McAdoo-1B (??) - 0 - 0*

Hall of Merit: Plug for Chris J . . .

I noticed this while checking the SABR Convention Schedule for Thursday July 15

3:00-3:30 Research Presentation
Run Support Index: Determining a Run Support for Pitchers since 1901 and Adjusting Their Won/Loss Records

Awesome Chris, pysched that you’ll be there, good luck!

Also, at 10 a.m. Sunday, there is a special session, called ‘How Was Base Ball Played, a Very Long Time Ago?’

There are also two vintage games Saturday from 4-9:30. One is the Cincinnati Red Stockings vs. the Brooklyn Atlantics; the other is the Columbus Miffins vs. the Brooklyn Atlantics.

I’m dying though - Also at 10 a.m. on Sunday is the Special Session on “The Art of Heckling”. As someone who has spent many a weekend afternoon in the rightfield bleachers at Yankee Stadium, and returned home from the Vet one night with messages on his machine from 2 people saying they heard me and my buddy while watching the game on TV, I’d really like to see that one . . .

Hall of Merit: 1929 Ballot

Here it is, early as I head out on vacation . . . please refrain from voting until Monday, unless you are also going to be computerless next week, thanks! I’ll be back Saturday evening, 7/3.

Hall of Merit: 1928 Results - Home Run and Iron Man elected

Frank “Home Run” Baker and Joe “Iron Man” McGinnity have been elected to the Hall of Merit. Baker was elected in his first year of eligibility, winning easily with 932 points. McGinnity edged Bobby Wallace for the 2nd spot, 685-647.

The order of the returning top 10 was unchanged from 1927.

One minor change - to save time for the tiebreakers I only used the named on more ballots criteria. With the new thread it’s tougher to search to track who was named on more ballots. If the tie were for an election spot, I would go through the full procedure.

Also, I counted Kelly’s ballot. I know it was late, but it was his first ballot, his computer crashed, and it didn’t change anything significant. It gives us a more accurate picture for next week, so I included it in the tally. Yeah, I’m a softy . . .

RK   LY  Player             PTS  Bal     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12  13  14 15
 1  n/e  Frank Baker        932   46    25  2  4  2  4  4  1     2        2           
 2    3  Joe McGinnity      685   44     3  7  4  6  4  2  4  1  2  2  2  1   1   2  3
 3    4  Bobby Wallace      647   40     6  3  7  3  8  1  2     2  2         1   2  3
 4    5  Jimmy Sheckard     601   36     1  7  4  5  5  6  1  1     4  1      1       
 5    6  Sam Thompson       526   36     1  6  5  4  1  1  2     2  3  2  3   3   1  2
 6    7  Bob Caruthers      488   34     5  2  2  1  5  1  1  1  2  3  3  1   4   1  2
 7    8  Dickey Pearce      433   30     1  5  3  2  1  3  3  1     2     2   3   2  2
 8    9  Lip Pike           415   29     1  3  2  3  3     3  4  3        3   3      1
 9   10  Jake Beckley       405   28     1  1  2  5  3  4  3  1  2  1  1  1       2  1
10   11  George Van Haltren 375.5 30        2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  1  3  3.5 2.5 3  1
11   12  Jimmy Ryan         318.5 25           2  4  1  1  3  2  3  1  2  2.5 1.5 2   
12   15  Clark Griffith     282   24        1  1        1  3  3  5  2  1  2   2   1  2
13T  13  Rube Waddell       267   22           1  1  1  4  2  2  3  2  1      1   2  2
13T  16  Roger Bresnahan    267   22           2  2  1        5  2  2  4  1   1   1  1
15   19  Rube Foster        231   18        2           2  1  4  1  4  1  1   1      1
16   20  Mickey Welch       231   16     1  2  2     1  2  1  2           1   2   2   
17   14  Hughie Jennings    226   18     1        3        1  1  3  4  2  1   1   1   
18   18  Hugh Duffy         218   21                 3  2     2  1  1  1  2   3   3  3
19   23  Cupid Childs       214   21        1           1     3  2  1  2  4       4  3
20   17  Bill Monroe        187   17           1     1     2  2  1     4  2   1   3   
21   21  Larry Doyle        168   14        1  2  1        1     1  1     3   1   2  1
22   22  Pete Browning      171   12        1  1     2  3     1  1  1  1          1   
23   24  Tommy Leach        149   15                    1  1  1  1  1  3  2   2   2  1
24   25  Eddie Cicotte      146   12        1     1     1  2     2  1         2      2
25   27  Charley Jones      140   12              1  1     2  1  1  2  2             2
26   26  Gavy Cravath       115   10                    3  1  1     1  1      2      1
27   29  Addie Joss          83    8                    1        2  1     3          1
28   28  Ed Williamson       78    9                       1              3   3   1  1
29   30  Fielder Jones       78    8                       1  1     1  1  1       3   
30   32  Frank Chance        71    7                          2     1  2      1      1
31   33  John McGraw         64    5     1                    1  1        1          1
32   31  Ed Konetchy         54    5                       1  2               1      1
33   34  Vic Willis          41    4                       1        1     1       1   
34   35  Jim McCormick       39    4                                1  2      1       
35   36  Tommy Bond          27    3                       1                      1  1
36   38  Lave Cross          24    3                                   1      1      1
37   40  Silver King         17    2                                   1          1   
38  n/e  Donnie Bush         17    1              1                                   
39T  37  Herman Long         16    2                                   1             1
39T  39  Mike Tiernan        16    2                                   1             1
41   42  Tom York            15    1                    1                             
42   43T Tony Mullane        10    1                                   1              
43   --  Sol White            8    1                                          1       
44T  41  Levi Meyerle         7    1                                              1   
44T  46T Johnny Evers         7    1                                              1   
44T  --  Hippo Vaughn         7    1                                              1   
47T  43T Ray Chapman          6    1                                                 1
47T  45  Harry Wright         6    1                                                 1
47T  46T Jimmy Williams       6    1                                                 1
47T  --  Joe Tinker           6    1                                                 1
Dropped Out: none.

Hall of Merit: Voting Theory

“In response to sunnyday2’s thoughtful comments on information and advocacy… These are issues that I’d like to hear more
about. How about a thread for “voting theory” or something similar?”

Here you go jhwinfrey . . .

Hall of Merit: 1929 Ballot Discussion

1929 (July 4)—elect 2
WS W3 Rookie Name-Pos (Died)
232 68.0 1909 Donie Bush-SS (1972)
164 50.4 1911 Tilly Walker-LF/CF (1959)
140 49.7 1912 George Cutshaw-2b (1973)
171 40.1 1912 Eddie Foster-3b (1937)
139 37.1 1916 Jim Bagby-P (1954)
144 34.2 1911 Fred Toney-P (1953)
124 32.7 1913 Reb Russell-P/RF (1973)
134 30.1 1911 Earl Hamilton-P (1968)
Negro Lg 1906 Bruce Petway-C (1941)
Negro Lg 1909 Spotswood Poles-CF (1962)

1929 (July 4)—elect 2
HF% Career Name-pos (born) BJ – MVP - All-Star
52% 09-23 Spotswood Poles-CF (1889) #4 cf - 3 - 3*
44% 06-25 Bruce Petway-C (1883) #5 c - 1 - 7*
00% 09-23 Zack Pettus-1B/C (1884) - 0 - 2*

Note, I will be on vacation starting Saturday a.m., returning the following Saturday a.m.. I have no idea if I will be able to access the internet during that time. So I’ll probably just post the ballot thread Saturday morning before I leave, just refrain from posting to it until Monday - unless you too won’t be around . . .

Hall of Merit: 1928 Ballot

Balloting for 1928 is now open. I’ll have my revised WARP numbers up this week (I’ve got the eligibles done, need to do the HoMers now), based on BRARP+FRAA+PRAR. These numbers overrate pitchers because the replacement level for their offense is underrated. I’ve adjusted for season length as well.

An early tease, the top 8 (I think? need to look again, numbers are not on this PC) eligibles are all pitchers. Several of them are old timers, to whom the season-adjustments maybe shouldn’t apply. Obviously there is something wrong with that, so I need to do the current HoMers for perspective.

Hopefully I get the current HoMers done tonight, but there are 50 of them (47 with stats) so it likely won’t be until tomorrow night (early Wednesday). I’ll be tweaking my ballot somewhat this week as there were a few surprises.

Another thing I noticed is the monumental difference between WARP and WS fielding evaluations on some players. So I’ll list each component (BRARP, FRAA, PRAR) for both WARP1 and WARP2 and I’ll give the player’s WS defensive letter grade also. Once I can get the data input, I’ll list his season length adjusted WS total too, but that’s not likely to be out until 1929.

Hall of Merit: Louis Santop

If anyone would like to pass along some numbers or something for this intro, it’d be great.

Hall of Merit: Jose Mendez

If anyone would like to pass along some numbers or something for this intro, it’d be great.