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.

Hall of Merit: 1910 Results - Galvin Elected

He’s finally made the long climb up the ballot and into the Hall of Merit . . . congratulations to Pud Galvin!

He finished 12th in 1898, and dropped to 16th in 1899 (behind 7 candidates that are still on the ballot). He made a big run from 1903 through 1905 (it wasn’t a sympathy rise, after his death in 1902, but that sure would make a good story!), he’s bounced around a little near the top of the ballot for the past few elections, and he’s now a HoMer.

Joe Start finished as the first runner-up for the 3rd consecutive year, and actually finished with more first place votes than Galvin (12-9), but was left off five ballots entirely (Galvin was left off one) and finished 37 points short.

Bid McPhee, Cal McVey, Charlie Bennett and Harry Stovey were next in line for 2nd straight year. The final four from the top 10 were closely bunched, and shuffled a little. Hugh Duffy and Sam Thompson jumped over Jimmy Ryan and Frank Grant, but the four were separated by just 18.5 points.

Duke Farrell was the only new eligible to be named on a ballot, he finished 29th.

RK   LY Player             Pts Ballots  1  2  3  4  5  6   7   8   9 10 11 12 13  14  15
 1    3 Pud Galvin         780   43.0   9 12 10  1  2  3   1   1      1        3
 2    2 Joe Start          743   39.0  12  9  4  4  5  2       1   1        1
 3    4 Bid McPhee         714   42.0   9  2 11  3  2  4   4   1      1  1     2   1   1
 4    5 Cal McVey          639.5 40.0   5  6  6  8  2  1   1   1   2  1     2  1   2.5 1.5
 5    6 Charlie Bennett    599   37.0   3  7  3  4  6  4   1   4   1     3     1
 6    7 Harry Stovey       598   41.0   3  2     8  4  4   5   5   3  1  1  1  1   1   2
 7   10 Hugh Duffy         446.5 35.0      2  2  2  3  1   2   7   3  2  4  4  1.5 1.5
 8   11 Sam Thompson       443	 38.0   1  1  2     3  3   2   5   3  1  2  5  1   4   5
 9    8 Jimmy Ryan         436   36.0            2  3  5.3 5.3 1.3 4  3  1  5  4   2
10    9 Frank Grant        428   34.0   1        2  5  1   6   5   1  3  2  2  2   3   1
11   12 George Van Haltren 357   34.5            1     3   6   1   1  2  3  5  3   8   1.5
12   13 Hughie Jennings    293   28.5   1  1  1     1  1           3     5  4  3   4   4.5
13   14 Lip Pike           282   24.0         1  2  2  3.3 2.3 0.3 1  4     1  1   2   4
14   15 Cupid Childs       254   24.0            2         1   2   5  1  4  3  2   2   2
15   18 Pete Browning      201.5 18.0               1      2   3   4  3     1  2   0.5 1.5
16   17 Mike Tiernan       183   18.0                  1       3   2  1  3  3  3   1   1
17   16 Jim McCormick      176   15.0            1  2  2   1          3  2  1  1   1   1
18   20 Dickey Pearce      156   13.0         2  1     1           2  3     2      1   1
19   19 Bob Caruthers      154   11.0      1  1  2     1       1   2  1  2
20   21 Mike Griffin       129.5 13.0                  1   1   1   1  3        2.5 1.5 2
21   23 Ed Williamson       90   11.0               1                    3         2   5
22   26 Mickey Welch*       86    9.0         1        1              1        2   2   2
23   22 John McGraw         86    9.0               1              1     3  1      1   2
24   25 Tony Mullane+       70    7.0            1                 1  1     2          2
25   24 Jim Whitney         70    5.0      1        1  1           1           1
26   27 Charley Jones       49    6.0                                 1  1     1   2   1
27   30 Herman Long         44    5.0                                    3     1       1
28   29 Harry Wright        39    3.0                  0.3 1.3 0.3    1
29  n/e Duke Farrell        38    4.0                              1  1        1   1
30   28 Jack Clements       31    3.0                              1  1        1
31   32 Tip O'Neill         27    3.0                          1               1       1
32   31 Fred Dunlap         25    2.0                      1          1
33   34 Billy Nash          20    2.0                                 1     1
34   33 Chief Zimmer        18    2.0                                    1     1
35   35 Tom York            14    1.0                      1
36T  36 Bill Hutchison      11    1.0                                 1
36T  37 Tommy Bond          11    1.0                                 1
38   39 Levi Meyerle         8    1.0                                          1
39   40 Silver King          6    1.0                                                  1
*won tiebreaker, ahead on individual ballots 9-8.
+won tiebreaker, ahead on individual ballots 6-5.
Dropped Out: Bud Fowler (38).

Hall of Merit: 1911 Ballot Discussion

I meant to get this up last night, and I flat out forgot. Sorry for the delay . . . Two big time newbies this year, Jesse Burkett and Kid Nichols.

Two new Negro Leaguers also, I have to research them still, Billy Holland and George Wilson.

Hall of Merit: 1910 Ballot

This is a very important election, as one of our backlogged candidates will finally get the keys to the exectutive washroom.

So let’s try to be very observant of our ‘best practices’ this week, including explaining votes that deviate wildly from the consensus, especially when you don’t vote for a returning top 10 guy. That would be: Joe Start, Pud Galvin, Bid McPhee, Cal McVey, Charlie Bennett, Harry Stovey, Jimmy Ryan, Frank Grant, Hugh Duffy and Sam Thompson. I know it sounds like a formality, but more than once I’ve been in the middle of explaining my ballot when I’ve realized I really don’t have a great justification for putting a guy in this particular spot, and I’ve adjusted. Kind of like the practice of forcing sports franchises to interview minority coaches. Sometimes, once you get the guy in there, you realize he’s a damn good candidate and you might not have otherwise even bothered to interview him.

Big vote this week, if you are in the middle of any relevant research, or haven’t reviewed your ballot in awhile, this is the week to take a second look. In 1906 a similar ballot was decided by 8.5 points. The following year, one of the two people that left the runner-up off moved him to #6 after reconsidering the evidence. Let’s avoid having that happen again, this time let’s all take an extra minute to review the arguments for an against the top candidates.

Hall of Merit: 1909 Election Results - Delahanty Elected in Landslide

It was the most lopsided election ever, as Phillies leftfielder Ed Delahanty received 40 of 43 first place votes and was elected to the Hall of Merit in first year of eligibility.

Joe Start held onto the position of 1st runner-up for the 2nd straight year, but Pud Galvin made progress, jumping over Bid McPhee for 3rd place, and cutting the gap between he and Start from 36 to 9 points.

Other notable newcomers were Jimmy Ryan (8th) and Frank Grant (9th).

Cal McVey finished 5th for the second year in a row. Charlie Bennett passed Harry Stovey into 6th place, and Hugh Duffy rounded out the top 10.

RK   LY Player             Pts  Ballots  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14   15
 1  n/e Ed Delahanty      1015   43.0   40  2     1
 2    2 Joe Start          672   40.0    2  9 11  5  4  3  1     1  2           1    1
 3    4 Pud Galvin         663   41.0       9  6 10  4  4  3  1        2     1  1
 4    3 Bid McPhee         608   38.0    1  9  1  9  5  4  2  3     1     1  1  1
 5    5 Cal McVey          571   38.0       5  8  5  7  2  1     1  3  1  1  1  1    2
 6    7 Charlie Bennett    527   36.0       3  4  3  4  8  5  2  1     3  2     1
 7    6 Harry Stovey       518   40.0       3  3     4  4  5  4  4  4  2     3  1    3
 8  n/e Jimmy Ryan         417   35.0             3  3  1  6  2  3  3  6  3  3  1    1
 9  n/e Frank Grant        410.5 34.5       1  2     4  3  2  3  3  6  1  1  2  3.5  3
10    8 Hugh Duffy         387   34.0          2     1  4  2  3  4  4  3  3  4  3    1
11    9 Sam Thompson       365   33.5       1  2        3  2  3  3  3  3  2  4  4    3.5
12  n/e George Van Haltren 316   32.5             2     1  2  2  2  2  1  5  7  5    3.5
13   10 Hughie Jennings    229   23.0       1  1  1           2  3  1  1  3  2  1    7
14   14 Lip Pike           208   18.0                   1  4  4  2  2  1  1  1       2
15   11 Cupid Childs       207   19.0                1  1     4  5  1  1  2     1    3
16   18 Jim McCormick      149   13.0          1     2     1  2        2  2     3
17   12 Mike Tiernan       145   15.0                      1     3  2  2     5  1    1
18   13 Pete Browning*     138   13.0                   1  1  1  2     3  3  1  1
19   15 Bob Caruthers      138   10.0          1  1  2     1  1  1  2  1
20   19 Dickey Pearce      122   10.0             3           1  2     2     1       1
21   17 Mike Griffin       119   12.0                      1  1     3  2  2     3
22  n/e John McGraw         85    9.0                1           1     1  3  1       2
23   16 Ed Williamson       78    9.0                   1              1  3     2    2
24   22 Jim Whitney         66    5.0          1        1  1  1                      1
25   21 Tony Mullane        57    5.5                      1     1  1     1  1       0.5
26   20 Mickey Welch        51    5.0                1     1                    3
27   23 Charley Jones       40    5.0                                  1  1  1  1    1
28   27 Jack Clements       38    4.0                               2        2
29   24 Harry Wright        37    3.0                   1     1           1
30  n/e Herman Long         32.5  4.0                                     2  1  0.5  0.5
31   26 Fred Dunlap         27    3.0                         1                 2
32   25 Tip O'Neill         25    3.0                                  1  1          1
33  n/e Chief Zimmer        24    3.0                                  1     1       1
34   28 Billy Nash          17    2.0                               1                1
35   31 Tom York            13    1.0                            1
36   34 Bill Hutchison      12    1.0                               1
37   33 Tommy Bond          10    1.0                                     1
38T  29 Bud Fowler           7    1.0                                           1
38T  35 Levi Meyerle         7    1.0                                           1
40   37 Silver King          6    1.0                                                1
*Won tiebreaker, being named higher on ballots (11-10).
Dropped out: Dummy Hoy (30), Dave Foutz (32), Elmer Smith (36)

Hall of Merit: 1910 Ballot Discussion

Duke Farrell is the only notable new face this year . . .

Hall of Merit: Number of Electees by Year

Here is the election schedule:

Four in 1898; two each year from 1899-1905. After that . . .

1: 1906-11, 1913-14, 1916, 1918, 1920, 1923, 1931, 1961

2: 1912, 1915, 1917, 1919, 1921-22, 1924-30, 1932-57, 1959-60, 1962-71, 1973-79, 1981-84, 1986, 1988, 1992

3: 1958, 1972, 1980, 1985, 1987, 1989-91, 1993-2010, 2012-15, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2025, 2027, 2029, 2031, 2033, 2035, 2038, 2040

4: 2011, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024, 2026, 2028, 2030, 2032, 2034, 2036-37, 2039, 2041

At that point (2041), I’ll be 69 years old, and I’ll probably retire and let someone else take over :-)

The system was tweaked in 1908, if we had started this way from the beginning, we would have elected one from 1892-1911 except for the years 1902, 1905, 1908, 1910, where we would have elected two.

This gives us 213 electees through 2001. Please let me know if I missed anyone, but by my count that matches the actual Hall of Fame.