Welcome to the Baseball Hall of Merit!

What is the Baseball Hall of Merit? A pantheon conceived of by our founder and commissioner Joe Dimino as an alternative to the Baseball Hall of Fame located in Cooperstown. Our purpose is to identify the best players in baseball history and thereby identify the omissions and errors that can be found in the other venerable institution.

Established in 2003, the HoM welcomes any new voters who are serious about inducting the most worthy candidates from all eras and positions.

Annual elections will be held around December of each year. Prior to December of 2007, retroactive elections were held once or twice a month starting from 1898 up to the present.

Project coordinator John Murphy helps run the day-to-day activities for the HoM.

The Baseball Hall of Merit Plaque Room - Where we honor the greatest players of all-time.

2008 Election Results - The results from our last election.

Important Links

Diamond Mind Owners Needed!

Ranking the Hall of Merit by Position: Catcher Ballot

Johnny Bench
Charlie Bennett
Yogi Berra
Roger Bresnahan
Roy Campanella
Gary Carter
Mickey Cochrane
Bill Dickey
Buck Ewing
Carlton Fisk
Bill Freehan
Josh Gibson
Gabby Hartnett
Biz Mackey
Cal McVey
Louis Santop
Ted Simmons
Joe Torre
Quincy Trouppe
Deacon White

Election to end May 11th at 8 p.m. EDT, unless another time is more convenient for John Murphy and the ballot counters.

Also remember, all eras (even the 19th Century), and the Negro Leagues are to considered fairly (meaning not conservatively), if you are unable to do this, please refrain from voting. Thanks!

Ranking the Hall of Merit Catchers - Discussion

We’ll be going position by position, starting behind the plate:

Johnny Bench
Charlie Bennett
Yogi Berra
Roger Bresnahan
Roy Campanella
Gary Carter
Mickey Cochrane
Bill Dickey
Buck Ewing
Carlton Fisk
Bill Freehan
Josh Gibson
Gabby Hartnett
Biz Mackey
Cal McVey
Louis Santop
Ted Simmons
Joe Torre
Quincy Trouppe
Deacon White

I expect the election to begin 4/27/2008 and wrap up 5/4/2008.

EDIT: Election will end 5/11/2008 8 p.m. EDT, unless another time is found to be more convenient for John and the ballot counters.

Election Results: Most Impressive from Group 4? Rose, Johnson and Barnes!

All-time hit leader Pete Rose was easily judged as the cream of the crop among this group with a sterling 97% of all possible points.

Legendary Negro League shortstop Home Run Johnson earned an impressive 80%, while National Association star Ross Barnes had 78%.

RK   LY  Player            PTS    Bal   1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14   15
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  n/e  Pete Rose         222     19  16  2        1                                
 2  n/e  Home Run Johnson  183     19   1  6  3  7  1           1                    
 3  n/e  Ross Barnes       178     19      3  9  3  2  1     1                       
 4  n/e  Joe Jackson       160     19   2  5  2  2  2     3  1     1     1           
 5  n/e  Cal McVey         140     19      1  3  3  2  3  5        1  1              
 6  n/e  John Beckwith     136     19      2  1  2  4  1  5  1  3                    
 7  n/e  Dickie Pearce     108     19            1  3  7     2  2  2     2           
 8  n/e  Dobie Moore        84     19         1  1  1  2  2  1  2  3  3  3           
 9  n/e  Quincey Trouppe    76     19               2  2  2  1  3  2  4  3           
10  n/e  Lip Pike           75     19               1  2     3  4  5  3  1           
11  n/e  Dick…

Ballot Thread: Hall of Merit Players Not in the Hall of Fame: Group 4 (NA, NeL and Banned Players)

The candidates In alphabetical order:

Ross Barnes (1898)
John Beckwith (1957)
Joe Jackson (1927)
Grant Johnson (1925)
Dick Lundy (2008)
Cal McVey (1912)
Dobie Moore (1991)
Alejandro Oms (2006)
Dickey Pearce (1931)
Lip Pike (1940)
Pete Rose (1993)
Quincy Trouppe (1995)

The election ends on March 24 at 8 PM.

Election Results: Group 3 Favorites are 19th Century Studs Dahlen, White and Hines!

Underrated turn-of the-last-century shortstop Bill Dahlen achieved a terrific 95% of all possible points, while outstanding 19th-century catcher/thirdbaseman Deacon White followed him closely with an almost equally impressive 94%.

NA and NL star Paul Hines also impressed with 89%.

Excellent fielding shortstop Jack Glasscock nabbed 75%.

Player PTS Bal
Bill Dahlen 461 23
Deacon White 454 23
Paul Hines 431 23
Jack Glasscock 363 23
George Gore 331 23
Joe Start 299 23
Ezra Sutton 294 23
Heinie Groh 265 23
Hardy Richardson 244 23
Bob Caruthers 224 23
Charlie Bennett 223 23
Sherry Magee 216 23
Stan Hack 214 23
Joe Gordon 206 23
Jimmy Sheckard 190 23
Charlie Keller 183 23
Harry Stovey 164 23
Cupid Childs 158 23
Wes Ferrell 156 23
Charley Jones 126 23
Pete Browning 111 23
Ballots Cast: 23

As always, thanks go to OCF and Ron for helping me with the tally! It was a monster pain in the butt this time.

Ranking Hall of Merit Players Not in the Hall of Fame: Group 4 (NA, NeL and Banned Players)

These candidates are beyond the purview of either the BBWAA or the Veterans Committee. They either had most or all of their careers before the start of the National League, played in the Negro Leagues or were banned from Cooperstown.

In alphabetical order:

Ross Barnes (1898)
John Beckwith (1957)
Joe Jackson (1927)
Grant Johnson (1925)
Dick Lundy (2008)
Cal McVey (1912)
Dobie Moore (1991)
Alejandro Oms (2006)
Dickey Pearce (1931)
Lip Pike (1940)
Pete Rose (1993)
Quincy Trouppe (1995)

Ballot Thread: Players Not in the Hall of Fame: Group 3 (career started before 1943)

Group 3 is currently under the jurisdiction of the Veterans Committee. These players’ careers started before 1943

In alphabetical order (year of election in parenthesis):

Charlie Bennett (1921)
Pete Browning (2005)
Bob Caruthers (1930)
Cupid Childs (1988)
Bill Dahlen (1915)
Wes Ferrell (1964)
Jack Glasscock (1904)
Joe Gordon (1976)
George Gore (1898)
Heinie Groh (1938)
Stan Hack (1958)
Paul Hines (1898)
Charley Jones (2003)
Charlie Keller (1996)
Sherry Magee (1926)
Hardy Richardson (1905)
Jimmy Sheckard (1930)
Joe Start (1912)
Harry Stovey (1916)
Ezra Sutton (1908)
Deacon White (1898)

The election ends next Sunday at 8 PM EST.

Ranking Hall of Merit Players Not in the Hall of Fame: Group 3 (career started before 1943)

Group 3 is currently under the jurisdiction of the Veterans Committee. These players’ careers started before 1943

In alphabetical order (year of election in parenthesis):

Charlie Bennett (1921)
Pete Browning (2005)
Bob Caruthers (1930)
Cupid Childs (1988)
Bill Dahlen (1915)
Wes Ferrell (1964)
Jack Glasscock (1904)
Joe Gordon (1976)
George Gore (1898)
Heinie Groh (1938)
Stan Hack (1958)
Paul Hines (1898)
Charley Jones (2003)
Charlie Keller (1996)
Sherry Magee (1926)
Hardy Richardson (1905)
Jimmy Sheckard (1930)
Joe Start (1912)
Harry Stovey (1916)
Ezra Sutton (1908)
Deacon White (1898)

Ranking Hall of Merit Players Not in the Hall of Fame: Group 3 (1871-1951)

Group 3 is currently under the jurisdiction of the Veterans Committee. These players’ careers spanned from 1871 to 1951.

In alphabetical order:

Charlie Bennett (1899)
Pete Browning (1899)
Bob Caruthers (1898)
Cupid Childs (1907)
Bill Dahlen (1915)
Wes Ferrell (1944)
Jack Glasscock (1901)
Joe Gordon (1956)
George Gore (1898)
Heinie Groh (1933)
Stan Hack (1953)
Paul Hines (1898)
Charley Jones (1898)
Charlie Keller (1957)
Sherry Magee (1925)
Hardy Richardson (1898)
Jimmy Sheckard (1919)
Joe Start (1898)
Harry Stovey (1899)
Ezra Sutton (1898)
Deacon White (1898)

Election Results:  Grich and Santo Are Tops for Group 2!

Second base star Bobby Grich earned the most possible points with a nifty 90%.

Hot corner great Ron Santo also did very well with his 88% of the points.

Feared* slugger Dick Allen and outstanding backstop Ted Simmons earned at least 75% of the vote.

RK   LY  Player         PTS    Bal   1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14   15
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  n/e  Bobby Grich    325     30  16  6  2  4  1              1                 
 2  n/e  Ron Santo      317     30   6 17  2  2  2           1                    
 3  n/e  Dick Allen     280     30   4  3 10  6  3     2  1  1                    
 4  n/e  Ted Simmons    272     30   3  2  8 11  2  1  1     1     1              
 5  n/e  Darrell Evans  195     30      1  1  3  7  3  5  5  2  1  2              
 6  n/e  Joe Torre      183     30         2  2  5  5  6  2  2  5     1           
 7  n/e  Minnie Minoso  159     30   1     2     3  3  5  4  2  6  2  2           
 8  n/e  Bill Freehan   147     30         1     4  4  1  6  6  2  5  1           
 9  n/e  Billy Pierce   133     30            2  2  3  4  4  3  3  4  5           
10  n/e  Jimmy Wynn     119…

Ballot Thread: Group 2 - careers 1943-1987

Group 2 is currently under jurisdiction of the Veterans Committee, those players whose career spanned 1943-1987

Dick Allen (1983)
Ken Boyer (1991)
Darrell Evans (1995)
Bill Freehan (1985)
Bobby Grich (1992)
Minnie Minoso (1987)
Graig Nettles (2006)
Billy Pierce (1987)
Ron Santo (1980)
Ted Simmons (1994)
Joe Torre (1984)
Jimmy Wynn (1996)

The election will end 8 p.m. EST, 2/10/2008.

Please include justifications with your ballot. As was mentioned on the previous ballot thread, when people look to this thread for guidance, they’ll want to see the reasons why we say this player or that player is more worthy. We can’t count on them to look at old threads for that.

Election Results: Blyleven and Raines are Deemed the Cream of This Crop by Us!

Curveball specialist Bert Blyleven narrowly bested renowned leadoff hitter Tim Raines by 1 per cent as both of them claimed the mantle of most worthy players from Group 1. Blyleven had 94% of the points, while Raines had an also terrific 93%.

Feared slugger Mark McGwire and outstanding shortstop Alan Trammell both received at least 75% of all points tallied.

RK   LY  Player           PTS    Bal   1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14   15
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  n/e  Bert Blyleven    372     33  17  8  8                                      
 2  n/e  Tim Raines       368     33  12 14  7                                      
 3  n/e  Mark McGwire     313     33   2  7 10  9  1  2     1  1                    
 4  n/e  Alan Trammell    296     33   2  4  5 11  6  2  2  1                       
 5  n/e  Lou Whitaker     241     33            7 12  6  3  2  3                    
 6  n/e  Will Clark       219     33         2  4  6  5  5  8  1  2                 
 7  n/e  Keith Hernandez  161     33         1     2  4  8  3  6  4  3  2           
 8  n/e  Dwight Evans     156     33            1  2  6  4  3  5  7  4  1           
 9  n/e  Dave Stieb       132     33            1     4  2  9  2  4  7  4           
10  n/e  Bret Saberhagen…

Ranking Hall of Merit players not in the Hall of Fame: Group 2, careers span 1943-87

Group 2 is currently under jurisdiction of the Veterans Committee, those players whose career spanned 1943-1987

Dick Allen (1983)
Ken Boyer (1991)
Darrell Evans (1995)
Bill Freehan (1985)
Bobby Grich (1992)
Minnie Minoso (1987)
Graig Nettles (2006)
Billy Pierce (1987)
Ron Santo (1980)
Ted Simmons (1994)
Joe Torre (1984)
Jimmy Wynn (1996)

Ballot thread: Group 1, Still Under BBWAA Jurisdiction

This is the ballot thread for the Group 1 players, those still under BBWAA jurisdiction.

Alphaetically (year of induction to HoM in parenthesis):

Bert Blyleven (1998)
Will Clark (2006)
Andre Dawson (2005)
Dwight Evans (1997)
Keith Hernandez (1996)
Mark McGwire (2007)
Tim Raines (2008)
Willie Randolph (2001)
Bret Saberhagen (2008)
Dave Stieb (2002)
Alan Trammell (2002)
Lou Whitaker (2001)

Vote will be straight rank order ballot, with no bonus points, so 12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.

Ranking Hall of Merit players not in the Hall of Fame: Group 1, Still Under BBWAA Jurisdiction

This is the discussion thread for ranking the non-Hall of Fame, Hall of Merit players. We’ve included the players off the BBWAA ballot due to the 5% rule - those players could still be reinstated to the BBWAA ballot with a rule change.

Alphaetically (year of induction to HoM in parenthesis):

Bert Blyleven (1998)
Will Clark (2006)
Andre Dawson (2005)
Dwight Evans (1997)
Keith Hernandez (1996)
Mark McGwire (2007)
Tim Raines (2008)
Willie Randolph (2001)
Bret Saberhagen (2008)
Dave Stieb (2002)
Alan Trammell (2002)
Lou Whitaker (2001)

Vote will be straight rank order ballot, with no bonus points, so 12-11-10 . . . 3-2-1.

2008 BBTF HOF Results: Voters Here Think Raines, Blyleven, Trammell, Gossage and McGwire are Worthy!

In his first year of eligibility, legendary speedster and leadoff hitter Tim Raines was selected by the BBTF electorate almost unanimously with a spectacular 99% of all ballots.

Curveball specialist Bert Blyleven did extremely well himself with 96%, matching his BBTF totals of 2005 and 2006 (he had 87% in 2007).

Standout shortstop Alan Trammell was the third BBTF HOF pick with his 83% (he had 79% in 2005, 81% in 2006 and 84% in 2007).

Intimidating fireman Goose Gossage earned 81% of the electorate’s vote for fourth place, though slipping again in support for the third year in a row (he had 93% in 2005, 87% in 2006 and 82% in 2007).

Last but not least, power hitter deluxe Mark McGwire just made it with 76% of all ballots in his second year of eligibility, up from last year by 7%. Will there be a comparable uptick for him in the real election?

Rounding out the top-ten were: Andre Dawson, Dale Murphy, Lee Smith, Dave Concepcion and Tommy John.

New candidates: Rod Beck, Shawon Dunston, Travis Fryamn, David Justice, Chuck Knoblauch, Rob Nen, Jose Rijo and Todd Stottlemyre received no votes.

143 voters participated in our exercise, 32 more from…

2008 BBTF Hall of Fame Ballot

IMPORTANT: Please read:

This election should follow BBWAA rules, not Hall of Merit rules. However, we hope to see only players that each voter feels belong on their ballots - if you don’t feel he really is a HOFer, then please refrain from posting that player’s name (examples of whom I am referring to are Mookie Wilson, Scott Broscius, Buddy Biancalana - players who were well liked or were underdogs, but have no creditable HOF resume). Leaving 1st-year candidates off your ballot is also frowned upon. IOW, we would like to see an absence of some of the silliness that permeates Hall of Fame voting by the writers.

The election will end next Sunday (8 PM EST). Results will be posted at the same time.

Here are some of the rules by the BBWAA that pertain to our electorate:

3. Eligible Candidates — Candidates to be eligible must meet the following requirements:

A. A baseball player must have been active as a player in the Major Leagues at some time during a period beginning twenty (20) years before and ending five (5) years prior to election.
B. Player must have played in each of ten (10) Major League championship seasons, some…

2008 BBTF Hall of Fame Ballot Discussion

As in past years, anybody can pretend he is a BBWAA voter at BBTF!

We’ll have one week of discussion and then the ballot thread will be posted next Sunday (the election will end on Jan. 6).

The eligible candiates are: Brady Anderson*, Harold Baines, Rod Beck*, Bert Blyleven, Dave Concepcion**, Andre Dawson, Shawon Dunston*, Chuck Finley*, Travis Fryman*, Rich Gossage, Tommy John, David Justice*, Chuck Knoblauch*, Don Mattingly, Mark McGwire, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Rob Nen*, Dave Parker, Tim Raines*, Jim Rice, Jose Rijo.*, Lee Smith, Todd Stottlemyre* and Alan Trammell.

Just to make sure everyone knows the rules, as we did last year, each ballot should follow BBWAA rules. That means you can have up to 10 players on your ballot in no particular order. Write-in’s are acceptable to add to your ballot (sorry, Dan :-), but as in reality, they wont count.

* 1st-year candidates

** Last year of eligibility

Charlie Grant

Eligible in 1922.

Charlie Grant

2009 Ballot Discussion

2009 (November 3, 2008)—elect 3
WS W3 Rookie Name-Pos
535 178.1 1979 Rickey Henderson-LF
294 96.5 1988 Mark Grace-1B
245 92.0 1987 Jay Bell-SS
241 91.0 1987 Matt Williams-3B
251 63.5 1986 Andres Galarraga-1B*
189 87.3 1990 Kevin Appier-P*
206 63.4 1988 Ron Gant-LF
199 63.8 1990 Greg Vaughn-LF
200 59.8 1991 Mo Vaughn-1B
151 65.8 1991 Mike Bordick-SS
140 61.9 1982 Jesse Orosco-RP
129 49.8 1990 John Burkett-P
109 53.6 1991 Charles Nagy-P
113 50.7 1986 Dan Plesac-RP
115 46.0 1992 Denny Neagle-P
125 37.4 1991 Orlando Merced-RF/1B
038 15.4 1991 Kazuhiro Sasaki-RP

Ranking the Hall of Merit Players That Are Not in the Hall of Fame

OK, I think our next order of business, after catching our breath and watching college football over the holidays should be to rank the Hall of Merit players that are not in the Hall of Fame.

One main requirement - we’re finished by next November - so if anyone with a ballot were to care, the results would be available before the Hall of Fame votes for 2009. There will be 57 or 58 players to rank, depending on whether or not Tim Raines is elected to the Hall of Fame.

I guess we should just start with brainstorming - how should we do it? One election, rank them from 1-58? Start with ranking them by era? Then have a weekly ballot among the highest ranked players from each era? We wouldn’t finish that by November, but we’d have the top guys done by then. Maybe that’s all we need anyway, to just start with ranking the top 20 players?

Other ideas?

I’ll list the 58 players on the thread.

2008 Results: Raines, Lundy and Saberhagen Send Off the Hall of Merit’s Old Election Schedule!

In his first year of eligibility, leadoff superstar Tim Raines collected a hefty 98% of all possible points for induction into the Hall of Merit.

Legendary NeL shortstop Dick Lundy won election after 65 previous attempts with 32% of all possible points, a big increase since he was in 16th place in the last election.

Last but not least, ace pitcher Bret Saberhagen earned 29% of all possible points in his 4th year of eligibility.

Rounding out the top-ten were: Reggie Smith, Bucky Walters, Tommy Leach, John McGraw (big jump!), Cannonball Dick Redding, Kirby Puckett and Bob Johnson.

RK   LY  Player                   PTS  Bal   1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  n/e  Tim Raines              1172   50  46  2        1                             1
 2   16  Dick Lundy               389   25      5  2  1  2  5  2  2        2  2     2   
 3    4  Bret Saberhagen          344   24      1  3  6  3  1     1  2     1  1  1  2  2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4    5  Reggie Smith             319   23      1  4  3  1  1     3  1  2     1  3  2  1
 5    7  Bucky Walters            287   21      2  3  2  1  1  1  1  1  2  1     1  1  4…

2008 Ballot (Elect Three)

Prominent new candidates: Tim Raines, Chuck Finley, Chuck Knoblauch, David Justice and Brady Anderson.

Top-ten returnees: Bret Saberhagen, Reggie Smith, Cannonball Dick Redding, Bucky Walters, Tommy Leach, Bob Johnson and Kirby Puckett.

2007 Results: Newly Eligible Ripken, Gwynn and McGwire Make It Into the Hall of Merit Easily!

In his first year of eligibility, legendary shortstop Cal Ripken was elected into the Hall of Merit practically unanimously with 99.83% of all possible points. He earned an “elect me” vote from every voter.

Star hitter Tony Gwynn also made a very strong showing with his 95% of all possible points.

Last but not least, supreme power-hitter Mark McGwire earned a more than respectable 86% of all possible points.

Rounding out the top-ten were: Bret Saberhagen (looks good for 2008!), Reggie Smith (he might make it in 2008, too!), Cannonball Dick Redding, Bucky Walters, Tommy Leach (first time in the top-ten!), Bob Johnson and Kirby Puckett.

RK   LY  Player                   PTS  Bal   1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  n/e  Cal Ripken, Jr.         1150   48  46  2                                       
 2  n/e  Tony Gwynn              1091   48   2 36  9  1                                 
 3  n/e  Mark McGwire             990   46     10 30  4  2                              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4    8  Bret Saberhagen          244   19            4     3  4  1     2  2     1     2
 5    4  Reggie Smith             236   20            2  3  3     1  2  2  1     2     4
 6    6  Cannonball Dick Redding  186   13            4  3  1  1  1     1     1  1…

2008 Ballot Discussion

2008 (December 3)—elect 3
WS W3 Rookie Name-Pos (Died)
390 131.8 1981 Tim Raines-LF
213 98.3 1986 Chuck Finley-P
231 80.0 1991 Chuck Knoblauch-2B
233 75.5 1990 Dave Justice-RF
214 74.2 1988 Brady Anderson-CF/LF
199 74.3 1990 Travis Fryman-3B
186 54.5 1990 Delino DeShields-2B
143 60.1 1992 John Valentin-SS/3B
136 60.1 1986 Greg Swindell-P
139 56.0 1989 Andy Benes-P
152 48.5 1985 Shawon Dunstan-SS
137 52.5 1979 Mike Morgan-P
120 54.3 1993 Robb Nen-RP
126 49.4 1988 Randy Velarde-2B
134 43.5 1994 Rusty Greer-LF
114 45.6 1991 Darryl Kile-P (2002)

Players Passing Away 11/06 to 10/07
HoMers
Age Elected
None

Candidates
Age Eligible
93 1953 Cecil Travis-SS/3B
91 1959 Max Lanier-P
90 1957 Sam Chapman-CF
90 1961 Pete Suder-2B
89 1961 Johnny Sain-P/Coach
89 1962 Phil Rizzuto-SS
85 1964 Bill Wight-P
85 ---- Jack Lang-Sportswriter
84 1967 Hank Bauer-RF
84 ---- Art Fowler-P/Coach
83 ---- Herb Carneal-Broadcaster
80 1967 Clem Labine-RP
80 1973 Lew Burdette-P
80 ---- Bowie Kuhn-Commissioner
75 1971 Ed Bailey-C
73 ---- David Halberstam-Author
70 1977 Clete Boyer-3B
68 1980 Steve Barber-P
64 1983 Pat Dobson-P
64 1989 Bill Robinson-LF/RF

Upcoming Candidate
38 2010 Rod Beck-RP

Thanks, Dan!

Brady Anderson

Eligible in 2008.

David Justice

Eligible in 2008.

Chuck Knoblauch

Eligible in 2008.