He may have been a truly great player if not for the war, but war credit can't be based solely on his outstanding season in 1941.

Not enough, obviously.

I agree with John on war credit; in fact, Travis should serve as a sanity check, I think, for our war credit systems. If you're giving him enough war credit that he starts to look like a serious candidate, you need a tweak. :)

If you credit Travis an 110 OPS+ and mediocre defense for the seasons he missed, he's still not going to cut it. Any more credit than that falls more into the wishful thinking category than reality.

Even if you're a peak voter, it's going to be hard to justify a spot for him. It's a shame, since I have always liked him as a player and he's alive and kicking to enjoy the honor still.

As a Twins fan who embraces the old Senators, this is one of the saddest stories of them all. And combine Cecil's crashing decline with Buddy Lewis...or on the contrary, image both of them panning out according to the promise they showed as young guys and you've got quite a pair of guys to build on. Of course, old Clark Griffith probably didn't have the resources even to do that.

I just looked over this year's newbies to add/subtract WS for war credit. Right now I am giving Travis about 60 WS for the years 1942-1944. I am breaking it up 24,20,16 but in my system that uses cut offs at 15 ad 25 ot measure prime and peak, but break up is merely academic. This gives him 229 career WS with a peak and prime that aren't terribly impressive.

I dont think that Travis was on the verge of stardom so much as he was a guy who had a career year in 1941. His best previous year was 22 WS (attained twice) and 1941 was his age 27 season. Therefore I can't really add more than 60 WS to his career.

I find it a bit ironic that Travis who was never the same player after his wartime frostbite is also one of our earliest thread-worthy candidates to still be alive in 2005.

ATLANTA (AP) - Cecil Travis, a hard-hitting former farm boy whose career was
interrupted by service in World War II, has died.

Travis died Saturday at his home in Riverdale, Ga., just south of Atlanta,
according to Carmichael-Hemperly Funeral Home. He was 93.