Hall of Merit: Redistribution of Electees by Year?

I was thinking, maybe the original plan we came up with based on team years wasn’t the best way to go.

What if we based the electees on the number of players born in each year, projected out 45 years (the average age of our first 16 electees at the time of election).

Bear with me here while I explain this.

We’d start our 213 Hall of Famers through 2001 number. We’d the see how many players were born during or before 1956 (11713, plus 306 players we don’t have birthdates on).

Would there be anything else to adjust for? Such as allowing slots for 25 Negro Leaguers. Not as a quota, just factoring in that they aren’t in our pool of birthdates).

If we make the Negro League adjustment (we can worry about which years get electees later), we’d basically have one HoMer for every 63.93 major league players born. I think a great majority of all of the players we don’t have birthdates on played in the 19th Century, so I would add them to the ‘backlog’. Our 6th HoMer should be around the same time as the 349th player born. Counting the 306 + 43 we know we have would put our first HoMer born in 1845 or the 1890 election.

Our 20th HoMer, the last one we elected, would be the 823rd player born (not counting the 306 w/out birthdays, the 1129th including them), which was in 1864, which works out to our 1909 election. Which would mean we are just two ahead (although somewhat misproportioned). We’ve got a museum to run, so I wouldn’t hold off an election, but we’d only go one per year until we get back on schedule, which won’t be long. Alternatively, we could just add two HoMers (in recognition of the real Hall’s lack of Negro Leaguers and pre-1880s players) and go with 215. I’d probably support that, but I could be talked out of it too.

It’s not too late to change this, and I think it’s much better theoretically than our current system. There is no bias involved here, just a lightbulb that went off, one that should have gone off a year ago.

I should be able to post the schedule if we go down this path later today (I’m still working on it, since I have to do a lot of it by hand). What do you guys think?

Hall of Merit: 1907 Results - Sliding Billy Elected

In his first year of eligibility, Billy Hamilton was easily elected to the Hall of Merit, beating Ezra Sutton 877-674. Sutton was the runner-up for the second year in a row.

Joe Start jumped over Bid McPhee and Pud Galvin to finish 3rd. Galvin also fell behind McPhee to finish 5th. Cal McVey and Harry Stovey remained 6th and 7th, Charlie Bennett moved ahead of Sam Thompson to finish 8th, Hugh Duffy finished 9th in his first year of eligibility and Thompson rounded out the top 10.

Cupid Childs was the only other newcomer with significant support, finishing 11th.

RK   LY Player          Pts Ballots  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15
 1  n/a Billy Hamilton  877   41.0  23  8  5  3  2
 2    2 Ezra Sutton     674   38.3   7 11  6  2  2  4        2  2     1        1.3
 3    5 Joe Start       631   37.3   5  3  9  5  3  4  4     2  1              1.3
 4    4 Bid McPhee      608   41.0   2  5  3  2  9  4  6  1  2  1     1     2  3
 5    3 Pud Galvin      599   38.0   2  2  5 11  5  4  1  3     1     1  2  1
 6    6 Cal McVey       556   38.0      5  4  8  5  4  1     1  1  4  1  1  1  2
 7    7 Harry Stovey    540   39.0      4  2  1  3  7  5  3  6  3  2  1  1  1
 8    9 Charlie Bennett 468   35.0   1  1  2  1  4  1  9  3  4  3  1     3  1  1
 9  n/a Hugh Duffy      437   37.0         1  1  2  3  3  7  4  3  5  2  3  1  2
10    8 Sam Thompson    425   36.0   1  1  1  2     1  4  4  2  8  2  2  3  3  2
11  n/a Cupid Childs    324   30.0      1     2     1  2  6     3  2  2  5  3  3
12   10 Pete Browning   265   25.5         1        3     1     4  6  6     4  0.5
13   11 Mike Tiernan    258   27.0         1           2  1  4     2  4  6  5  2
14   13 Lip Pike        221   20.0            1  1  1  1  2  4  2  1  2  1  3  1
15   12 Bob Caruthers   206   18.0         1     3  1  1  2  3  1           2  4
16   16 Mike Griffin    154   17.0            1     1           2  3  1  2  3  4
17   15 Ed Williamson   152   17.5                     1           2  7  3  4  0.5
18   14 Jim McCormick   135   13.0            1        1  1  2  1  1  2  2     2
19   18 Dickey Pearce   118   12.0               1           2  2  2     2  2  1
20   17 Mickey Welch     86    9.0                  1     2           2  1  1  2
21   21 Jim Whitney      52    5.0                  1     1              3
22   25 Charley Jones    47    5.0                              1  2  1     1
23   35 Harry Wright     45    4.0               1        1        1           1
24   20 Tony Mullane     39    5.0                                 1  1  1     2
25   24 Tip O'Neill      35    3.0                        2           1
26   19 Fred Dunlap*     32    4.0                           1           1     2
27   23 Bud Fowler       32    3.0                           1  1     1
28   27 Jack Clements    24    3.0                                 1     1     1
29   22 Billy Nash*      21    2.5                              1           1  0.5
30   28 Dave Foutz       21    2.0                           1        1
31   26 Tom York*        13    2.0                                          1  1
32  n/a Elmer Smith+     13    1.5                                 1           0.5
33   32 Tommy Bond       13    1.0                        1
34T  36 Bill Hutchison   10    1.0                                 1
34T n/a Nig Cuppy        10    1.0                                 1
36   33 Levi Meyerle      9    1.0                                    1
37  29T Jack Stivetts     7    1.0                                          1
38   31 Denny Lyons       2    0.3                                             0.3
*won tie-breaker (head-to-head on individual ballots)
+finished 2nd in tie-breaker (head-to-head on individual ballots)
Dropped Out: Ed McKean (29T), Jim Creighton (34), Bill Joyce (37T),George
Stovey (37T), Bobby Mathews (39T), Dave Orr (39T), Gus Weyhing (39T). 

Hall of Merit: 1908 Ballot Discussion

Hughie Jennings is the only strong candidate among the newcomers this year.

Hall of Merit: 1907 Ballot

Let’s get started, sorry it’s late . . .

Hall of Merit: 1906 Results - Spalding Elected

Al Spalding, the greatest pitcher of the 1870s, has been elected to the Hall of Merit in the closest voting to date. He defeated Ezra Sutton, 758-749.5.

The voting system came into play here. If the balloting had been 15-14-13 . . . 3-2-1; Sutton would have won. If we didn’t give bonus points for ‘elect him’ votes, it would have been decided by 1/2 point (wow!); if we didn’t penalize not being on the ballot at all, he would have won. If it had been a 2 electee year, Sutton would obviously have been elected, that’s not noteworthy—but in a quirk, he also would have finished first, because he had 9 second place votes more than Spalding, and this was the first year without bonus points for a 2nd place vote.

Don’t take this as a complaint, I’m just pointing it out, and I think the system worked well. Sutton had two more people that voted him ‘in’, and 1 less that left him off the ballot completely, he deserves an edge for that.

Both saw big surges in their support this week, as they leapfrogged Pud Galvin and Bid McPhee, making this election a bit of an ‘upset’. Galvin edged McPhee 681-676 for 3rd place. Joe Start finished 5th. Cal McVey jumped over Harry Stovey into 6th place. Sam Thompson, Charlie Bennett and Pete Browning rounded out the top 10.

No one dropped out from 1905, and nine new players received a vote that didn’t last year, but only one was a new eligible (Gus Weyhing picked up one 15th place vote).

RK   LY Player          Pts   Ballots  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14   15
 1    5 Al Spalding     758     42.0  14  3  7  3     5  2  1  4        2          1
 2    6 Ezra Sutton     749.5   41.0  12 12  2  3  3  1     1  4           2  0.5  0.5
 3    3 Pud Galvin      681     42.0   2  6  9  8  5  4     2  1  1  1     2       1
 4    4 Bid McPhee      676     42.0   5  3  4  3  8  4  4  6  2  1  1  1
 5    7 Joe Start       660.5   41.0   4  6  4  8  3  5  5  1              2  2.5  0.5
 6    9 Cal McVey       613     39.0   3  4  8  4  5  4     1  2  3  1  2  1  1	
 7    8 Harry Stovey    592     41.0   1  5     3  8  2  6  4  4  4  2     2
 8   10 Sam Thompson    510     40.0   1  2  2  4     2  4  5  4  3  3  5  3  1    1
 9   11 Charlie Bennett 502     36.0   1  1  2  3  3  5  6  7     1  5        1    1
10   12 Pete Browning   380     34.0         2     1  2  2  2  5  3  7  6  1  1    2
11   13 Mike Tiernan    365     36.0      1        2  1  1  2  4  3  4  3  8  5    2
12   14 Bob Caruthers   314     28.0         2  2  1  2  2  3     1  3  3  1  7    1
13   15 Lip Pike        271     23.5            1  1  1  4  2  4  3  1  3     2    1.5
14   17 Jim McCormick   198     21.0         1        2  1     1  1  2  1  4  4    4
15   18 Ed Williamson   191     20.5                     1        6  5  1  3  1    3.5
16   16 Mike Griffin    185     19.0               1  1     2     3     4  4  3    1
17   19 Mickey Welch    155     17.0                  1  1     2  2  1     3  4    3
18   20 Dickey Pearce   111     11.0               1     1  1     1  2  2     1    2
19   23 Fred Dunlap      90     10.0            1              1  1  1     1  2    3
20   21 Tony Mullane     85     10.0                     1        2  1        3    3
21   24 Jim Whitney      76      7.0               1  1              2  2     1
22   27 Billy Nash       45      5.0                        1           2  1       1
23   22 Bud Fowler       44      4.0                        2  1                   1
24   25 Tip O'Neill      43      3.5                     2     1                   0.5
25   28 Charley Jones    41      4.5                              1  1  1  1       0.5
26   -- Tom York*        32      5.0                                       1       4
27   26 Jack Clements    32      3.0                           1  1     1
28   31 Dave Foutz       23      2.0                           1  1
29T  -- Ed McKean        17      2.0                                    1  1
29T  -- Jack Stivetts    17      2.0                                    1  1
31   30 Denny Lyons      16      2.0                                    1     1
32   -- Tommy Bond*      12      2.0                                               2
33   33 Levi Meyerle     12      1.0                           1
34   -- Jim Creighton    11      1.0                              1
35   -- Harry Wright      9      1.0                                    1
36   32 Bill Hutchison    8      1.0                                       1
37T  29 Bill Joyce        7      1.0                                          1
37T  -- George Stovey     7      1.0                                          1
39T  34 Dave Orr          6      1.0                                               1
39T  -- Bobby Mathews     6      1.0                                               1
39T n/a Gus Weyhing       6      1.0                                               1
*won tie-breaker (head-to-head on individual ballots)
Dropped Out: None.

Hall of Merit: 1907 Ballot Discussion

Let’s start the 1907 discussion. 1906 precincts will be closing shortly, I’m going to start to finish adding up the votes, and then we’ll close the polls.

Hall of Merit: 1906 Ballot

This promises to be our closest election yet, with fives candidates having a realistic shot at being the year’s only electee. This is a good week to go back an re-examine things if you haven’t done that in awhile.

Hall of Merit: Length of Early MLB Seasons: Games Scheduled

This is a nifty little page . . . gives a 5 and 15 year running average of games scheduled, so you can get an idea for adjusting (if you are so inclined) career numbers.

It’s just a guide though, you’re not going to give the proper weight to each year, but it’s a reasonable way to make an eyeball career value judgement, before digging further.

When reading the chart, the 5 or 15 year period is the one STARTING with the year listed. So the 5 year listing for 1871 is 1871-76, the 15-year is 1871-85, etc. . . . thanks to Paul Wendt for creating this.

Hall of Merit: 1906 Ballot Discussion

Not much in the way of new eligibles this year, but for the first time, just one player will be on the podium this time around . . .

Hall of Merit: 1905 Results - Radbourn and Richardson Elected

Charlie Radbourn and Hardy Richardson have been elected to the Hall of Merit. Radbourn finished first with 706 points and was named on all but one ballot. He is our second posthumous inductee (King Kelly was the first), Old Hoss passed on in February 1897, he was just 42.

Richardson (who was the only player named on all 41 ballots) finished second with 660 points, beating Pud Galvin by 26 points. Richardson’s margin over Galvin was the 2nd closest to date, George Wright beat Jack Glasscock by 21 points in 1901 (Glasscock was elected in 1904).

In 1906 just one new player will be elected and the battle will be tighter than ever. Newcomer Bid McPhee finished 4th, four points behind Galvin, and Al Spalding and Ezra Sutton were tied for 5th, just four points behind McPhee. Both jumped over Joe Start, who finished 7th, but just 29 points behind Galvin.

Harry Stovey held his spot among the returnees and finished 8th with 533 points. Cal McVey jumped over Sam Thompson and Charlie Bennett to finish 9th with 486 points. Thompson rounded out the top 10 with 436 points.

RK   LY  Player       Pts Ballots  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1     3  C.Radbourn   706   40.0   9  5  4  2  4  1  7  3  2  1  1     1
2     4  H.Richardson 660   41.0   3  2  5  6  8  7  2  3  1  1     3
3     5  P.Galvin     634   39.0   4  3  5  8  5  2  2  2  3  1     2  1     1
4   n/a  B.McPhee     630   39.0   5  3  3  6  3  2  6  3  2  2  2  2
5     7  A.Spalding*  626   37.0   7  6  5  3  1  1  1  1  1  4  4  2     1
6     8  E.Sutton     626   36.5   4 10  4  3  1  2  2  3     1  2  2        2.5
7     6  J.Start      605   36.5   6  3  2  6  2  5  2  4  3  1  1        1  0.5
8     9  H.Stovey     533   40.0      3  4     3  4  2  4  6  5  2  3  2  2
9    12  C.McVey      486   33.0   1  3  4  1  7  4  1  3     2  1  2  1  3
10   10  S.Thompson   436   35.5   1  2  2  1  1  2  2  2  4  4  3  4  3  4  0.5
11   11  C.Bennett    423   33.0   1     1  1  1  5  5  2  8  4        3  1  1
12   13  P.Browning   301   30.0               3     3  1  1     6  4  7  4  1
13  n/a  M.Tiernan    279   29.5      1              2  3  2  3  2  2  3  1 10.5
14   14  B.Caruthers  223   19.0         1  3     1  1  2  2  1  1  2  2  2  1
15   16  L.Pike       189   19.0                  2  1  1  1  4  2  2     2  4
16   15  M.Griffin    170   20.0                  1        1  1  3  2  3  6  3
17   19  J.McCormick  136   15.0         1              2        3  1  2  1  5
18   17  E.Williamson 122   15.0                              1  2  4  2  3  3
19   18  M.Welch       96   11.0                           2  1  1  2     3  2
20   20  D.Pearce      69    7.0               1        1     1        2  1  1
21   21  T.Mullane     55    6.0                              1  2  1  1  1
22  n/a  B.Fowler      52    4.0               1  1           1  1
23   22  F.Dunlap^     51    7.0                                    1  2  2  2
24   23  J.Whitney     51    5.0                  1  1                 1  2
25   25  T.O'Neill     40    3.0            1           1        1
26   24  J.Clements    27    3.0                              1        2
27   26  B.Nash        18    2.0                           1                 1
28   31  C.Jones       16    2.0                                       2
29   27  B.Joyce       14    1.0                     1
30   --  D.Lyons       13    2.0                                          1  1
31   28  D.Foutz       12    1.0                           1
32   30  B.Hutchison   10    1.0                                 1
33   29  L.Meyerle      8    1.0                                       1
34   32  D.Orr          6    1.0                                             1
Dropped Out: none.
*won 2nd tie-breaker (# of ballots named on, 37-36.5). First tie-breaker was 20-20
(head-to-head on individual ballots)
^won tie-breaker, 7-5 (head-to-head on individual ballots)