Here’s Brock Hanke’s ballot for 1928. If I don’t get anything posted on the Ballot Thread, please just transfer this. I’m not going to change it. There’s actually a pretty decent consensus between WAR and Win Shares this year, although about three of the position players have serious disconnects. I put in Satchel Paige instead of any other Negro Leaguer, largely because I am a bit conservative about the NgL. There were a few candidates whose WAR were very close to Paige’s, but if you ask me who I would most TRUST as a top ten player, well, Satchel is going to win. And then there’s Larry Benton. I had literally never heard or read the name before; I had no clue who he might be. But Win Shares has him listed 9th, and WAR has him listed 11th, so he shows up on the top ten list. So, I looked him up.

I immediately could see why I’d never heard of Benton before. He had been a good pitcher, but in lesser roles, for a few years before 1928, but then the Giants, for some reason, gave him 310 IP, almost 75 more than he had in any other year. He led the league in Wins and Complete Games, but nothing else, although he actually finished fourth in the MVP voting.

And, then, things got odd. I noticed that his birthday was November 20, 1897, and he was born in St. Louis. I was born in STL, too, on November 20, 1947. So, I was born 50 years later than Benton, to the day, in the same city. I considered moving him up a couple of slots for this, but why? This paragraph is enough.

1. Babe Ruth
2. Lou Gehrig
3. Dazzy Vance
4. Heinie Manush
5. Rogers Hornsby
6. Paul Waner
7. Stachel Paige
8. Burleigh Grimes
9. Fred Lindstrom
10. Larry Benton

Hah! I finally DID get comment access to this thread. DL - Thanks for transferring my ballot for me. That's exactly what I hoped would happen. The ballot is my final version.

xxx

1928 Final Ballot

1. Dazzy Vance !0.96 WARR
2. Babe Ruth 9.76 WARR
3. Lou Gehrig 9.02 WARR
4. Willie Wells 8.58 WARR
5. Burleigh Grimes 8.52 WARR
6. Goose Goslin 8.30 WARR
7. Lefty Grove 7.85 WARR
8. Paul Waner 7.51 WARR
9. Ted Trent 7.43 WARR
10. Rogers Hornsby 7.31 WARR

Rest of the top 20
11. Freddie Lindstrom
12. Garland Braxton
13. Laymon Yokely
14. Mule Suttles
15. Heinie Manush
16. Jud Wilson
17. Turkey Stearnes
18. Tyler Douthit
19. Tony Lazzeri
20. Frankie Frisch

1928 Ballot

1) Dazzy Vance - another one for my best pitcher seasons
2) Babe Ruth - Best bat but not by leaps and bounds. Glove is declining. Postseason bonus moves him ahead of Hornsby.
3) Rogers Hornsby - poor fielder but positional value moves him up
4) Lou Gehrig - Great bat. Poor baserunning and lower positional value keeps him just below Hornsby.
5) Paul Waner - top of the "everyone else" part of the ballot
6) Freddie Lindstrom - Best 3B, great glove
7) Willie Wells - Best NGL player, best SS, on the best NGL team
8) Ted Trent - Best NGL pitcher, also on the best NGL team
9) Goose Goslin
10) Larry Benton

11-15) Gabby Hartnett, Heinie Manush, Tommy Thomas, Sheriff Blake, Lefty Grove
16-21) Jud Wilson, Joe Sewell, Rap Dixon, Mule Suttles, Darltie Cooper, Jim Bottomley

1928 ballot:

1. Babe Ruth
2. Dazzy Vance
3. Lou Gehrig
4. Rogers Hornsby
5. Willie Wells
6. Paul Waner
7. Lefty Grove
8. Martin Dihigo
9. Jim Bottomley
10. Rap Dixon

Off-ballot: Heinie Manush, Gabby Hartnett, Goose Goslin, Burleigh Grimes, Mule Suttles

Final ballot-no postseason credit but some small credit for playing for a Pennant-contender

1. Babe Ruth
2. Lou Gehrig
3. Dazzy Vance
4. Rogers Hornsby
5. Lefty Grove
6. Paul Waner
7. Willie Wells
8. Heinie Manush
9. Goose Goslin
10.Larry Benton

Jim Bottomley just missed the top 10

1928 Ballot

1. Babe Ruth, RF, New York Yankees: MLB leading 206 OPS+ and 173 RC
2. Rogers Hornsby, 2B, Boston Braves: NL leading 202 OPS+ but -11 fielding keeps him from catching Ruth
3. Lou Gehrig, 1B, New York Yankees: 193 OPS+ and 164 RC
4. Dazzy Vance, P, Brooklyn Robins: 190 ERA+ leads MLB and 280 IP ain't too shabby
5. Heinie Manush, LF, St. Louis Browns: 154 OPS+ and 153 RC
6. Goose Goslin, LF, Washington Senators: better production (176 OPS+) in fewer games (135) than Manush
7. Willie Wells, SS, St. Louis Stars: 184 OPS+ and the equivalent of +12 fielding
8. Burleigh Grimes, P, Pittsburgh Pirates: 330 IP leads MLB by a wide margin; 136 ERA+ is nothing to sneeze at
9. Jim Bottomley, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals: 2nd in NL with 162 OPS+ and 144 RC
10. Gabby Hartnett, C, Chicago Cubs: 142 OPS+ cracks the top ten, +10 fielding pushes him onto the ballot

11. Larry Benton, P, New York Giants: second most IP in MLB with 310 to go with 142 ERA+
12. Bill Sherdel, P, St. Louis Cardinals: a near copy of Benton, 141 ERA+ in 298 IP
13. Hack Wilson, CF, Chicago Cubs
14. Lefty Grove, P, Philadelphia Athletics: top pitcher in the AL
15. Ted Trent, P, St. Louis Stars: top pitcher in the Negro Leagues
16. Sheriff Blake, P, Chicago Cubs
17. Chick Hafey, LF, St. Louis Cardinals
18. Tommy Thomas, P, Chicago White Sox
19. Turkey Stearnes, CF, Detroit Stars
20. Garland Braxton, P, Washington Senators

Keep the ballots coming in

1928 MMP Ballot

1. Babe Ruth (29.50) - only squeaks it out due to post-season bonus
2. Dazzy Vance (29.40) - NL MMP
3. Rogers Hornsby (27.10) - NL MMPosition Player
4. Lou Gehrig (24.90)
5. Goose Goslin (19.05)
6. Lefty Grove (19.04) - AL MMPitcher
7. Willie Wells (17.86) - NgL MMP
8. Jud Wilson (14.81)
9. Tommy Thomas (14.76)
10. Larry Benton (13.88)

11-15. Paul Waner, Webster McDonald (NgL MMPitcher), Freddie Lindstrom, Burleigh Grimes, Heinie Manush.

1928 mWAR All-Stars
c- Gabby Hartnett
1b - Lou Gehrig
2b - Rogers Hornsby
3b - Jud Wilson
ss - Willie Wells
lf - Goose Goslin
cf - Turkey Stearnes
rf - Paul Waner

sp- Dazzy Vance
sp- Lefty Grove
sp- Tommy Thomas
sp- Larry Benton
sp- Webster McDonald