1935 Ballot

1) Arky Vaughan - big gap between him and the rest of the field. Average glove but 190 OPS+ from a SS.
2) Wes Ferrell - led the league in batters faced (with great results), hit very well. 35 pinch hit appearances.
3) Jimmie Foxx - 2nd best bat (tie with Gehrig) and decent fielding statistics
4) Mel Ott - great defensive season for Ott
5) Lou Gehrig - a little less fielding than Foxx. 3-5 are very close
6) Leroy Matlock - this is his standout season
7) Josh Gibson - best NGL player, best C
8) Lefty Grove - Best pitcher in baseball, didn't hit like Wes Ferrell and 50 fewer innings
9) Hank Greenberg - MLB talent has shifted to 1B
10) Charlie Gehringer - great World Series

11) Satchel Paige - Bumped off the ballot by Matlock's great year and postseason bonuses for Greenberg and Gehringer
12-15) Martin Dihigo, Buddy Myer, Dizzy Dean, Babe Herman
16-20) Gabby Hartnett, Augie Galan, Mickey Cochrane, Luke Appling, Willie Wells
21-26)Johnny Vosmil, Turkey Stearnes, Curt Davis, Joe Medwick, Mel Harder, Ray Brown

Hi, guys. This is Brock Hanke’s ballot for 1935. BTF let me log on here with comment privileges for a change.

As I mentioned, this time I weighted Win Shares twice as heavily as WAR. I admit to being afraid that this would just produce a list of the top finishers in Win Shares, ignoring WAR almost completely. That didn’t happen. In fact, almost the opposite of that happened. I ended up with a deep consensus. The top 8 rankings in WAR are all on my Top Ten Ballot. One of the others is Martin Dihigo, whose WAR can’t be compared directly to players in the white majors, who played a much larger league schedule. The tenth man in WAR, Cy Blanton, did not get on the ballot, because he ranked 20th in Win Shares. He would not have made the ballot if I had not weighted Win Shares extra. Augie Galan, who finished 18th in WAR, was brought onto the ballot by being rated #6 in Win Shares, but that’s the only place where any WAR complaint can find any purchase. And I am just as surprised as you are; I was really worried that weighting WS double would just screw everything up. I thought I would need to drop the weighting to somewhere lower than double. But, nope.

The Top Ten in WS didn’t do quite that well, although it did well. The top 6 in WS all made the ballot, and #10, Charlie Gehringer, also made it. But #7 through #9, Joe Medwick, Buddy Myers and Billy Herman, finished 13th, 12th and 11th on the overall tally, just off the ballot. Dizzy Dean, who finished #11 in both WAR and WS, finished 14th overall. This happens regularly. A player who finished in the same place in both systems will regularly finish lower than that on the overall. So Augie Galan, who finished 18th and 6th, pulls ahead of Dean. It doesn't always happen (Lou Gehrig this year). But look at how close all the rankings are. There is, as I said, a deep consensus here. So, I’m going to try this again in 1936.

I’ve listed the ordinals for the two systems in parentheses for each player. For example, Mel Ott ranks #2 in Win Shares, and #8 in WAR. Enough explanation, here’s the list:

1. Arky Vaughan (1,1)
2. Lou Gehrig (3,3)
3. Mel Ott (2,8)
4. Wes Ferrell (4,5)
5. Hank Greenberg (5,7)
6. Martin Dihigo
7. Charlie Gehringer (10,4)
8. Lefty Grove (13,2)
9. Jimmie Foxx (12,6)
10. Augie Galan (6,18)

1935 ballot

1. Arky Vaughn 10.24 WARR
2. Wes Ferrell 9.43 WARR
3. Lou Gehrig 9.22 WARR
4. Lefty Grove 9.05 WARR
5. Cy Blanton 8.13 WARR
6. Hank Greenberg 7. 96 WARR
7. Jimmie Foxx 7.80 WARR
8. Martin Dihigo 7.48 WARR
9. Augie Galan 7.48 WARR
10. Luke Appling 7.43 WARR

Rest of top 20
11. Mel Ott
12. Charlie Gehringer
13. Billy Herman
14. Josh Gibson
15. Joe Vosmik
16. Leroy Matlock
17. Mel Harder
18. Pat Patterson
19. Syl Johnson
20. Willie Wells

1. Arky Vaughan
2. Wes Ferrell
3. Lefty Grove
4. Lou Gehrig
5. Jimmie Foxx
6. Hank Greenberg
7. Josh Gibson
8. Satchel Paige
9. Mel Harder
10. Mel Ott

--------------------

11. Dizzy Dean
12. Charlie Gehringer
13. Billy Herman
14. Cy Blanton
15. Leroy Matlock
16. Willie Wells
17. Martin Dihigo
18. Luke Appling
19. Joe Medwick
20. Turkey Stearnes
21. Augie Galan
22. Curt Davis

1935 ballot:

1. Arky Vaughan
2. Jimmie Foxx
3. Lou Gehrig
4. Hank Greenberg
5. Satchel Paige
6. Mel Ott
7. Gabby Hartnett
8. Wes Ferrell
9. Joe DiMaggio
10. Josh Gibson

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

1. Arky Vaughan
2. Hank Greenberg
3. Jimmie Foxx-gets a tiny catcher bonus
4. Wes Ferrell-bat helped bump him into top 5
5. Mel Ott
6. Lou Gehrig
7. Lefty Grove-probably would’ve just edged Ferrell on pitching alone
8. Charlie Gehringer
9. Martin Dihigo
10.Dizzy Deane

Honorable mention:
Cochrane & Hartnett were close due to catcher bonus & pennant-winning contributions
Wally Berger-poor guy plays for a 38-115 last place team and proceeds to lead the NL with 34 HR & 130 RBI despite his team being last in BA, OBP, SLG & OPS. Kinda reminds me of Andre Dawson’s MVP winning 1987 only Berger had a better season

1935 Ballot

1. Arky Vaughan, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates: easy #1 with 190 OPS+ and 147 RC
2. Jimmie Foxx, 1B, Philadelphia Athletics: 182 OPS+ and 156 RC to lead the American League
3. Leroy Matlock, P, Pittsburgh Crawfords: huge season with a 284 ERA+ in 90 recorded IP
4. Wes Ferrell, P, Cleveland Indians: moves up 10 spots thanks to extra value with the bat at 141 OPS+
5. Hank Greenberg, 1B, Detroit Tigers: 170 OPS+ and 159 RC
6. Lou Gehrig, 1B, New York Yankees: 175 OPS+ and 143 RC
7. Ray Brown, P/CF, Homestead Grays: 162 ERA+ and 135 OPS+
8. Josh Gibson, C, Pittsburgh Crawfords: 178 OPS+ is a bit of a down year for the big slugger
9. Lefty Grove, P, Boston Red Sox: best pitcher in MLB with 175 ERA+ in 273 IP
10. Gabby Hartnett, C, Chicago Cubs: 151 OPS+ is 3rd in NL to go with +8 fielding

11. Charlie Gehringer, 2B, Detroit Tigers: 138 OPS+ and +14 fielding
12. Mel Ott, RF, New York Giants
13. Dizzy Dean, P, St. Louis Cardinals: top pitcher in the NL
14. Joe Medwick, LF, St. Louis Cardinals
15. Billy Herman, 2B, Chicago Cubs
16. Martin Dihigo, P/CF, New York Cubans
17. Buddy Myer, 2B, Washington Senators
18. Cy Blanton, P, Pittsburgh Pirates
19. Joe Vosmik, LF, Cleveland Indians
20. Mickey Cochrane, C, Detroit Tigers

1935 Ballot- Corrected

I realized that I didn't regress Negro League hitting numbers at the same rate as pitching. That change is enough to drop Gibson just off-ballot.

1. Arky Vaughan, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates: easy #1 with 190 OPS+ and 147 RC
2. Jimmie Foxx, 1B, Philadelphia Athletics: 182 OPS+ and 156 RC to lead the American League
3. Leroy Matlock, P, Pittsburgh Crawfords: huge season with a 284 ERA+ in 90 recorded IP
4. Wes Ferrell, P, Cleveland Indians: moves up 10 spots thanks to extra value with the bat at 141 OPS+
5. Hank Greenberg, 1B, Detroit Tigers: 170 OPS+ and 159 RC
6. Lou Gehrig, 1B, New York Yankees: 175 OPS+ and 143 RC
7. Ray Brown, P/CF, Homestead Grays: 162 ERA+ and 135 OPS+
8. Lefty Grove, P, Boston Red Sox: best pitcher in MLB with 175 ERA+ in 273 IP
9. Gabby Hartnett, C, Chicago Cubs: 151 OPS+ is 3rd in NL to go with +8 fielding
10. Charlie Gehringer, 2B, Detroit Tigers: 138 OPS+, +14 fielding and +5 base-running

11. Josh Gibson, C, Pittsburgh Crawfords: 178 OPS+ is a bit of a down year for the big slugger
12. Mel Ott, RF, New York Giants
13. Dizzy Dean, P, St. Louis Cardinals: top pitcher in the NL
14. Joe Medwick, LF, St. Louis Cardinals
15. Billy Herman, 2B, Chicago Cubs
16. Martin Dihigo, P/CF, New York Cubans
17. Buddy Myer, 2B, Washington Senators
18. Cy Blanton, P, Pittsburgh Pirates
19. Joe Vosmik, LF, Cleveland Indians
20. Mickey Cochrane, C, Detroit Tigers

Official 1935 MMP Ballot (no postseason bonuses and a 2% reduction for NL players):

1) Leroy Matlack: Best ML/NeL player and pitcher - I held back my ballot for a while due to this, but I stand by it.
2) Arky Vaughan: Best NL player and ML shortstop.
3) Lou Gehrig: Best ML first baseman.
4) Hank Greenberg: Best Hank.
5) Buddy Myer: Best ML second baseman.
6) Wes Ferrell: Best AL pitcher.
7) Josh Gibson: Best ML/NeL catcher and NeL positional player.
8) Ray Brown: Best pitcher/centerfielder.
9) Charlie Gehringer: Best mechanical man.
10) Joe Medwick: Best left fielder.

Best NL pitcher: Jay Hanna

1935 MMP Ballot:

1. Arky Vaughan (35.72)
2. Wes Ferrell (27.23) - MMMPitcher/AL MMP
3. Lefty Grove (24.82)
4. Lou Gehrig (21.06) - AL MMPosition Player
5. Josh Gibson (20.11) - NgL MMP
6. Jimmie Foxx (19.89)
7. Charlie Gehringer (19.59)
8. Satchel Paige (18.98) - NgL MMPitcher
9. Billy Herman (18.42)
10. Mel Harder (18.20)

11-15. Leroy Matlock, Hank Greenberg, Dizzy Dean (NL MMPitcher), Mel Ott, Gabby Hartnett.

election is over