I have no earthly idea how the Veteran's committee works anymore, but ten nominees for 2009 will be voted on in December. The nominees are all players who started their careers in 1942 and earlier, so no joy for Ron Santo fans out there. Here are the 10:
Bill Dahlen
Wes Ferrell
Joe Gordon
Sherry Magee
Carl Mays
Allie Reynolds
Vern Stephens
Mickey Vernon
Bucky Walters
Deacon White
This is an extremely interesting group of players, I'm going to scrounge through my cards and try to do a profile of each in the next few months before the election. I have a '55 Bowman Allie Reynolds card sitting on my desk right now, so it shouldn't be too hard. The voting will be held on December 7th, and a maximum of four players will be elected. I wouldn't count on any of them getting in as it takes a 75% vote tally to be elected. A legitimate case can be made for all 10 players though.
In other Hall of Fame news, Falcons defensive end Claude Humphrey was nominated as a finalist by the seniors committee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Claude has been a finalist for the Hall before, but did not get elected. Humphrey is on the ballot with Bullet Bob Hayes, who should have been in the Hall a long time ago. Even though I loathe the 2008 Falcons with the blazing fury of a billion suns, I still like the crappy teams of the 70's and '80 and will be rooting for Claude this winter.
5 comments:
I cast a vote for Mickey Vernon. I still see his name pop up for signings from time to time near hear and he is 90 years old.
I have a feeling none of these players will be voted in, though the closest should probably be Joe Gordon.
There's a reason none of those guys are in the HOF yet:
Bill Dahlen -- turn of the century SS...above average fielder (with several years below .900) and lifetime .272
Wes Farrell -- 6 20-win seasons, 193 lifetime wins, 38 career HR's (most similar batters are Conor Jackson and Randall Simon). If he gets in, he and his brother Rick will be two of the worst HOF'ers and their stats will be used to further water down the HOF.
Joe Gordon -- decent argument here. 11 year career, but lost 2 years to WWII. MVP in 1942 (but that's a war year...) Precursor to the Ryne Sandberg/Jeff Kent power hitting 2nd baseman, but didn't have Sandberg's range. 5 World Series rings. Started All-Star Game 5 of his 11 seasons.
Sherwood Magee -- Deadball era "slugger" .291/.364/.427 neutralizes to .311/.385/.452. Was a top player of his era and should merit some serious consideration. However, he's been dead 80 years and none of today's voters will probably have heard much of him.
Carl Mays -- Good sidearm pitcher bridging gap from Deadball to Ruthian era. His previous HOF chances hurt by throwing the ball that killed Ray Chapman in 1920. While I think he can be forgiven for that, he can't be forgiven for a career K/BB ratio of 862/734.
Allie Reynolds -- 2 no-hitters in a season, 15 career wins in World Series w/6 rings, but regular season numbers unimpressive.
Vern Stephens -- had 3 monster years in Boston, but was otherwise unimpressive power hitting shortstop.
Mickey Vernon -- really nice guy that still signs cards through the mail, but he was a great glove 1Bman with 172 lifetime HRs and .286 batting average. Get his autograph, but he gets in the HOF we'll start hearing arguments for Keith Hernandez, Mark Grace, Ferris Fain and Phil Cavaretta.
Bucky Walters -- rightfully belongs in Reds HOF for his 3 20 game seasons, but with a lifetime 198-160, 3.30 115 ERA+, let's leave it at that.
Deacon White -- played in the 70's and 80's. That's the 1870's and 1880's. I have no way to compare stats for someone from the era that Professor Brown settled (Back to the Future III) to today's player or his contemporaries. I'd have to say that if folks who voted within the first 100 years after he played didn't vote him in, there's no reason to vote him in now.
I say Vernon because his Hernandez/Grace-like stats were mostly for playing with the awful Washington Senators. At least Hernandez and Grace made the playoffs every once in a while.
Mays belongs in the Hall. Win/loss percentage outstanding and probably most impressive his career ERA of 2.92. Most major league pitchers would consider this a career best ERA if they could post a sub 3.00 for even one year.
Check his hitting stats. A great hitting pitcher
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