33 Men (and one Woman) Out: The All-Time Worst Hall of Famers
A few weeks back, I made the bold claim that I could easily think of at least 20 Hall of Famers who should not be in the Hall, upon which Coley promptly challenged me to write a post naming names.
At first I was a bit worried as to whether I would be able to deliver the goods, but as I went down the list I was amazed at how many unworthy players had somehow snuck their way into the Hall over the years. I tried to give the benefit of the doubt as often as possible, and with many players there was at least an argument that could be made, but in the end, I was still left with 34 people who simply have no place in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
It’s not that some of these guys weren’t good players, or nice people, but awarding them baseball’s highest honor and putting their names and plaques along side the true immortals of the game makes a mockery of everything that the Hall stands for.
If I were commissioner of baseball, I would immediately call a one-time election to de-elect unworthy Hall of Famers, and these 34 names would top the ballot (in alphabetical order, not order of worstness) . .
1. Dave Bancroft, SS - Nobody can think of a good reason why the Veteran’s Committee elected Bancroft to the Hall in 1971, other than the fact that Bancroft had been a good friend and teammate of then-presiding Committee poobah Frankie Frisch. Although it is important to recognize that Bancroft was a shortstop, his numbers compare very poorly to almost all other middle-infielders in the Hall, with the exceptions of 
Phil Rizzuto, an equally questionable selection who also appears on this list, and Bill Mazeroski, who was perhaps the greatest fielding second baseman of all time, and thus gets more of a pass on his offense.
2. Jake Beckley, 1B - Anyone ever heard of Jake Beckley? Anyone at all? There is a reason why you haven’t, which is that he really wasn’t all that great, especially for a first baseman. But he was elected by the Veterans Committee nearly a century after he played because the Veterans like people who hit over .300, and Beckley sometimes hit over .300.
3. Jim Bunning, P - His big accomplishment was that he won 100 games and had 1000 strikeouts in each of the two leagues. But overall he was just 224-184. 
He was, however, a powerful and influential US Congressman when the Veterans Committee elected him in 1996.
4. Morgan Bulkeley, Executive - Served as president of the National League for one (1) year. Yep, that is what he did.
5. Orlando Cepeda, 1B - Nobody would deny that Cepeda was a pretty good hitter, but for a first baseman his numbers are poor compared with the rest of the guys in the Hall. His career stats have become a popular low-end benchmark for people to compare with when trying to make the case for putting other marginal players in to the Hall.
6. Red Faber, P - Had a few decent seasons along with numerous mediocre to terrible seasons. He did win over 20 games four different times, but that was only because he was pitching 40-50 games those years. In his four 20-win seasons he also lost 14, 13, 15, and 17 games. That is not quality, just quantity. And it is certainly not Hall of Fame level dominance.
7. Rick Farrell, C - A very popular pick for the worst Hall of Famer of them all, Farrell’s top comps according to Baseball Reference are some dudes named Deacon McGuire, Jim Gantner, Claude Ritchey, Tony Cuccinello, and Billy Jurges. Um. Yeah. Top catcher comp is Tony Pena. Anyone for putting Tony Pena in the Hall?
8. Chick Hafey, OF - A kind of okay player when he was actually on the field, Hafey only played one or two complete seasons, and only had three seasons of hitting even 20 home runs. But damn! This man has a career batting average of .317!! Clearly, that means he must have been awesome!!!
9. Jesse Haines, P - Unbelievably mediocre pitcher who is one of the most baffling Hall selections of all time.
10. Harry Hooper - I defy you to give me any justification at all for why Harry Hooper is in the Hall of Fame. Playing in the Dead Ball Era, he posted a career batting average of only .281 as an outfielder. He doesn’t seem to have been particularly good at anything.
11. Waite Hoyt, P - 237-182, 3.59 ERA, only won 20 games twice. Only in the Hall of Fame because he was a New York Yankee.
12. Travis Jackson, SS - With a career OPS+ of 102, I guess he must be in for his defense or something, but then again, we are talking about the same Travis Jackson who once made 58 errors in a season. A most befuddling selection.
13. George Kell, 3B - Kell’s Hall of Fame plaque calls him “solid” hitter and a “sure-handed” fielder. Huh. Well, that sounds good and all, but it doesn’t exactly bespeak Hall of Fame awesomeness. He did lead the AL in batting average one season. I guess that’s kind of cool.
14. George Kelly, 1B - A 109 career OPS+ is simply terrible for a first baseman. Terrible!
15. Bowie Kuhn, Commissioner - Fought the advent of free agency tooth and nail, but failed anyway. Proposed putting black players in a separate and unequal wing of the Hall of Fame. Tried to ban Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle from baseball forever in 1983. Only known achievement in 15 years as commish: introducing nighttime World Series games, which everyone hates now anyway. Perhaps worst of all, his induction makes Bud Selig a lock for the Hall by comparison.
16. Tony Lazzeri, 2B - Elected in 1991 at a time when the Veterans Committee was going through a phase where it thought it had better elect any player who was ever associated with the 1927 Yankees.
17. Ted Lyons, P - Had a few good seasons, and many, many mediocre ones. His ERA was as often above 4.00 as not. Compiled a very uninspiring record of 260-230, despite pitching for 21 seasons.
18. Freddie Lindstrom, 3B/OF - Only played until age 30. Only collected 1747 hits. Seems to have been elected by the Veterans Committee solely because he once hit .379 in a season, in 1930.
19. Effa Manley, Executive - Apparently picked entirely for PC reasons, she was the wife of the owner of a Negro League team, and is currently the only woman in the Hall of Fame. She was a civil rights activist, which is honorable, but her primary baseball-related activity was her well-documented hobby of sleeping with many of the players on the team.
20. Tommy McCarthy, OF - His statistics were pretty poor by the standards of his day. He really only had three good seasons, and nobody with a 102 OPS+ should be allowed anywhere near the Hall of Fame, at least not without paying admission like everyone else.
21. Rube Marquard, P - Had three great seasons in a row from ages 24-26. Problem was, he kept pitching until he was 38, while struggling to be even league average, compiling a career ERA+ of only 103.
22. Hal Newhouser, P - Newhouser was a mediocre pitcher who suddenly had three seasons for the ages from 1944-1946, while all the good hitters were away fighting in World War II. Once they they returned, and Newhouser was no longer pitching against minor leaguers, he went back to being mediocre. A classic example of the Veteran’s committee paying no attention whatsoever to context.
23. Tony Perez, 1B - First basemen are vastly over-represented in the Hall of Fame, and Tony Perez is arguably the worst first baseman in the Hall. But Joe Morgan will not rest until the entire Big Red Machine is in the Hall, and Joe Morgan has a lot of friends.
24. Herb Pennock, P - 240 wins, 3.60 ERA, 106 career ERA+
25. Eppa Rixey, P - Career record of 266-251. Ouch.
26. Phil Rizzuto, SS - His top comp is Jose Offerman. The only other Hall of Famer in his top ten comps is the even more undeserving Johnny Evers. Even Phil Rizzuto didn’t think he should have been in the Hall of Fame. But he had the unbeatable combo of being a Yankee and also being a lovable Yankee. Eventually, the Veteran’s Committee just couldn’t resist.
27. Red Ruffing, P - His 3.80 career ERA is one of the worst in the Hall. Only in because he was a New York Yankee.
28. Red Schoendienst, 2B - It’s really, really hard to think of any career accomplishments for Red Schoendienst. Um, I guess he once had a season of 200 hits. Oh, and he led the national league twice in at-bats. And he does hold the record for most doubles in a three-game span! But he also had a career OBP of .337 and a terrible career OPS+ of only 93. His selection is another oozing black sore on the sorry history of the Veteran’s Committee.
29-31. Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, Frank Chance, SS-2B-1B - These guys are ONLY in the Hall because somebody happened to write a catchy poem about them. Tinker’s top 20th century comp is Ozzie Guillen; Evers has Mark McLemore on his list; and Chance (a first baseman) has Darryl Hamilton among his top comps. And statistically, they weren’t even good at turning double plays!
32. Lloyd Waner, OF - Let’s face it: Lloyd Waner is only in the Hall of Fame because he played alongside his much more talented brother, and once they put Paul in the Hall, it seemed only fair to put Lloyd in too. Lloyd did manage to finish with a career average over .300, but he only played 5 full seasons without significant injury or benching, and had a career OPS+ of 99, meaning he was actually a below average hitter for his era
33. Vic Willis, P - Sure he won over 20 games 8 different times. But this was from 1898 to 1910, and he was routinely starting 40 games and tossing over 350 innings a season. Compared to his peers of the day, he was thoroughly mediocre. This was long understood, and he was not tapped for the Hall until 1995, when a cock-eyed Veterans Committee looked back and saw only those 20-win seasons without any consideration of context or era.
34. Tom Yawkey, Owner - Last owner to sign a black player. Passed on chances to sign Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays. His team never won a World Series. Seriously, it’s time to rename that street already.
January 2nd, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I don’t know, Nick, Harry Hooper doesn’t seem like a horrible oozing sore on the face of the Hall of Fame. Not a lock, perhaps, but he was a great leadoff hitter while he was with the Red Sox. He still holds franchise records for triples and steals, and he was a solid defensive right fielder as well. He also helped win four World Series for Boston between 1912 and 1918. That’s not too shabby.
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January 2nd, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Interesting post, but you made a few mistakes. Beckley, Bunning, Cepeda, Faber, Farrell, Hooper, Lazzeri, Lyons, Newhouser, Perez, Rixey, Rizzuto, Ruffing, Schoendienst, and the three Cubs weren’t bad picks, and Willis was no worse than so-so. I wouldn’t vote for all of them, but would for some, and the others have a case. For many, you forgot to adjust for era, which is the source of the problem. The other guys (and the woman), yeah, they were bad picks. And there were others.
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January 2nd, 2008 at 4:07 pm
I can disagree with some of the things in this post, but Shawn, one thing that I do think is done well here is adjusting to era. That’s what things like OPS plus and ERA plus do. It’s their sole purpose of existence.
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January 2nd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Shawn, you are going to have to give me some evidence for why you think those guys should be in, other than just telling us that you think they should be.
I mean seriously, “Willis was no worse than so-so”? It’s not the “Hall of So-So” my friend, it’s the Hall of Fame.
As for adjusting for era, I was constantly adjusting for era when I wrote this post! Or didn’t you notice how many times I mentioned OPS plus and ERA plus?
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January 2nd, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Hooper still holds Boston’s record for steals, but I’m not sure that’s such a big deal. His stolen base percentages were crap (he stole 16 bases in 1920 and was caught 18 times!).
Consider, if Johnny Damon had played all of his seasons in Boston, he’d be the team’s all-time leader in steals. But that still wouldn’t make him a HOF candidate, would it?
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January 2nd, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Plus, look at Hooper’s power numbers. For the first 12 years of his career, he hit 30 HRs. In the next four years (1921-1924), when he hit his mid-thirties, he ABSOLUTELY EXPLODES for 39 dingers (can you imagine that?). Can you say anabolic steroids? I mean, come on.
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January 2nd, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Paul: Dead Ball Era. Dead Ball Era. Dead Ball Era.
Coley: Do you have a smartass answer for his franchise record in triples, too? Besides, it’s clear that Hooper had a better arm than Damon ever did. Pussy.
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January 2nd, 2008 at 6:38 pm
If having a better arm than Johnny Damon gets one into the Hall of Fame, then my parents are going to be very proud.
And, just to be clear, you’re calling Johnny Damon a pussy, not me. Right?
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January 2nd, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Yeah, that joke was way funnier in my mind… Somehow, the written word failed to do it justice.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 12:51 am
Yes, Damon is a pussy. I would have been more clear if I thought there could possibly be any confusion. In fact, sometimes, when you hear me muttering “Jackass! Pussy! Sniveling little shit!” I am actually thinking about Johnny Damon. Though he and his rapidly deteriorating body can go screw themselves, as I have found true love now with Jacoby.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 12:54 am
Paul, I thought your joke was funny.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 1:45 am
The only listing I feel qualified to take issue with is Frank Chance. You\’d need to give more evidence that he was less than an elite player at the 1B position, given the era. Further, I believe he deserves credit (or rather, you need to show why he doesn\’t) for managing a juggernaut Cubs team that won over 100 games four times, won four pennants, and won 2 World\’s Series in five years (1906-10).
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January 3rd, 2008 at 2:34 am
That’s a good point, A Linn. I didn’t consider Chance’s role as player-manager of that Cubs team, which may put him over the top. He definitely shouldn’t be in on stats alone though, and I stand by Evers and Tinkers as being horrible choices.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 9:32 am
Thank you, Coley. By the way, why haven’t we done a HBW post on Effa Manley yet? She makes me feel kind of funny. Like when we used to climb the ropes in gym class. I’d love to do the Charleston with her. That dance is so much hotter than the Jitterbug.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 10:22 am
Paul, you find me a picture of Effa Manley in a bikini and you’ve got a deal.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Wow, when you put it like that, Barry Bonds should be a shoo-in.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 3:06 pm
I don’t know how much more qualified it makes him since he did only have a .522 winning %, but Schoendienst did win over 1000 games as a manager, taking 2 teams to the World Series and winning one of them. He was also considered to be a top defensive 2B. And BR does have his HoF monitor at 109.5, which will not amazing, does I think make calling his inclusion an “oozing black sore” a bit harsh.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Frank Chance has a career ops of 135. That is higher than Al Kaline, a right fielder and certain hall of famer. It\’s higher than Big Poison\’s. He had no power numbers, but he played at the turn of the century. The years he played at least half the games, 1901-1910, the highest home run total in the NL was 16. Five of those years the leader was in single digits. There were two years when the leader had 10 home runs.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Hard to argue with any of your picks. Baseball history wouldn’t suffer by the exclusion of any of those guys, and it’s hardly a coincidence that many of them were elected by the Veterans Committee. I’d also suggest some additional names:
* Kirby Puckett, who got in on sympathy for his eye injury, but was no better than Rice or Mattingly
* Cal Ripken Jr., who got in for stupidly going to work every day for more than a decade straight, but who was no better than Alan Trammell
* Mordecai Brown, who had 3 fingers and that’s just creepy
* Jack Chesbro, who won 41 games one year (1904, I believe) and did nothing else notable. Basically the Bob Welch of his era.
* Rabbit Maranville. Dude hit .258 for his career and supposedly made the hall because he told great dick jokes.
* Nellie Fox. Gay name.
* Frankie Frisch, Earl Averill, Earl Combes. I can never keep straight which guy used to hit foul balls for shits and giggles, which one was the Fordham Flash, and which one inspired My Name is Earl. Get rid of ‘em all
* Howie Long. Self explanatory.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Jim Gantner, just “some dude”? This Brewers fan sheds a tear.
Farrell does blow, though.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Jon, while you were checking out Chance’s OPS , did you notice how many career at-bats he had? 4297. Or that he posted 400 ABs all of 4 times? I’m not sure if he was always hurt or what, but this guy was in the league for 17 years and hardly ever played. Granted, he was one of the best players in the National League from 1903 to 1906, but I think his closest modern comp would be someone like Mike Sweeney: good for a while, but hardly a HOFer.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 4:32 pm
The number one subtractions from the HOF should be the goddamned Veterans committee.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 5:00 pm
@Cam Martin:
“Cal Ripken Jr., who got in for stupidly going to work every day for more than a decade straight, but who was no better than Alan Trammell”
Trammell’s desert notwithstanding, that someone could argue Cal Ripken Jr. doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame is pretty surprising. Is this a joke?
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January 3rd, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Nick,
I wish you were the commissioner instead of Selig but even if you were you wouldn’t have jurisdiction over the HOF. You may be aware of that but many people don’t realize it is an independent organization not under MLB’s control. This was a really interesting and well researched post. I agree with most of your picks, there are way too many Yankees in the Hall simply because of the teams they were on, same goes for Perez. Kuhn and Yawkey are possibly the most undeserving members of all and should be considered embarrassments to the game. You did mention Mazeroski and I think he is a guy that should be added to your list. While known for having good hands and turning the double play, some have questioned his range. Even if you considered him a great defender he would not be in the Hall if it wasn’t for a World Series winning home run. It was a great moment in baseball history but shouldn’t have vaulted him into the HOF.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Several of these candidates are in based primarily on the success of “The Glory of Their Times.” It’s a good book, but if people are going to be elected based on story telling, I guess Canseco, Rose, and Dock Ellis will be selected in a few years.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 6:27 pm
@Tommy
Ripken belongs in the hall, but he and Nolan Ryan don’t deserve to have some of the highest vote totals of all time, which they do. That only serves to underscore how unsophisticated most Hall of Fame voters seem to be. 575 voting members? That’s ridiculous. You should have to be elected to the voting committee, not simply cover baseball for 10 years to become eligible to vote. In fact, if they simply left it up to Tim Kurkjian, Jonah Keri, Rob Neyer, Bill James, and me, I’d be fine with that.
Ripken was good, but the last third of his career was an embarrassment, and The Streak is the most overrated sports accomplishment in history.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Yawkey really was that bad. But… only one team signed Jackie Robinson. Why do the rest of the owners get a pass? JR actually had a try-out with the Red Sox - the other teams didn’t even look at him. Which is worse?
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January 3rd, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I would agree across the board with your picks, and would add Bill Maz and Nellie Fox to the list. I would rather have Alan Trammell any day than either one, and I did get to see Maz play at the tail end of his career. Now how about players who SHOULD be in the HOF but aren’t?
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January 3rd, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Jim Bunning was a 7-time all star, won 17 games in a season eight times, was the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in both leagues, one of which was the first perfect game in the NL since John Montgomery Ward threw one in *1880*, and believe it or not was SECOND in career strikeouts when he retired in 1971. That’s right, only Walter Johnson had struck out more batters in MLB history than Bunning had when he retired.
Oh ya, and he had a stretch from 1956-67 in which, if you throw out his “off year” OPS of 96 in 1963, he *averaged* a 129 OPS for over a decade. Say what you will about his politics, but the third-worst Hall of Fame selection ever?? Not even close.
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January 3rd, 2008 at 10:08 pm
David R, we actually already DID have a look at players who should be in but aren’t. The post is here:
Umpbump Fixes the Hall of Fame, Part I: Getting the Right People In
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January 3rd, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Cal Ripken Jr. is a HOF. There is no question about it.
He is a 19-time All Star. Rookie of the Year. Multiple MVP’s. 20 HR seasons for 10 consecutive years. 3000 hits.
Trammell may be worthy. But he hass less than half the HR that Ripken does. Doesn’t have 3000 hits. Didn’t “Show up to work everyday” etc. Not an MVP.
Cal is a HOF. Trammell may be someday…but you picked the wrong guy to go after.
As to the original list, Only Cepeda do I have an issue with.
And to the Sox Fan who bashed Damon repeatedly….Jacoby Ellsbury’s top comparable is Reggie Willits, who is the Angels 5th or 6th best OF for 08, minus the World Series success. But a lot of players have excellent World Series and mediocre careers. Think Scott Speizio.
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January 4th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Red Ruffing has the highest ERA among the players in the Hall, but that’s not that big a deal, is it? I mean someone HAS to hold that distinction, right? If you bump him out, then ted Lyons takes that title.
Besides, he pitched most of his career in the offense-crazed 1930’s, so when you look at adjusted ERA (109, admittedly unspectacular) he’s as good as Kid Nichols, and better than Jesse Haines, Don Sutton, Burleigh Grimes, Early Wynn, Herb Pennock, Catfish Hunter, and Rube Marquard. Still not exactly Walter Johnson, but better than 3.80 would suggest.
In addition, he missed 2 years due to WWII, and got lousy run support while playing for all those crummy Boston teams in the 1920’s. Change those two things and he’s a 300 game winner.
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January 4th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Brent, what’s your source for the Ellsbury-Willits comp?
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January 4th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Thanks for being gutsy enough to say what has been needed for a long time.
Consider some o the following too:
Roy Campanella, Dizzy Dean, Larry Doby, Gabby Hartntt, Sandy Koufax, Ernie Lombardi and Bil Mazeroski.
The Hall should enshrine only thegratest.
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January 4th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
SANDY KOUFAX?!
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January 4th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Dizzy Dean, I would say, does not belong. He pitched five full seasons, plus four more when he was injured more than half the time each season. (He also appeared in one game in 1930.) He was excellent in 1932, fantastic from 33-35, and very, very good in 1936 and the second half of 1938. The rest of the time he sucked. Even at the time people complained that he was elected more for being colorful than for being great. He was a mean racist and anti-Semite, too, although of the name-calling variety rather than the physically-hurting-people variety.
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January 4th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Good post, though I have a couple issues. You defenitely seem to play with some facts every once in awhile to make your points (I know, who doesn’t right?)
Still, two things that rubbed me the wrong way:
1) Ted Lyons
Cmon! Who doesn’t think Ted Lyons should be in the Hall of Fame? His entry seemed to run counter to everything else you were saying, since you explicitly didn’t adjust for era this time around. Who cares what his ERA was? His ERA (which you used in almost every other pitching argument, yet you strangely avoided it here) is a solid 118. Plus, it was less than 100 (i.e. below average) only 4 times in 20 years: his first 2, and a couple in the middle when it was 97 (more or less league average).
I think my problem is you listing him as having had plenty of “mediocre” seasons. I don’t know what your defenition of that word is, but mine certainly isn’t someone who was ABOVE AVERAGE in nearly every single season he had in the league. You can’t complain that someone like Waite Hoyt is in because of inflated win totals and winning percentage because he played for the Yankees, and then get upset because Ted Lyons is in with a lower WP% because he played mostly for a second division White Sox club. Just apply the same logic all around, that’s all I asked.
2) Hal Newhouser
Now, let me say I’m not positive Prince Hal deserves to be a hall of famer. As is, I don’t mind him in, but I could be convinced. That said, your arguments were terrible.
You ignored his ERA of 130, which is SPECTACULAR no matter how you arrange it. Yes, two of his marquee seasons were in 44 and 45 against inferior competition. But, it’s just a flat lie to group 46 in there. Everyone was back from the war then, and Newhouser was JUST as dominant as ever, finishing second in the MVP vote to some guy named Ted Williams. He also made all star teams in 46, 47 and 48. Not bad for a purely ‘mediocre’ pitcher (perhaps once again my main complaint is with your choice of words).
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January 4th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
A couple of lines there that say ERA above should say ERA plus. Should be obvious which ones, sorry about that.
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January 4th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
theycutthepower, I think you mean ERAplus. For some reason, the plus sign isn’t showing. UmpBump maybe needed a little snack?
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January 4th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I’m going to go ahead and guess that when theycutthepower was talking about ERA, he meant “ERA plus.”
For whatever reason, Wordpress doesn’t like it when we type plus signs in the comments. So it’s best to spell out the word “plus.”
I know that’s annoying. Sorry.
Wordpress, you are on notice: mend your wicked ways, or we are going to leave you.
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January 4th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
@theycutthepower - thanks for your thoughtful comments.
You make good points about Lyons, and I think you’ve convinced me that he was an “above average” pitcher for most of those years, but you’d have to do more to get me to believe that he is worthy of the Hall of Fame.
For the record, when I say “mediocre”, I mean “mediocre for a Hall of Famer.” Because really, none of these guys was mediocre compared to everyone.
As for Newhouser, I generally include 1946 as part of the war years because while many players were back, not all of them were back yet, and many of those that were back were rusty. Certainly Ted Williams didn’t seem to rusty, and some players were able to keep up their skills on Armed Services teams, but lots of players were not. In any case, the quality of competition did not return all the way to prewar levels until 1947.
But the main thing about Newhouser is, would he have been a Hall of Famer without that wartime boost? I think he is already a borderline candidate even if we completely ignore the fact that he pitched during the war. Three great seasons and a few good ones doesn’t stack up well with most of the pitchers in the hall of fame, who were great for many, many years. To to my mind, when you consider the context, we have to take Newhouser out.
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January 11th, 2008 at 5:42 am
Jake Beckley hit .300 more than just “sometimes”. He did it 13 times, including four in the “deadball era”.
His OPS is 125 so he had some power too - fourth in career triples. On the leaderboards for extra base hits for many years, long career, profiles a bit like Palmeiro (w/out the juice)
Career totals of 1600 runs, 1575 RBIs, 2930 hits. Those totals must have been among the all-time best when he retired - considering Cap Anson had the most hits with 3000 when he did. Beckley is still FIRST in total 1B putouts and chances, and second in games played behind Eddie Murray (another similar guy).
And BTW, his top 9 comparables are in HOF.
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January 11th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Philip, at least you got your comps from Baseball Reference (I’m assuming). I still demand to know where the Willits-Ellsbury comp came from. But I don’t think that dude is coming back.
Regarding our friend Beckley, I don’t really think you can say he had some power (though he did have a whopping 10 talljacks in 1892). More like he had a lot of speed (which explains both the extra base hits and the steals). He’s the archetypal dead ball era hitter: get the bat on the ball and run as fast as you can.
Now, Nick probably wasn’t that fair to him. After all, he played in an era when no one was expected to hit for power, even the corner guys. And I’d say finishing with a lifetime BA of over .300 after 20 years is pretty impressive (though it doesn’t put him in the top 100). He does rank 33rd all-time in career hits—pretty good. So maybe it’s not quite fair of Nick to ask if anyone’s ever heard of him. After all, he did die in 1918.
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January 11th, 2008 at 10:43 am
I don’t feel too strongly for or against Jake Beckley. While I do have to give the guy props for being a consistent hitter throughout his career, if we’re going to give credit to Beckley for hitting over .300 in the dead-ball era, then we need to account for the fact that for the first half of his career, his BAs weren’t so superior to everyone else. From 1889-1899, the league batting average was .279. As a comparison, the MLB average in 2007 was .268. The argument that Beckley was a .300 hitter so often doesn’t have as much weight when you consider this. He basically batted 11% better than the average hitter of his day, which today would translate to a BA of around .295. In fact, in 1894, everyone and their grandmothers hit over .300 (league average was .309). Don’t get me wrong, it’s still impressive. Just putting it into context.
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March 25th, 2008 at 12:11 am
I know this post is months old, but I’m resurrecting it to leave a comment, and in contrast to the previous comments I’m actually going to take issue with your view on the one woman inductee.
Did you read the wikipedia article on Effa Manley? Or anything else about her?
She managed all aspects of the Eagles baseball club, guided it to a Negro League World Series, and made a huge difference in raising the profile of the entire Negro League. It’s widely acknowledged that she, and not her husband, was actually the Treasurer for the Negro National League, and that she was the most adept promoter and marketer in the league.
Even more importantly she fought to get better schedules, better working conditions and better salaries throughout the entire league - she and her husband even sponsored a Puerto Rican league team to make sure that the players would have money coming in during the off-season.
She fought to stop MLB teams from taking NNL players without compensation, and finally established the precedent that Negro League contracts should be honored by MLB clubs when she negotiated the sale of Larry Dobbs contract to the Cleveland Indians - making Dobbs the first black player in the American League by the way. After that MLB owners had to negotiate compensation instead of simply ignoring the preexisting contracts.
On top of that she used the team and her standing to promote civil rights issues.
These are monumental achievements for a black woman in the 1930s and 1940s.
(I realize that it’s debatable whether Manley was actually black or not, but she was perceived to be black most of her life)
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March 25th, 2008 at 12:12 am
…good article though by the way. I should’ve mentioned that before the rant.
cheers
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July 16th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Tony Perez”Doggie” to his Reds teammates because
he bit the pitcher with men in scoring position,
and Orlando Cepeda are examples of men who compiled deceptively poor batting statistics du-
ring a pitchers’ era.As for Newhouser,he had a
21-win,18-win and 15-win season AFTER W.W Two,so
his selection to Cooperstown isn’t as bad as it appears.Red Schoendienst was,after Jackie Robin-
son,the National League’s best second baseman in
the 50’s.
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July 28th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
MP,Dizzy Dean(who definitely DOES belong in The
Hall),advocated blacks being in the bigs in the 30’s when few other whites opened their mouths on
the subject(when they weren’t denigrating blacks,
that is.)And Diz and Satchel Paige were boys!
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September 24th, 2008 at 12:00 am
All those who the worst hall of famers should be in a special wing:THE HALL OF FAME FOR THE CRAZIES.
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