Voting results

Below are full voting results for my project on the 25 most important people in baseball history.

The following chart contains 350 names, in alphabetical order of first name: 172 who appeared on a ballot I provided and received at least vote; 18 who appeared on the ballot and didn’t receive any votes; and another 160 people who received write-in votes.

A total of 262 people voted in this project. Their names can be found here. I’ll also provide a link to the original ballot and my personal top ten, from September.

Rank Person Votes Notes
220-tie Aaron Chapman 1 Write-in
149-tie Abner Doubleday 3 Write-in
220-tie Abraham G. Mills 1
170-tie Al Reach 2 Write-in
13 Al Spalding 116
170-tie Albert Pujols 2
217-tie Albert Von Tilzer 1.5 Write-in
101-tie Alex Rodriguez 9
35 Alexander Cartwright 65
220-tie Alexander Chadwick 1 Write-in
220-tie Alexander Cleland 1 Write-in
170-tie Alfred H. Spink 2 Write-in
220-tie Alfred Reach 1 Write-in
75-tie Allan Roth 15
220-tie Amos Rusie 1 Write-in
115-tie Andy Messersmith 6 Write-in
220-tie Archie Ward 1 Write-in
115-tie Arnold Rothstein 6 Write-in
220-tie Augie Bush 1 Write-in
1 Babe Ruth 259
15-tie Ban Johnson 108
170-tie Barney Dreyfuss 2 Write-in
19-tie Barry Bonds 107
71-tie Bart Giamatti 17
220-tie Bernie Williams 1 Write-in
170-tie Bill Buckner 2 Write-in
220-tie Bill Doak 1 Write-in
8 Bill James 159
115-tie Bill Klem 6
149-tie Bill Mazeroski 3
220-tie Bill Miller 1 Write-in
23-tie Bill Veeck 95
220-tie Bill White 1 Write-in
170-tie Billy Bean 2 Write-in
81-tie Billy Beane 14 Write-in
170-tie Billy Martin 2 Write-in
136-tie Bo Jackson 4
220-tie Bob Bowman 1 Write-in
71-tie Bob Feller 17
64-tie Bob Gibson 20
220-tie Bob Howsam 1 Write-in
220-tie Bob Uecker 1 Write-in
220-tie Bob Watson 1 Write-in
220-tie Bobby Cox 1 Write-in
220-tie Bobby Murcer 1 Write-in
170-tie Bobby Thomson 2
57-tie Bowie Kuhn 27
3 Branch Rickey 224
170-tie Brooks Robinson 2
170-tie Bruce Sutter 2 Write-in
220-tie Bryce Harper 1 Write-in
170-tie Buck Leonard 2
41 Buck O’Neil 49
220-tie Bud Fowler 1 Write-in
21 Bud Selig 105
33 Cal Ripken Jr. 75
75-tie Candy Cummings 15
37 Cap Anson 55
169 Carl Mays 2.5 Write-in
220-tie Carl Stotz 1 Write-in
149-tie Carl Yastrzemski 3 Write-in
220-tie Carlton Fisk 1
40 Casey Stengel 50
56 Charles Comiskey 28
92-tie Charlie Finley 11 Write-in
136-tie Charlie Lau 4
136-tie Chris von der Ahe 4 Write-in
39 Christy Mathewson 52
149-tie Clark Griffith 3 Write-in
25 Connie Mack 94
170-tie Cool Papa Bell 2
220-tie Craig Calcaterra 1 Write-in
220-tie Cristobal Torriente 1 Write-in
170-tie Cumberland Posey 2
10-tie Curt Flood 141
220-tie Curt Gowdy 1 Write-in
15-tie Cy Young 108
220-tie Damon Runyon 1 Write-in
170-tie Daniel Okrent 2 Write-in
220-tie Danny Litwhiler 1 Write-in
220-tie Dave Cameron 1 Write-in
149-tie Dave McNally 3 Write-in
220-tie Dave Raymond 1 Write-in
109-tie Dave Smith 7
220-tie David Halberstam 1
170-tie David Ortiz 2 Write-in
220-tie Dennis Eckersley 1 Write-in
170-tie Denny McLain 2 Write-in
60 Derek Jeter 25
220-tie DeWolf Hopper 1
149-tie Dick Young 3
220-tie Dickie Pearce 1 Write-in
115-tie Dizzy Dean 6
125-tie Doc Adams 5 Write-in
220-tie Dock Ellis 1 Write-in
220-tie Don Larsen 1
220-tie Don Sutton 1 Write-in
220-tie Don Zimmer 1 Write-in
170-tie Donald Fehr 2 Write-in
NR Doris Kearns Goodwin 0
220-tie Dorothy Seymour Mills 1
125-tie Dummy Hoy 5
220-tie Dwight Gooden 1 Write-in
75-tie Earl Weaver 15
NR Earnshaw Cook 0
64-tie Ed Barrow 20
220-tie Edgar Martinez 1 Write-in
105-tie Effa Manley 8
NR Eleanor Engle 0
220-tie Emmanuel Cellar 1 Write-in
170-tie Emmett Ashford 2
149-tie Ernest Lanigan 3 Write-in
136-tie Ernest Lawrence Thayer 4
109-tie Ernie Banks 7
149-tie Ernie Harwell 3 Write-in
220-tie Fay Vincent 1 Write-in
170-tie Fernando Valenzuela 2 Write-in
220-tie Fidel Castro 1 Write-in
220-tie Firpo Marberry 1 Write-in
55 Ford Frick 29
14 Dr. Frank Jobe 110.5
43-tie Frank Robinson 46
220-tie Frank Thomas 1 Write-in
149-tie Frankie Frisch 3
220-tie Franklin D. Roosevelt 1 Write-in
136-tie Fred Lieb 4
220-tie Fred Merkle 1 Write-in
220-tie Gary Gillette 1
149-tie George Brett 3
220-tie George F. Cahill 1 Write-in
96-tie George Mitchell 10
28 George Steinbrenner 88
220-tie George Stoneman 1 Write-in
149-tie George Weiss 3 Write-in
170-tie George Wright 2 Write-in
170-tie Grantland Rice 2 Write-in
96-tie Greg Maddux 10
170-tie Grover Cleveland Alexander 2
220-tie Guglielmo Marconi 1 Write-in
170-tie Gus Greenlee 2
115-tie Hal Chase 6
4-tie Hank Aaron 195
48-tie Hank Greenberg 36
71-tie Happy Chandler 17
109-tie Dr. Harold Seymour 7
89-tie Harry Caray 12
136-tie Harry Frazee 4
36 Harry Wright 61
15-tie Henry Chadwick 108
105-tie Hideo Nomo 8 Write-in
NR Hilda Chester 0
220-tie HOK architects 1 Write-in
34 Honus Wagner 74
149-tie Horace Stoneham 3 Write-in
220-tie Horace Wilson 1 Write-in
220-tie Hoyt Wilhelm 1 Write-in
136-tie Hugh Fullerton 4
38 Ichiro Suzuki 54.5
220-tie Ila Borders 1
220-tie Ira Rothstein 1 Write-in
53-tie J.G. Taylor Spink 32
220-tie Jack Brickhouse 1 Write-in
170-tie Jack Buck 2 Write-in
220-tie Jack Chesbro 1 Write-in
NR Jack Morris 0
217-tie Jack Norworth 1.5 Write-in
NR Jackie Mitchell 0
2 Jackie Robinson 257
64-tie Colonel Jacob Ruppert 20
136-tie Dr. James Andrews 4 Write-in
NR Jean Faut 0
149-tie Jean Yawkey 3
220-tie Jeff Kent 1 Write-in
96-tie Jerome Holtzman 10
125-tie Jim Abbott 5
53-tie Jim Bouton 32
220-tie Jim Brosnan 1 Write-in
149-tie Jim Creighton 3
170-tie Jimmie Foxx 2
NR Joanne Weaver 0
NR Joe Carter 0
170-tie Joe Cronin 2 Write-in
26 Joe DiMaggio 93
220-tie Joe Garagiola 1 Write-in
136-tie Joe McCarthy 4 Write-in
170-tie Joe Morgan 2
220-tie Joe Spear 1 Write-in
101-tie Joe Torre 9
220-tie John “Bud” Hillerich 1 Write-in
125-tie John Dewan 5
220-tie John Holway 1 Write-in
220-tie John M. Dowd 1
23-tie John McGraw 95
48-tie John Montgomery Ward 36
220-tie John Paulson 1 Write-in
220-tie John T. Brush 1 Write-in
96-tie John Thorn 10
109-tie Johnny Bench 7
220-tie Johnny Podres 1
NR Johnny Sain 0
220-tie Jon Miller 1 Write-in
51 Jose Canseco 34
52 Josh Gibson 33
170-tie Juan Marichal 2 Write-in
NR Judy Johnson 0
NR Jules Tygiel 0
75-tie Ken Burns 15
89-tie Ken Griffey Jr. 12
220-tie Ken Holtzman 1 Write-in
4-tie Kenesaw Mountain Landis 195
220-tie Kevin Costner 1 Write-in
92-tie King Kelly 11
220-tie Kirby Puckett 1 Write-in
NR Kirk Gibson 0
75-tie L. Robert Davids 15
64-tie Larry Doby 20
220-tie Larry Luchino 1 Write-in
81-tie Larry MacPhail 14
115-tie Lawrence Ritter 6
220-tie Lee Allen 1 Write-in
149-tie Lefty Grove 3 Write-in
75-tie Lefty O’Doul 15
85-tie Leo Durocher 13
136-tie Lip Pike 4
NR Lizzie Arlington 0
220-tie Lizzie Murphy 1 Write-in
220-tie Lou Boudreau 1 Write-in
170-tie Lou Brock 2
12 Lou Gehrig 120
170-tie Lou Perini 2 Write-in
220-tie Luis Arroyo 1 Write-in
NR Margaret Donahue 0
101-tie Mariano Rivera 9 Write-in
220-tie Mark Fidrych 1 Write-in
63 Mark McGwire 22
7 Marvin Miller 175
170-tie Matsutaro Shoriki 2 Write-in
136-tie Maury Wills 4
105-tie Mel Allen 8
170-tie Mel Ott 2 Write-in
220-tie Michael Lewis 1
170-tie Michael Weiner 2 Write-in
27 Mickey Mantle 92
220-tie Miguel Cabrera 1 Write-in
109-tie Mike Schmidt 7
220-tie Mike Trout 1 Write-in
220-tie Miller Huggins 1 Write-in
170-tie Minnie Minoso 2 Write-in
220-tie Mitchel Lichtman 1 Write-in
170-tie Monte Irvin 2
220-tie Moonlight Graham 1 Write-in
170-tie Moses Fleetwood Walker 2 Write-in
125-tie Nap Lajoie 5
220-tie NBC 1 Write-in
170-tie Ned Hanlon 2 Write-in
46 Nolan Ryan 40
149-tie Old Hoss Radbourn 3 Write-in
57-tie Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. 27
115-tie Oscar Charleston 6
109-tie Ozzie Smith 7
NR Pam Postema 0
220-tie Patrick Hulbert 1 Write-in
136-tie Paul Krichell 4
220-tie Paul Molitor 1 Write-in
85-tie Pedro Martinez 13
170-tie Pee Wee Reese 2 Write-in
170-tie Pete Palmer 2
19-tie Pete Rose 107
220-tie Peter Gammons 1 Write-in
85-tie Peter Seitz 13
220-tie Peter Ueberroth 1 Write-in
170-tie Phil Rizzuto 2 Write-in
149-tie Phil Wrigley 3 Write-in
220-tie Rafael Palmeiro 1 Write-in
217-tie Ray Chapman 1.5 Write-in
81-tie Red Barber 14
220-tie Red Grange 1 Write-in
68-tie Red Smith 19
92-tie Reggie Jackson 11
220-tie Rick Monday 1 Write-in
57-tie Rickey Henderson 27
68-tie Ring Lardner 19
220-tie Rob Neyer 1 Write-in
NR Robert Creamer 0
220-tie Robert Moses 1 Write-in
15-tie Roberto Clemente 108
220-tie Rocky Colavito 1 Write-in
220-tie Rod Carew 1 Write-in
89-tie Roger Angell 12
101-tie Roger Bresnahan 9
92-tie Roger Clemens 11
149-tie Roger Kahn 3
71-tie Roger Maris 17
85-tie Rogers Hornsby 13
220-tie Rollie Fingers 1 Write-in
220-tie Ron Santo 1 Write-in
220-tie Ross Barnes 1 Write-in
125-tie Roy Campanella 5
NR Roz Wyman 0
31-tie Rube Foster 79
170-tie Russ Hodges 2
220-tie Ryne Sandberg 1 Write-in
61 Sadaharu Oh 23.5
220-tie Sam Lacy 1
115-tie Sammy Sosa 6
220-tie Sandy Alderson 1 Write-in
42 Sandy Koufax 46.5
22 Satchel Paige 99
115-tie Scott Boras 6 Write-in
47 Sean Forman 39
125-tie Sean Lahman 5
125-tie Sean Smith 5
43-tie Shoeless Joe Jackson 46
170-tie Sol White 2 Write-in
220-tie Sophie Kurys 1
170-tie Sparky Anderson 2 Write-in
220-tie Specs Toporer 1 Write-in
45 Stan Musial 45
81-tie Stephen Carlton Clark 14
220-tie Steve Bartman 1 Write-in
220-tie Steve Carlton 1 Write-in
170-tie Susan Fornoff 2
220-tie Susan Slusser 1
170-tie Sy Berger 2 Write-in
125-tie Ted Turner 5 Write-in
9 Ted Williams 155.5
220-tie Tim Lincecum 1 Write-in
125-tie Tom Seaver 5
220-tie Tom Tango 1 Write-in
149-tie Tom Yawkey 3 Write-in
100 Tommy John 9.5 Write-in
170-tie Tommy Lasorda 2 Write-in
220-tie Tommy McCarthy 1
125-tie Tony Gwynn 5
68-tie Tony LaRussa 19 Write-in
136-tie Tris Speaker 4
6 Ty Cobb 179
29 Vin Scully 86
220-tie Vladimir Guerrero 1 Write-in
220-tie Voros McCracken 1 Write-in
170-tie W.P. Kinsella 2 Write-in
220-tie Walter Alston 1 Write-in
31-tie Walter Johnson 79
30 Walter O’Malley 85
115-tie Warren Spahn 6
105-tie Wendell Smith 8
149-tie Whitey Ford 3 Write-in
62 William Hulbert 23
10-tie Willie Mays 141
48-tie Yogi Berra 36

Everyone who voted

Below is a list of the 262 people who voted in my project on the 25 most important people in baseball history.

A lot of voters provided details about themselves. Voters represent a broad cross-section of the baseball world: fans, researchers, journalists, bloggers, even a former MLB player.

Thanks again to everyone who voted!

Voter Credentials
Aaron Whitehead SABR member
Adam Darowski SABR member, chair of SABR’s Nineteenth Century Overlooked Base Ball Legends committee, and creator of the Hall of Stats
Adam Hardy
Adam Jacobi Baseball fan
Adam Penale
Adam Schiavone
Al
Alex Molochko SABR member, baseballthinkfactory.org reader
Alex Putterman Sports editor of the Daily Northwestern at Northwestern University
alexvilaroger
Alvy Singer Longtime baseball fan, avid fan of this website
Andrew Martin Author of baseballhistorian.blogspot.com. Has published article for numerous websites, newspapers and magazine
Andrew Milner SABR member since 1984, IBWAA member, contributor to “American Sports: A History of Icons, Idols and Ideals” and “Base Ball: A Journal of the Early Game”
Andy Moursund Longtime SABR member, baseballthinkfactory.org reader, former book dealer with perhaps the largest collection of baseball books and guides in the US
Anonymous 1
Antonio Rodriguez
Ari Houser
Austin Gisriel SABR member, regular contributor to Seamheads.com, author of several baseball books
baffinspoon
Bart Silberman Creator and designer of vintage MLB apparel line Moonlight Graham
Ben
Ben Carroll Writes scrappyjourneymenwithheart.blogspot.com
Ben Henry
Bernard Ozarowski
Bill Bell Founding member of a Strat-o-Matic league that will celebrate its 40th season in 2015; spent three months as ballboy for the 1969 Phoenix Giants
Bill Bumgarner “Just a fan who enjoys statistical analysis”
Bill Judge
Billy Waller Hall of Fame enthusiast; high school basketball coach and program director at a Boys and Girls Club
bjehrich
bmetrick
Bob D’Angelo Copy editor, Tampa Tribune
Bob Rittner Baseball fan with an interest in baseball history and sabermetrics
Bob Sawyer Became a SABR member in 2005; author of “Gene Bennett: A Scouts Life” chapter of CAN HE PLAY (c) 2012 McFarland
Bob Sohm
Bob Timmermann
Bob Tufts Former pitcher SF Giants and KC Royals 1981-83
Bobby Aguilera Writes baseballrealitytour.com; by day, a sales and marketing director
Brad Wood
Brendan Bingham SABR member, authored chapter for “Bridging Two Dynasties: The 1947 New York Yankees”
Brennan Cully
Brian
Brian Cubbison Curator, Syracuse Post Standard
Brian Engelhardt
Brian Russell
Bryan O’Connor Blogger at Replacement Level Baseball Blog and High Heat Stats
Bryn Swartz Bleacher Report Featured Columnist / Former MLB & Phillies blogger
Carl
Cecilia Tan SABR member and editor; author of several books
Charles Beatley Wrote hawk4thehall.blogspot.com
Chris Esser
Chris Murray ichrismurray.blogspot.com, fantasy sports guru, sports memorabilia collector
Christian Ruzich
Christopher Kamka SABR member; Comcast SportsNet Chicago’s walking research department; Contributed an essay in- Old Comiskey Park: Essays and Memories of the Historic Home of the Chicago White Sox, 1910-1991
http://www.amazon.com/Old-Comiskey-Park-1910-1991-McFarland-ebook/dp/B00LAHMA32
Christopher M. Short UK-born convert to baseball from cricket. Brooklyn Dodger fan from 1955
Chuck McGivney
cjperil
Cliff Blau
Clyde Sikorski
Cody Cooper
Cody Swartz Current Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report, baseball history buff
concretegodd
Craig Swartz
D Charabin
Dalton Mack SABR member, HighHeatStats and MLB.com
Dan Hirsch Founder of baseball database, thebaseballgauge.com
Dan McCloskey SABR member; writes for USA Today, High Heat Stats and http://left-field.blogspot.com/
Dan O’Connor “Just a stat fan.” Used to compile TV, film and music stats for a music licensing firm
Daniel Shoptaw Founder of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance; Cardinals blogger
Darin Tuck
Dave Vonderhaar baseballthinkfactory.org reader, SABR member
David Cohen Former sports editor, Philadelphia Inquirer
David Gold
David Kelly
David Lawrence Reed SABR member, has contributed to the Baseball Research Journal
David Lick Occasional blogger at notmadsports.blogspot.com
David Peng
David Pinto Has written baseballmusings.com since 2002; former lead researcher for ESPN’s Baseball Tonight
David Uhl
David Williams Baseball card collector and St. Louis Cardinal fan
dcarrano
Dean Godfrey
Dean Sullivan Author of four books of baseball history through University of Nebraska Press
Derrick Fenwick Lifelong fan and baseball history lover. Has been to 37 MLB parks
DeWayne Mann
dodgerboy42
Domenic Lanza Writer for itsaboutthemoney.net of ESPN’s Sweetspot network
doughhs
Douglas E. Heeren
downingjo
Dr. Meredith Wills SABR member; astrophysicist with expertise in automated tracking and machine learning, fielding junkie looking forward to working with Statcast data, recognized by the Baseball HOF for winning Stitch N’ Pitch’s 2007 national design contest
Duane Harris Writes 90feetofperfection.com
Ed Stankowski
Ed White Freelance writer and editor; past journalist, college athletic recruiter and, for 25 years, a practicing attorney
Eric Casey
Eric Chalek Lapsed SABR member, writes homemlb.wordpress.com and participant in the Hall of Merit
F.J. Nachman
Francisco Hilario
Frank Oglesby
Fred Antczak
G Chan
Gabriel Schechter
Gary Bateman
Gary Passamonte SABR member, Ross Barnes HOF advocate
George Kurtz RotoExperts Fantasy Sports Show, SiriusXM 210/87, 7a-10a EST Sat
Graham Hudson
Greg Layton SABR member, tweets about the Royals
house141
Howard Fisher
Howard Miller Writes the Hall of Miller and Eric
ianberg
j sharkey
Jacob Rashbaum
James Gross
James Holland
James Nicolls
Jason Kim
Jeff Bozovsky  SABR member; writes for www.historicbaseballfargo.blogspot.com/
Jeff Snider
Jeffrey
Jena Yamada “Baseball fan, mom to dog, science nerd”
Jerry Woolstrum SABR member and stat head
Jesse Collings
Jim Black Lifelong baseball fan; has seen everyone from Willie Mays to Ken Griffey Jr.
Jim Pertierra SABR member; has run a play-by-mail baseball league since 1979, of which Bill James was an original manager
Jim Proulx
Joe
Joe Mello Royals’ fan for ~35 years with an interest in stats and baseball history
Joe Robinson 50-year baseball history enthusiast
Joe Tassinari Blogger and 40-year baseball fan. Recent baseball article: http://www.bizwrks.us/a-gift-bestowed/
Joe Ullman
Joe Williams SABR member; former chair of the 19th century committee
Joey Bartz SABR member and doctoral candidate
John Carter Has contributed over a dozen articles to billjamesonline.com; writes scoresheetwiz.com
John Fockler Author of “In Defense of Buck Weaver,” The Torch magazine, v82,#2,p28 (Winter, 2008)
John Kinsey
John Raimo
John Robertson SABR member since 1993; has written three baseball books
John Sharp Writes johnsbigleaguebaseballblog.blogspot.com; huge fan of Bill Freehan
John Sutter
Jonathan Stilwell
Josh
JT Ellenberger
Julian Levine Former Giants blogger and writer for beyondtheboxscore.com
Karl Ehrsam
Kazuto Yamazaki Writes for thescoopsports.wordpress.com and [starting soon] thedynastyguru.com
Kenneth Matinale Writes radicalbaseball.blogspot.com
Kevin Graham SABR member; writes baseballrevisited.wordpress.com
Kevin Porter Lifelong baseball fan, avid sabermetric reader and Strat-o-Matic fanatic
Kevin Tomlin
Kris Gardner Writes for RedReporter.com
kurt
Larry Cookson
Larry Marsh
Laura K
Lawrence Azrin Regular at HighHeatStats.com
Lee Domingue Baseball fan
Len Drasin
Mark Blanchard
Mark Robinson
Marty Klotz
Matt Adams
Matt Mitchell SABR member, Professional statistician (non-MLB employed), fourpitchrandomwalk.wordpress.com
Matt Stock
Matt Whitener Writes http://cheapseatsplease.wordpress.com; creative baseball editor, The Sports Fan Journal
Michael Cook Baseball fan, former writer at Pinstripe Alley, active member of many baseball sites
Michael Henry Spring training reporter, St. Petersburg Evening Independent, 1981-85; Tampa Tribune, 1986-96; Bradenton Herald, 2000-08. Tampa Bay Rays reporter for last paper, 2003-08
Michael Hilywa Blogger, offbasepercentage.com, diamondhoggers.com
Michael Martin High school teacher; love reading about/researching early years of baseball
Michael Terilli Contributor to Baseball Essential
Michael Weddell Affiliated with BaseballHQ.com
Mike Cameron Retired sports writer for Pioneer Press and Chicago Sun-Times; author of “Public Bonehead, Private Hero: The Real Legacy of Baseball’s Fred Merkle”
Mike Denton Baseball fan; past member of the PCL Historical Society
Mike Huey
Mike Lackey SABR member, recipient of the Larry Ritter Book Award
Mike Norton SABR member, baseball fan since 1950
Mike Schneider
Mike Warwick
Mitch Lutzke
mtetsw
Nathan Aderhold Managing Editor, Halos Daily
Nathan Canby
Nathan Timm
Nick Diunte SABR member who has been published in two books and various newspapers. Writes for BaseballHappenings.net and Examiner.com. Senior editor for MetroBaseball Magazine
Nick Pain
Nicole Cahill Writes baseballforyoursoul.blogspot.com
No email
No name
PALADIN12640
Pat Corless
Patrick Buzzard Fan post author at royalsreview.com
Patrick Dubuque notgraphs expatriate
Patrick Mackin
Paul Dylan Writes and publishes print magazine devoted to tabletop-sports card & dice games like Strat-O-Matic, APBA, and Statis-Pro
Paul McCord
Paul Perilli
Paul Plaine SABR member professional baseball photographer
Paul Plater
Pete Sorice Baseball fan; writes catcherinterference.wordpress.com
Peter Nash Writes HaulsofShame.com; founding member of the Def Jam rap group 3rd Bass
Phil Bolda SABR member
Phil Dellio Author of three books and a grade school teacher
Phyllis LaVietes
Rand Tenor
Ray Anselmo SABR member and romance writer
Ray Regan
Rayan Vatti
Rich Dubroff Orioles Insider, CSNBaltimore.com
Rich Lipinski
Rich Moser SABR member for more than 10 years; currently writing a book on the Hall of Fame
Richard Solensky
Rick Cabral Founder and editor of BaseballSacramento.com; has written two baseball-related e-books
Rick Canale Hall of Fame member, Red Sox fan and collect presidential baseball memorabilia
Ricky Cobb
Rob Dakin Fan and follower of baseball lore since 1956
Rob Harris Writes for ThroughTheFenceBaseball.com. Freelance writer for the Chicago Sun-Times, Timeout Chicago and Zisk Magazine, among others
Rob Marshall Baseball fan; recently created hit viral “Waiting for Alexander” video
rob.ulm
Robert Rittner
Ron Kaplan
Ron Rollins
Ross Carey SABR member, does replacementlevelpodcast.com
Rusty Logan
Ryan Jennings Loves to attend Minor League Baseball games
Ryan McCrystal Former ESPN Stats & Info researcher; writes for itspronouncedlajaway.com
Ryan Thibodaux
Sam Redden
Scott Brown
Scott Candage
Scott Cole
Scott Crawford Writes at Scott Crawford On Cards (http://www.scottcrawfordoncards.com/)
Scott Glasser #justbaseball. Twitter fan. Baseball fanatic
Scott Jackson Baseball fan for more than 25 years; has been to five consecutive Little League World Series
Scott Klein
Scott Simkus SABR member; author of “Outsider Baseball: The Weird World of Hardball on the Fringe,” which has been nominated for a 2015 CASEY Award and the Seymour Medal
Sean Lahman SABR member, founder of the Lahman Baseball Database
Sean McNeely
Sherri Samudio
SLlewell07
Stefano Micolitti Wrote about MLB during 1980s for Italian magazine, “Tuttobaseball e softball”
Steve Kreischer Baseball fan
Steve Snyder Newspaper editor, blogger at http://socraticgadfly.blogspot.com
Steve Sullivan
Steven Smith
stewars1
tcnewey
Ted Maire
Ted Mulvey
Tim
Tim Angell
Tim Deale SABR Member, Bio Project contributor, currently writing a manuscript for a baseball book
Tom Crittenden
Tom Gardner
Tom Hanrahan Frequent contributor to By The Numbers and occasionally writes Baseball Research Journal articles
Tom Strother Was a SABR member for more than 30 years; wrote masters thesis titled “Professional Baseball and the Anti-Trust Laws”
Tom Thrash SABR member, ballpark hound– http://tthrash.blogspot.com/search/label/ballparks
TR Sullivan Texas Rangers beat writer, MLB.Com
Travis Cherrier
verdun2
Victor Dadras SABR member and baseball coach
Vinnie “Long time baseball fan whose only regret was his lack of talent”
wayne horiuchi Avid sports card collector who has one of the most extensive game-used/autograph Hall of Fame collections in America
William Tasker Writes for http://itsaboutthemoney.net of ESPN SweetSpot Network

Project schedules

A quick update for a Tuesday afternoon:

First off, voting closed Sunday night for my project on the 25 most important people in baseball history. Thanks to the 262 people who voted! I’m excited to share the voting results and will unveil them next Monday. I want to take my time writing between now and then to do this project justice. I’ll try to get a couple regular posts up in the interim, though I’m not promising anything in-depth.

On a related note, as some may know, I do an annual project having people vote on the 50 best baseball players not in the Hall of Fame. I’ve done this project for four years now and it’s always been a December-January thing. I’ve done it at this time because interest in Cooperstown spikes between the time the Veterans Committee announces its inductees in December and when the Baseball Writers Association of America does likewise in January.

That being said, I’ve decided to do something different this year. Because I do not want to burden people who just voted in my project on the 25 most important people in baseball history by asking them to immediately fill out another ballot, I’m pushing my project on the 50 best players not in the Hall of Fame out at least a few months. Ideally, I’d like it to run in late July, when interest in Cooperstown peaks during the annual induction weekend.

I may ask for votes a few months before July, though, as I’m interested in doing the next version of my Hall of Fame project as a book. That’s right. I’m 31, I’ve never written a book, and I know I have one in me. I also think I’ve maybe taken my Hall of Fame project as far as I want to in blog form. I’m eager to explore the creative possibilities that doing my project as a book may allow. I also believe in continuing to give myself challenges and growing. It’s an important part of life, not just for writers.

I’m posting all of this here as an explanation to anyone who was looking forward to voting in a month [eight people have voted all four years of my project; dozens of others have voted two or three years.] I also want to invite anyone interested in helping me plan a book. I know I’m going to need a lot of help for this thing to be a success.

From the archive: A call for higher salaries– in 1903

Found on Newspapers.com

At some point when I have some time, I’d like to undertake some extended research here. I have this theory that for most of baseball’s history, people– fans, team management and writers parroting front office views– have complained that player salaries are too high. Whether it’s $5,000 a season or per inning, depending on the point in baseball history, it seems like someone’s always been around to decry men being remunerated for playing a game.

Bill James in at least a couple of his books has examples of this, stuff like old-timers complaining about players being around to make “a fast buck” in the 1930s. It’s nonsense, of course. Even stars like Joe DiMaggio earned maybe $25,000 a year then, equivalent to around $400,000 today. I suppose it was vastly superior to the wage of the average employee during the Great Depression, but I also doubt they generated anywhere near the revenue the Yankee Clipper did. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of good stories on places like newspapers.com slamming the Yankee Clipper and other stars of baseball history every time they held out or spoke of striking. I’d like to cull some of these stories together here.

I’ll see if I can get to this research sometime this week. Voting on my project on the 25 most important people in baseball history wraps tomorrow and I know I’m going to be busy getting the November 10 results post ready. Still, research like this keeps me going. It’s fun. Also, offering original, insightful research is a core value of this site. It’s not that hard to do, anyhow. We’re in a golden age for research. More historical data and primary source material is being digitized than ever.

For now, I’ll offer a player from 1903, Tom Daly of the Cincinnati Reds who suggested players weren’t being well-paid enough. A couple of things worth noting before we get to an excerpt from the article:

  1. It was written in September 1903, months after the National and American leagues declared an end to the open war that had existed since the junior circuit began play in 1901.
  2. As the article notes, the National League in 1903 had a maximum salary for players of $2,400 per year, about $61,300 in 2013 dollars. It’s why so many players jumped their contracts and went to the American League in 1901 and 1902.

Daly was one of those players, playing with the Chicago White Sox in 1902 and 1903 before finishing the last half of the second season with the Reds. Late in the year, he gave an interview as noted above. Most of the piece is a long quote from Daly, including:

It is only in exceptional cases that a ballplayer’s life in fast company is for more than ten years. If he is to receive only $1,500 or $1,800 a season for giving the best years of his life to the game, what inducement is there for him to play ball?

Interestingly, Daly’s last game in the majors came on September 27, 1903, just a few weeks after he spoke out in this article. Granted he was 37 and in his seventeenth season. All the same, I can’t help but wonder if Daly’s candor accelerated his departure.

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“From the archive” is a weekly series here that highlights old baseball-related newspaper clippings.

Others in this series:

Why Irv Waldron may have left the majors

It ranks as one of the more enduring mysteries in baseball history. The inaugural 1901 season of the American League also marked the debut in the majors of 29-year-old Irv Waldron. While not a star, the 5’5″, 155-pound outfielder hit .311 between the old Milwaukee Brewers [who became the St. Louis Browns in 1902] and Washington Senators, with a 106 OPS+ for the year. And that was it for Waldron. While he played another nine seasons for various minor league teams, he never returned to the majors after 1901.

I’ve written about one-season MLB careers before. What makes Waldron’s unusual is that it didn’t end for the typical reasons– injury or lack of ability. Granted, he finished third in errors by an outfielder, his defense suspect enough to inspire a derisive Chicago Inter Ocean cartoon, at right. But Waldron likely could have gotten more work playing in the majors. Late in the 1901 season, the Boston Beaneaters of the National League expressed interest in signing him for their depleted outfield. Tangentially, one of the Beaneaters stars of 1901 figured in where Waldron played in 1902. More on that in a moment.

To my knowledge, no one’s ever definitively stated the reason for Waldron’s exit from the American League. Seemingly, no one thought to interview him before his death in 1944, with his obituary making no mention of why he left the majors. Waldron has no SABR biography and scant details accompany his stats at Baseball-Reference.com. What’s been written is largely speculative, like this book noting, “His reputation for bone-headed playing must have stayed with him.” The Ultimate Baseball Book classes Waldron “among the most mysterious figures to wear major league uniforms.”

Waldron’s departure was mysterious even at the time. MLB historian and veteran baseball author John Thorn sent me an excerpt from a Febuary 1, 1902 article in Sporting Life that asked of new Washington manager Tom Loftus:

Why has he permitted Sam Dungan and Irving Waldron to slip away and fall into the minor leagues? They hit way over .300 last year why were they not good enough for 1902? The ways of managers are past all explanation, and what’s the use of trying to fathom their ideas?

Loftus’s presence in Washington could hint at why Waldron left. Loftus took over for Jim Manning, who served as both manager and co-owner for Washington in 1901 before selling his controlling shares in the team. The New York Times noted on October 30, 1901 that while several stockholders lobbied Manning to retain control, he sold because of his strained relationship with notoriously imperious American League president Ban Johnson. Instead, Manning and future Hall of Famer Kid Nichols, who anchored the Boston Beaneaters pitching staff in 1901 got joint control of a Western League team, the Kansas City Blue Stockings, with Nichols to serve as manager. In January 1902, Nichols signed a number of players including, on January 19, Waldron.

I mentioned Waldron and Manning’s simultaneous move from Washington to Kansas City to baseball historian David Nemec, who wrote much of the text in The Ultimate Baseball Book. Nemec replied:

I checked my notes after we talked.  They confirm everything you found and more.  Manning was very popular with many players he managed and Nichols was still at the top of his game.  He hated it in Boston and went to KC as part-owner.  Although salary figures are unavailable, I suspect Waldron made more in 02 than he did in 01 with Washington.  After Nichols left KC to come back to the majors, Waldron left too and went to SF in the fledgling PCL.  Probably he followed the money; the PCL even then paid fairly well.  Waldron I suspect was a lesser version of Willie Keeler, good contact hitter but one that didn’t walk much despite the small strike zone he presented.

I’ve mentioned before here– and I’m not the first person to say it– that generations ago in baseball, effective players with a glaring flaw or two like Waldron could often earn more in the minors than the majors, with the added bonus of being able to play in western states the majors didn’t extend to before 1958. Indeed, as a longtime reader pointed out to me when I emailed him about it, most of Waldron’s minor league career after 1901 is a series of sojourns through places like San Francisco, Denver and Lincoln, Nebraska.

There’s one other thing worth noting. Early in the 1902 season, with Waldron on his way to hitting .322 for Kansas City, he got an offer to jump to the Louisville Colonels of the American Assocation. George Tebeau who’d managed the previous Western League team in Kansas City in 1901 offered Waldron $350 a month, not far off of the National League maximum annual salary of $2,400. Waldron turned Tebeau down, giving his telegram to Nichols to keep as a memento. In an article on the incident in the April 30, 1902 Topeka Daily Capital, Nichols laughed, “Tebeau has always been anxious to sign Waldron. He was after him in the East at the time that I landed him.”

There may never be a definitive answer to why Waldron didn’t play in the majors after 1901. Short of tracking down one of his descendants through ancestry.com, which I don’t yet have access to, I’m not sure the historical record exists. But one thing is clear– for many years after 1901, Waldron remained in demand as a baseball player.

Tim Hudson, the Hall of Fame and the importance of Game 7

Someone asked me at work this morning who I see winning Game 7 of the World Series this evening. It’s a tough call. On one hand, I’ve been a Giants’ fan since first grade. Even my girlfriend, a devout A’s fan, hasn’t broken me of this. But I’ll admit my girlfriend and I didn’t make it through all of last night’s game. We’re big fans of the F/X series “Sons of Anarchy” and while the sixth season, which was just added to Netflix, has thus far been relentlessly downtrodden, it was a more appealing option than watching the Royals expand the 8-0 lead they took in the third inning last night.

Based on Tuesday’s game and the fact that no road team has won a World Series Game 7 since 1979, my gut says Kansas City will prevail this evening. And I don’t know if that bothers me too much. While the Giants have two titles from the past five seasons, “Back to the Future” was in theaters the last time the Royals won anything. I always like a good underdog story. But there’s a good thing that could happen if the Giants win tonight: Tim Hudson might cement his Hall of Fame candidacy.

In sabermetric circles, I suspect Hudson already seems destined for Cooperstown. According to the Baseball-Reference.com Play Index tool, Hudson’s lifetime 56.9 WAR is second-best among active pitchers, behind Mark Buehrle. Hudson bests Buehrle for FIP, 3.75 to 4.10 and ERA+ as well, 122 to 117. According to the Play Index tool, Hudson is also one of 13 pitchers who have at least 200 wins and a 120 ERA+ but aren’t enshrined. I suspect the majority of these pitchers will be inducted over the next 10-20 years. In alphabetical order, they are:

  • Kevin Brown, 211 wins, 127 ERA+
  • Bob Caruthers, 211 wins, 122 ERA+
  • Eddie Cicotte, 209 wins, 123 ERA+
  • Roger Clemens, 354 wins, 143 ERA+
  • Roy Halladay, 203 wins, 131 ERA+
  • Tim Hudson, 214 wins, 122 ERA+
  • Randy Johnson, 303 wins, 135 ERA+
  • Silver King, 203 wins, 121 ERA+
  • Pedro Martinez, 219 wins, 154 ERA+
  • Mike Mussina, 270 wins, 123 ERA+
  • Curt Schilling, 216 wins, 127 ERA+
  • John Smoltz, 213 wins, 125 ERA+
  • Will White, 229 wins, 121 ERA+

But sabermetrics has only recently entered into consideration for some Hall of Fame voters [with many other voters still rejecting it] and even by advanced metrics, Hudson doesn’t look anything like the lock Bert Blyleven was for Cooperstown. For WAR and ERA+, Hudson ranks as something like his generation’s version of Billy Pierce, maybe one of the more underrated pitchers in baseball history by sabermetrics but a distant Veterans Committee candidate today. Much as some of my friends in baseball research may protest, I fear Hudson is destined to be historically underrated as well. It’s why I didn’t recently predict Hudson being inducted in the next 20 years.

A memorable outing from Hudson tonight could change this. A memorable postseason performance can make a good but generally not great player a viable Hall of Fame candidate. Just ask Bill Mazeroski or Jack Morris. While much talk in the media today has centered around how much Madison Bumgarner may pitch in relief on three day’s rest, I’d like to think the 39-year-old Hudson has something special in store.

From the archive: Baseball’s eternal debate

Bill James has a recurring feature in at least a few of his books called “Old Ballplayers Never Die.” The idea is that for almost as long as baseball has existed, former players have lamented the decline in play. For instance, in his 2001 historical abstract, James included an excerpt from an article 1890s standout Bill Joyce wrote for the 1916 Spalding Base Ball Guide. Joyce concluded:

“It makes me weep to think of the men of the old days who played the game and the boys of today. It’s positively a shame, and they are getting big money for it, too.”

Conversely, James also notes that for almost as long as baseball has existed, there have been people who would say that the latest version of the game is the greatest. Today’s edition of this column concerns an example of this latter trend, from a 1908 article in the Oakland Tribune. It begins:

“No matter what they tell you about baseball going back and not being as spectacular, etc., as it used to be in the good old days, you just tell them that baseball, as a whole, is a mighty improved game over what it was ten, aye twenty years ago, and you’ll not be more than a mile wrong.”

The article and several accompanying pieces then highlight several stars of the late 19th century. It’s a neat series of articles.

I go back and forth on the question of whether today’s player’s are better or worse. To be blunt, I don’t know if it matters. Every generation of baseball has had players worth celebrating, ones who could perform astonishing feats. Near every generation of baseball has also been vastly different than the one that preceded it. I think that various individual statistical feats that seemingly point to declines or increases in quality of play are more evidence of whatever the current rules and trends are in baseball.

There is, of course, a far broader debate that could be had here. I’ll look into this more another time, though the comments are open.

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“From the archive” is a Friday series that highlights old baseball-related newspaper clippings.

Others in this series:

Predicting the next 20 years of Hall of Fame inductees

In his seminal 1994 book The Politics of Glory, later retitled Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?, Bill James memorably predicted 25 years worth of Hall of Fame inductees. It’s fun to go back now and see where James was spot-on and where he absolutely whiffed [Ruben Sierra, anyone?]

In the same spirit, I spent a few hours today coming up with some predictions of my own. The next 20 years of the Hall of Fame ballot, particularly the next decade look like a mess, but I figured someone ought to make sense of it looking forward.

I’ll preface this by saying I made my picks assuming the Veterans Committee will keep its current election structure, having three sub-committees for different eras that rotate with one sub-committee getting to vote each year. I wouldn’t be surprised if this voting structure is tweaked in the next decade, as Veterans Committee processes change often, though I have no idea what the new voting practice will be. I also think the players I suggested have a good shot of going in regardless of when the Veterans Committee allows them to be voted on.

One other thing– I didn’t mess around predicting managers, executives or Negro League selections [though I’d like to see Buck O’Neil and Double Duty Radcliffe enshrined at some point.] That’s for another post.

Anyhow, without further adieu, here is who I see going into the Hall of Fame over the next 20 years:

2015: Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson in their first year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Craig Biggio in his third year of eligibility

2016: Ken Griffey Jr. in his first year of eligibility with the BBWAA; John Smoltz in his second year of eligibility; Mike Piazza in his fourth year of eligibility; Bill Dahlen through the Veterans Committee

2017: Trevor Hoffman in his second year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Jeff Bagwell in his seventh year of eligibility; Jack Morris through the Veterans Committee

2018: Chipper Jones and Jim Thome in their first year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Minnie Minoso through the Veterans Committee

2019: Mariano Rivera in his first year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Curt Schilling in his seventh year of eligibility; Jack Glasscock through the Veterans Committee

2020: Derek Jeter in his first year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Mike Mussina in his seventh year of eligibility; Alan Trammell through the Veterans Committee

2021: Ichiro Suzuki in his first year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Omar Vizquel in his fourth year of eligibility; Dick Allen through the Veterans Committee

2022: Roy Halladay in his fourth year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Jim McCormick through the Veterans Committee

2023: Todd Helton in his fifth year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Tommy John through the Veterans Committee; a newly-appointed Steroid Era Committee will enshrine strongly-suspected or confirmed PED users whose eligibility with the BBWAA has expired, namely Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. It’s lame it might take another decade to begin to resolve the steroid mess on the Cooperstown ballot, but I don’t see it happening sooner. There isn’t huge incentive to take drastic action, for three reasons:
1. This year’s selections of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas showed that top-tier clean candidates can be enshrined their first year of eligibility even with suspected and admitted steroid users clogging the writers ballot.
2. I don’t see the Hall of Fame and Veterans Committee overstepping the authority it’s granted the BBWAA beyond the Hall’s recent move to shorten the window of eligibility for players on the writers ballot from 15 years to 10.
3. It’s not like players stop being eligible altogether for Cooperstown under current voting rules. It’s perfectly logical that the Hall of Fame will allow more time– as much as it deems necessary and then some– for emotions to settle from this period in baseball history before deciding how to honor it.

2024: Vlad Guerrero in his eighth year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Billy Wagner in his ninth year of eligibility; Jim Kaat through the Veterans Committee

2025: Jimmy Rollins in his second year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Andruw Jones in his eighth year of eligibility; Harry Stovey through the Veterans Committee

2026: Albert Pujols in his first year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Tim Raines through the Veterans Committee

2027: Yadier Molina in his first year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Adrian Beltre in his third year of eligibility

2028: Joe Mauer in his third year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Tony Mullane through the Veterans Committee

2029: Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander in their first year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Lee Smith through the Veterans Committee

2030: Robinson Cano in his second year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Dustin Pedroia in his third year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Luis Tiant through the Veterans Committee

2031: Jose Reyes and Jered Weaver in their third year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Pete Browning through the Veterans Committee; another meeting of the Steroid Era Committee will enshrine Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield, Andy Pettitte, Ivan Rodriguez and David Ortiz

2032: Andrew McCutchen in his first year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Edgar Martinez through the Veterans Committee

2033: David Wright in his fifth year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Pete Rose, in a sympathy vote from the Veterans Committee shortly after his death

2034: Felix Hernandez in his first year of eligibility with the BBWAA; Paul Goldschmidt in his second year of eligibility

Did I miss anyone? Let me know…

Will get in sometime after 2034, but not too long: Giancarlo Stanton, Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw, Craig Kimbrel

Wouldn’t mind seeing these guys go in, but it seems unlikely in this timeframe: Carlos Beltran, Ken Boyer, Will Clark, Jim Edmonds, Dwight Evans, Bobby Grich, Keith Hernandez, Gil Hodges, Tim Hudson, Jeff Kent, Kenny Lofton, Evan Longoria, Dale Murphy, Graig Nettles, Tony Oliva, Dave Parker, Scott Rolen, Bret Saberhagen, Johan Santana, Ted Simmons, Cecil Travis, Chase Utley, Larry Walker, Smoky Joe Wood

Ben Shields and the fight against fate

A longtime reader asked me recently which pitcher in baseball history had the most wins without any losses. In using the Baseball-Reference.com Play Index tool to research the answer to this question– Clay Rapada, who is 8-0 through seven seasons– I came across an obscure pitcher who seemingly wouldn’t rate a mention today.

Ben Shields’ career spanned just 41.1 innings between 1924 and 1931. While he went 4-0 lifetime, which is tied for the fourth-most wins without any losses of any pitcher in baseball history, the remainder of his stats are ghastly: an 8.27 ERA, 5.82 FIP and a projected -4.0 Wins Above Average for a full season’s work. At one point, however, Shields was a top Yankee prospect. If not for a disease that’s long since been eradicated in the western world, Shields might have pitched for the 1927 Murderers Row club.

Shields certainly looked like one of the few bright spots for an otherwise abysmal Yankee club when he joined the team in September 1925. The left-hander had gone 21-14 for Richmond of the Virginia League that season, setting a strikeout record for the circuit. And after pitching a scoreless inning in his season debut for the Bronx Bombers on September 22, Shields proceeded to win his next three appearances, pitching two complete games. But his illness during spring training the following year would forever alter his career.

After Shields came back to the majors with the Boston Red Sox in 1930, there were stories his career had been disrupted because he’d taken a Babe Ruth line drive to the chest during spring training in 1926, suffering internal injuries. I couldn’t find any record of this in perusing newspaper accounts from 1926. The truth appears to be less dramatic, as it often is, with the Yankees shelving Shields for the 1926 season after he contracted tuberculosis. He’s not the only ballplayer to battle the disease, with Christy Mathewson and Rube Waddell both dying from it. Shields overcame it and lived to old age, dying in 1982, though he didn’t pitch professionally in 1927, ’28 or ’29, working as a taxi driver in Richmond.

The Red Sox thought enough of Shields, however, to pay $150 to cover his travel expenses when they worked him out in the winter of 1930. Shields made just three appearances for Boston, allowing 16 hits and 10 earned runs in ten innings, though the Phillies brought him back the following year after he asked manager Burt Shotton for a tryout. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted on March 3, 1931:

Now the Phillies have him– a burly, healthy-looking fellow, whose weight is up to 213 pounds. But the health bug has bitten Ben for fair now. It’s more weight than he wants, and he’s the hardest worker on the Winter Haven lot to boot.

But that isn’t all. After Burt Shotton dismisses his baseball class every day, Shields hies himself to a lake in Winter Haven and rows around in circles for an hour or more. ‘I’m going to get as hard as steel,’ Ben promises.

I admire people like Ben Shields, folks who persevere, thumb their nose at bad fate and work to make their own better destiny. I want to believe the Ben Shieldses of the world can and will succeed with enough hard work. I want to believe because I see a bit of myself in him. But there was nothing Shields could do about the ’31 Phillies, a sixth-place team that allowed the most runs in the National League and played in the notoriously hitter-friendly Baker Bowl. Shields allowed nine runs over four appearances that totaled 5.1 innings and that was it for him as a baseball player.

From the archive: It will always be 2014 for Travis Ishikawa

This is it for Travis Ishikawa. As I watched replays last night of Ishikawa racing around the bases after his three-run homer to win the National League Championship Series, I found myself wondering if he understood that this was his high point, the greatest moment he’ll have as a baseball player, perhaps the greatest moment of his life. I mean this as no disrespect to a player who’s spent seven seasons in the majors and started for another pennant-winning Giants team. But whatever Travis Ishikawa does the rest of his life, this is what he will be remembered for.

Every baseball generation has one or two of these players, known for a game or instant of playoff glory, from Bill Wambsganss and his unassisted triple play in the 1920 World Series to Cookie Lavagetto’s double to break up a no-hitter in the ’47 Series to Francisco Cabrera’s bloop to win the 1992 NLCS. [I suspect Wambsganss might be somewhat forgotten; Baseball-Reference.com, which sets sponsorship rates for pages based on traffic, has Wambsganss’s page available for $10. And for good reason. Wambsganss ranks among the worst regulars in baseball history. According to Baseball-Reference.com’s Play Index tool, Wambsganss’s -19.2 Wins Above Average is 10th worst all-time.]

Names like Wambsganss, Lavagetto and Cabrera would be lost to baseball history if not for their moments. Ishikawa is the latest to join this club. There will surely be more to follow.

Aside from Bill Mazeroski, Carlton Fisk, Kirk Gibson or Joe Carter, Bobby Thomson might be the best player defined by an instant of postseason heroics. While never destined for the Hall of Fame on playing merit, even before a career-altering injury in spring training in 1954, Thomson’s lifetime stats at least place him squarely in the Hall of Very Good: 264 homers, 33.1 WAR and three All Star appearances. But whenever Thomson’s name comes up today, it’s always about his Shot Heard Round the World to send the Giants to the 1951 World Series. Already on social media, people have been comparing Ishikawa’s shot to Thomson’s.

For the remaining six decades of his life, people never stopped talking to Bobby Thomson about his home run. The article I posted above offers a retrospective written by Murray Olderman of the Newspaper Enterprise Association 20 years after. And when Thomson died in 2010, the home run headlined his obituary in the New York Times. “I can remember feeling as if time was just frozen,” the Times quoted Thomson saying. “It was a delirious, delicious moment.”

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“From the archive” is a Friday series that highlights old baseball-related newspaper clippings.

Others in this series: