Proud to say the results are out for my Sporting News project on the 25 best players not in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
To read the project, go here. Be sure to check through to the end for a list of full voting results and a list of voters. (If you ask me how a player did in voting, I’m not replying.)
Thanks to all 467 people who voted. Voters this year included Larry Dierker, Pete Palmer, and a range of other notable baseball figures.
That said, I’d like to give a special shout out to the eight people who’ve voted all five years I’ve had people voted on the best players not in the Hall of Fame. These voters are: Brendan Bingham, Craig Cornell, Victor Dadras, Wayne Horiuchi, Jason Hunt, Dan McCloskey, Joe Williams, and Vinnie, super reader whose last name I still don’t know and might never know.
As always, feedback and other comments are welcome. I’m already looking forward to next year. At some point, we need to do this as a book.
Graham,
Congratulations on another well-conceived, superbly executed project. I found the voting results intriguing, to say the least. These indicate that there are many persons who appear to be better informed about the merits of certain players (e.g. Lou Whitaker and Bobby Grich) than the current membership of the BBWAA.
Thanks, Douglas.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Whitaker gets in the Hall of Fame in the next 10 years. Grich, I’m less certain about. It’s going to take a lot to get some older Vets Committee members to look past Grich’s .266 batting average.
You are surely right about Grich’s batting average. The current procedure for Hall voting means Grich and Whitaker would be considered by the Expansion Era committee. Whitaker’s impressive “counting stats” will mean more than Grich’s superb defense and on-base average, I fear.
I keep wondering if I should even pay much mind to the era committees. I assume the format will change in the next few years, since it seems to be causing backlogs.