Randy Johnson, all six feet, ten inches of him (that’s taller than Bill Russell, hoops fans), towered over the 1963 round of Circle of Greats balloting. More on Randy and the voting after the jump.
Most Wins Above Replacement (b-ref version) over a Four-Consecutive-Season Span, Since 1920:
1. Randy Johnson 36.8 WAR 1999-2002 (ages 35-38)
2. Pedro Martinez 36.5 1997-2000 (age 25-28)
3. Sandy Koufax 34.9 1963-1966 (age 27-30)
T4. Lefty Grove 34.4 1930-1933 (ages 30-33)
T4. Bob Gibson 34.4 1968-1971 (ages 32-35)
T6. Wilbur Wood 34.2 1971-1974 (ages 29-32)
T6. Lefty Grove 34.2 1935-1938 (ages 35-38)
Most Career Pitching Wins Above Replacement (b-ref version), From Age 28 Season and After, MLB History:
1. Cy Young 119.1
2. Randy Johnson 93.9
3. Phil Niekro 92.1
4. Lefty Grove 90.0
5. Roger Clemens 88.7
Ten guys on this ballot (that’s a new record) will carry over to the next ballot. Of the ten guys who will carry over, two, Edgar Martinez and Fred McGriff, were new to the balloting. McGriff’s carry-over seemed unlikely most of the week, but he was much discussed in the comments and was pushed over the line by a few last-hours votes. Kenny Lofton fell just one vote short of being an eleventh carry-over. The full carry-over list will be updated in the 1962 ballot post. You can check the full 1963 ballot record here: 1963 COG Vote Tally
Now that a few relatively serious contenders have dropped out of eligibility, I’m outlining below a proposal for a series of “redemption rounds” of balloting that would select players to restore to eligibility. The proposal is open to change based on comment and discussion:
–A redemption round would run separately from, but simultaneously with, the regular balloting, every tenth regular round. So the first would run at the same time as the 1958 regular round, the next at the same time as the 1948 round, and so on.
–Any player who has previously fallen out of eligibility could be named on any redemption ballot. When a redemption round opens, I’ll list guys who have received a certain number of previous votes, but that will only be a suggested, not an exclusive, list. You’ll be able to vote for any player no longer eligible.
–As with the regular rounds, valid ballots would include three and only three names.
–The two guys who appear on the most ballots in a redemption round would go back on the eligibility list, beginning with the next regular round (so the guys who win the redemption ballot running during the 1958 round would go back into the mix in the 1957 round). The top guy would go back into eligibility treated in all respects the same as all other eligible players, while the number two guy would go back but without “ninth place tiebreaker rights” (if he ties for ninth in any regular round and fails to hit the 10% vote mark, he does not gain an additional round of eligibility).
— No one ever becomes ineligible for a redemption round. For example, a player who lost eligibility in 1967 would still be eligible for the redemption round held at the same time as the 1938 regular round, and the 1928 redemption round, etc…. A player can also win multiple redemption rounds.
As this system as presented wouldn’t be implemented for a few weeks, you have a while to kick it around before it is finalized.