This post is for voting and discussion in the fourteenth round of balloting for the Circle of Greats. This round adds those players born in 1956. Rules and lists are after the jump.
As always, each ballot, if it is to be counted, must include three and only three eligible players. The one player who appears on the most ballots cast in the round is inducted into the Circle of Greats. Players who fail to win induction but appear on half or more of the ballots that are cast win four added future rounds of ballot eligibility. Players who appear on 25% or more of the ballots, but less than 50%, earn two added future rounds of ballot eligibility. Any other player in the top 9 (including ties) in ballot appearances, or who appears on at least 10% of the ballots, wins one additional round of ballot eligibility.
All voting for this round closes at 11:00 PM EDT on Sunday, April 7, while changes to previously cast ballots are allowed until 11:00 PM EDT Friday, April 5.
If you’d like to follow the vote tally, and/or check to make sure I’ve recorded your vote correctly, you can see my ballot-counting spreadsheet for this round here: 1956 COG Vote Tally . I’ll be updating the spreadsheet periodically with the latest votes. Initially, there is a row in the spreadsheet for every voter who has cast a ballot in any of the past rounds, but new voters are entirely welcome — new voters will be added to the spreadsheet as their ballots are submitted. Also initially, there is a column for each of the holdover players; additional player columns from the new born-in-1956 group will be added to the spreadsheet as votes are cast for them.
Choose your three players from the lists below of eligible players. The 10 current holdovers are listed in order of the number of future rounds (including this one) through which they are assured eligibility, and alphabetically when the future eligibility number is the same. (Note that after several candidates on the bubble fell off the ballot in the last round, and with Lou Whitaker joining the list of holdovers with two rounds of eligibility, there are no holdovers who are on the bubble this round. The new group of 1956 birth-year guys are listed below in order of the number of seasons each played in the majors, and alphabetically among players with the same number of seasons played.
Holdovers:
Tom Glavine (eligibility guaranteed for 7 rounds)
Tony Gwynn (eligibility guaranteed for 7 rounds)
Barry Larkin (eligibility guaranteed for 6 rounds)
John Smoltz (eligibility guaranteed for 6 rounds)
Craig Biggio (eligibility guaranteed for 4 rounds)
Roberto Alomar (eligibility guaranteed for 3 rounds)
Tim Raines (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Ryne Sandberg (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Alan Trammell (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Lou Whitaker (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Everyday Players (born in 1956, ten or more seasons played in the major leagues or at least 20 WAR):
Paul Molitor
Eddie Murray
Lance Parrish
Dale Murphy
Rance Mulliniks
Ken Oberkfell
Garry Templeton
Hubie Brooks
Pedro Guerrero
Terry Puhl
Thad Bosley
Terry Kennedy
Tom Herr
Ron Oester
Gary Redus
Luis Salazar
Butch Wynegar
Mookie Wilson
Dale Berra
Vance Law
Ozzie Virgil
Tony Bernazard
Jody Davis
Pitchers (born in 1957, ten or more seasons played in the major leagues or at least 20 WAR):
Scott Sanderson
Rick Sutcliffe
Bob Welch
Mike LaCoss
Charlie Leibrandt
Bob Walk
Frank DiPino
Moose Haas
Mario Soto
Mark Clear
Steve Farr
Andy McGaffigan
Dickie Noles
Joe Price
Eric Show
Dave Rozema