This post is for voting and discussion in the 32nd round of balloting for the Circle of Greats. This round adds to the ballot those players born in 1943 who were not added in the previous round. Rules and lists are after the jump.
Players born in 1943 are being brought on to the COG eligible list over two rounds — the top half of the alphabet in the previous round and the bottom half of the alphabet this round. The new group joins the holdovers from previous rounds to comprise the full group eligible to receive your votes this round. The new group of 1943-born players, in order to join the eligible list, must have played at least 10 seasons in the major leagues or generated at least 20 Wins Above Replacement (“WAR”, as calculated by baseball-reference.com, and for this purpose meaning 20 total WAR for everyday players and 20 pitching WAR for pitchers).
Each submitted 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 cast, 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 Friday, October 11, while changes to previously cast ballots are allowed until 11:00 PM EDT Wednesday, October 9.
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: COG 1943 Round 2 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-1943 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 11 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. The new group of 1943 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. In total there were 30 players born in 1943 who met the “10 seasons played or 20 WAR” minimum requirement. 15 of those are being added to the eligible list this round (alphabetically from Jerry May through Walt Williams). The 15 players higher up in the alphabet were added in the previous round.
Holdovers:
Lou Whitaker (eligibility guaranteed for 10 rounds)
Nolan Ryan (eligibility guaranteed for 9 rounds)
John Smoltz (eligibility guaranteed for 8 rounds)
Bobby Grich (eligibility guaranteed for 4 rounds)
Craig Biggio (eligibility guaranteed for 3 rounds)
Edgar Martinez (eligibility guaranteed for 3 rounds)
Jim Palmer (eligibility guaranteed for 3 rounds)
Kenny Lofton (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Roberto Alomar (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Eddie Murray (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Ryne Sandberg (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Everyday Players (born in 1943, ten or more seasons played in the major leagues or at least 20 WAR):
Joe Morgan
Lou Piniella
Bill Robinson
Roy White
Rico Petrocelli
Merv Rettenmund
Felix Millan
Rick Reichardt
Paul Schaal
Jerry May
Ivan Murrell
Walt Williams
Pitchers (born in 1943, ten or more seasons played in the major leagues or at least 20 WAR):
Marty Pattin
Jim Merritt
Dick Selma
