Last round it was AL second baseman Lou Whitaker nudging out 1960s NL pitching star Sandy Koufax to win induction. This round it was AL second baseman Bobby Grich nudging out 1960s NL pitching star Juan Marichal to win induction. Grich becomes the 53rd member of the High Heat Stats Circle of Greats. More on Bobby and the voting after the jump.
Most Everyday Player WAR in the American League, 1972-1976:
1. Bobby Grich 34.9
2. Rod Carew 34.5
3. Reggie Jackson 31.0
4. Graig Nettles 27.8
5. Sal Bando 26.4
Indeed, over that five-year period, the three highest WAR numbers generated by everyday players in the majors were all by second basemen (Carew switched to first base late in this period).
Most Everyday Player WAR in the Major Leagues, 1972-1976:
1. Joe Morgan 47.7
2. Bobby Grich 34.9
3. Rod Carew 34.5
4. Johnny Bench 32.3
5. Cesar Cedeno 31.3
“WAR” as usual is Wins Above Replacement, using the Baseball-Reference formula and data.
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After that marvelous five-year period with the Orioles, Grich hurt his back, missed much of his first season with the Angels, and didn’t have a particularly good season the next year, but then put together another solid 5-year streak:
Most WAR By a Second Baseman, 1979-1983:
1. Bobby Grich 23.5
2. Lou Whitaker 22.3
3. Willie Randolph 20.3
4. Joe Morgan 16.6
5. Phil Garner 13.7
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Put Grich’s career history together and you get a guy who, WAR suggests, remains the most valuable second basemen in the history of two different long-standing franchises, the 114-year-old Orioles/Browns franchise and the 54-year-old Angels franchise:
Most WAR by an Orioles Second Baseman:
1. Bobby Grich 36.0
2. Brian Roberts 28.9
3. Del Pratt 22.7
4. Davey Johnson 20.1
5. Marty McManus 15.4
Most WAR by an Angels Second Baseman:
1. Bobby Grich 34.9
2. Howie Kendrick 22.2
3. Adam Kennedy 18.3
4. Bobby Knoop 13.2
5. Sandy Alomar 10.0
(“Second Baseman” in the lists above is defined as a player who played second during the period in question more than he played any other single position).
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Comparing last week’s inducted AL second baseman to this week’s:
Lou Whitaker: .363 OBP/.426 SLG/.789 OPS. 2.9% support in his only appearance on the writers’ Hall of Fame ballot.
Bobby Grich: .371 OBP/.424 SLG/.794 OPS. 2.6% support in his only appearance on the writers’ Hall of Fame ballot.
Grich had fewer than 900 career RBI, fewer than 150 career stolen bases and a career batting average under .270. Only one non-pitcher, Bill Mazeroski, has ever been inducted in the Hall of Fame with career numbers under all of those levels. It’s going to take a large, new dose of sabermetric enlightenment among the voting committees to ever get Grich into the Hall.
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Commenter JasonZ vividly illustrated the unusual degree of balance in Grich’s career, pointing out in the voting thread that Grich is 83rd all-time among non-pitchers in Offensive WAR, and also 83rd in Defensive WAR, using Baseball-Reference’s formula for those two categories. In Defensive WAR the Play Index shows Grich tied for positions 82 through 86 with four other guys: Devon White, Buck Dent, Garry Templeton and Ron Hansen. Grich’s career OPS+ was 125, none of the other four had a career OPS+ above 100.
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A few notes on the voting this round:
–Juan Marichal passed Sandy Koufax for second place this week by appearing on the last three ballots cast, all in the last few hours of voting.
–After sitting on the bubble the past nine rounds, Edgar Martinez received enough support to gain an extra round of eligibility. During the talent-rich 1930s voting, John Smoltz had dwindled from a secure seven rounds of guaranteed eligibility to a more fragile two rounds, but he staged a bit of come back this week, getting his support back over the 25% mark and his cache up to three rounds. Whitey Ford also flirted with getting his assured eligibility up to the three-round level but fell just short.
–Just one, lonely vote went to this week’s newcomers, the second half of the 1928 birth-year class. That one vote went to Billy Martin. My theory is that if George Steinbrenner had been a ballplayer he would have been Billy Martin and that if Martin had been an owner he would have been George Steinbrenner.
–With Grich joining the Circle and Edgar off the bubble, we’re down to twelve holdovers, of whom five now remain on the bubble.
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The full spreadsheet showing this round’s vote tally is here: COG 1928 Round 2 Vote Tally.
The vote summary for recent Circle of Greats voting rounds is here: COG Vote Summary 2 . An archive with fuller details of the 1968 through 1939 rounds is here: COG 1968-1939 Vote Summary . In both cases, raw vote totals for each past round appears on Sheet 1 and the percentage totals for each past round appears on Sheet 2.
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A spreadsheet listing the full membership to date of the Circle of Greats is here: Circle of Greats Inducted Players . You can also now find that same link any time by clicking on “Circle of Greats” at the top of the High Heats Stats home page.
