This post is for voting and discussion in the 58th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This round adds to the ballot those players born in 1924. Rules and lists are after the jump.
This week’s new group joins the holdovers from previous rounds to comprise the full set of players eligible to receive your votes this round. As usual, the new group of 1924-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 Thursday, May 22, while changes to previously cast ballots are allowed until 11:00 PM EDT Tuesday, May 20.
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 1924 Round 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 candidates; additional player columns from the new born-in-1924 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 13 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 1924 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:
Sandy Koufax (eligibility guaranteed for 12 rounds)
John Smoltz (eligibility guaranteed for 5 rounds)
Duke Snider (eligibility guaranteed for 4 rounds)
Edgar Martinez (eligibility guaranteed for 3 rounds)
Whitey Ford (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Kenny Lofton (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Willie McCovey (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Minnie Minoso (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Richie Ashburn (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Craig Biggio (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Harmon Killebrew (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 1924, ten or more seasons played in the major leagues or at least 20 WAR):
Gil Hodges
Sherm Lollar
Ted Kluszewski
Earl Torgeson
Ed Fitz Gerald
Bobby Avila
Irv Noren
Al Rosen
Charlie Silvera
Pitchers (born in 1924, ten or more seasons played in the major leagues or at least 20 WAR):
Hal Brown
Warren Hacker
Hal Jeffcoat
Alex Kellner
Turk Lown
Hal Jeffcoat is listed here as a pitcher, although he could just as easily be listed as an everyday player. He was an outfielder for the Cubs for six seasons, from 1948 through 1953, Chicago’s starting center fielder for much of that time. Then with the start of the 1954 season he switched, cold turkey, to pitching, and was a solid performer on the mound for the next six seasons, with the Cubs, then the Reds and finally the Cardinals in his last few months in the majors. I’ve listed him here as a pitcher because his WAR suggests he was more valuable on the mound — pretty much just a replacement player as an outfielder but a cut above that as a pitcher. Each on its own, neither his stint as a hitter nor his stint as a pitcher would get him on the COG ballot, but by combining the two Jeffcoat stitched together a long major league career.
