After he finished third and fourth, respectively, over the previous two rounds, Juan Marichal’s support this round bounced up and put him over the top, in his 17th round on the ballot. Marichal becomes the 57th inductee into the High Heat Stats Circle of Greats.

If the 1960s were the decade of the pitcher, Juan Marichal was the pitcher of the decade of the pitcher:

Most Pitching Wins Above Replacement (“WAR”, baseball-reference version), 1960-1969:
1. Juan Marichal 55.2
2. Bob Gibson 54.4
3. Sandy Koufax 48.1
4. Jim Bunning 46.2
5. Don Drysdale 44.6

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Through 2013, there have been 256 team-seasons played by franchises based in California (56 each by the Dodgers and Giants, 53 by the Angels, 46 by the A’s and 45 by the Padres). Here are the highest career pitching WAR by a pitcher playing for California-based teams:

1. Juan Marichal 62.0
2. Don Sutton 58.1
3. Don Drysdale 53.3
4. Chuck Finley 52.2
5. Sandy Koufax 51.3
6. Gaylord Perry 44.5
7. Bob Welch 43.4
8. Vida Blue 43.0
9. Orel Hershiser 41.1
10. Fernando Valenzuela 36.6
11. Jered Weaver 34.2 (active with Cal. team in 2014)
12. Barry Zito 33.9
13. Clayton Kershaw 33.2 (active with Cal. team in 2014)
14. Matt Cain 32.3 (active with Cal. team in 2014)
15. Tim Hudson 32.1 (active with Cal. team in 2014)
16. Andy Messersmith 30.2
17. Kevin Brown 29.1
18. Jim Barr 28.2
T19. Burt Hooton and Claude Osteen 26.3

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Among the 100 pitchers with the highest career strikeout totals since 1900, here are the five lowest walks per nine innings career totals:
1. Christy Mathewson 1.59 BB/9
2. Pete Alexander 1.65 BB/9
3. Robin Roberts 1.73 BB/9
4. Greg Maddux 1.80 BB/9
5. Juan Marichal 1.82 BB/9

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Notes on the 1925, Part 2 round of voting:

–Juan Marichal appeared on 26 ballots in his debut as an eligible COG candidate, did not top 20 again until he got 21 in his twelfth round on the ballot (he fell one vote short of Ron Santo for induction), bumped up to 24 two rounds later (three votes behind induction-winner Bobby Grich), then bumped back up to 24 again this round, which was enough for the win this time.

–Richie Ashburn is nothing if not consistent in his COG candidacy. In his four rounds on the ballot he’s received support from exactly 8 voters each time.

–Minnie Minoso had a nice debut on the ballot, picking up 25%+ support, so not only will he be back next round, he will avoid bubble status.

–With all the holdovers receiving support of at least 10%, the holdover count will remain at 13 for the next round, as Minoso replaces Marichal on the list and everyone else remains intact.

–John Smoltz appeared on 19 ballots, his highest number in 33 rounds (!!). For a while there he looked like a serious threat to Juan Marichal for this round’s induction. With Marichal safely in the COG, Smoltz now has the second-largest stash of eligibility years with five secure rounds worth, behind only Koufax, whose 12 rounds of compiled eligibility makes him as close to exile-proof as it gets around here. Smoltz’s accumulated eligibility pile is creeping back up to the levels he once possessed, before it eroded during some of those especially talent-laden 1930s votes.

–In addition to Smoltz and Minoso, the Dodgers Snider and Koufax also topped the 25% level and thus add an extra round to their eligibility cache. Kenny Lofton missed the 25% level by one vote.

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The full spreadsheet showing this round’s vote tally is here: COG 1925 Part 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 Membership . 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.