This Circle of Greats (COG) vote is not to induct anyone into the Circle, but only to select three players who will be restored back on to the main ballot after having been previously been dropped from eligibility. This fifth “redemption round” (we also held such rounds after the 1960, 1950, 1940 and 1930 rounds of voting) gives voters a chance to reconsider past candidates who have been rejected.
In this round you may include on your three-man ballot any major league baseball player who was born between 1922 and 1969 and has neither been elected to the Circle of Greats nor is currently on the 1922 part 2 regular COG ballot. As usual, you must vote for three and only three to cast a qualifying ballot. The three players who appear on the most ballots will be restored to eligibility for the next regular, induction round of COG voting. If your personal favorite doesn’t come in the top three this time, do not despair — he will have other chances in future redemption rounds, which are currently scheduled to be held once after every ten regular induction rounds.
There are many, many players who are eligible for your votes in this redemption round. As an optional aid to your selection process, I’ve put together two spreadsheets, one for pitchers and one for everyday players, that include some stats for a substantial selection of relevant players: Redemption Round 5 Optional Hitter List and Redemption Round 5 Optional Pitcher List. The spreadsheet with everyday players includes 167 166 players who played at least ten seasons in the majors and accumulated at least 32 Wins Above Replacement (baseball-reference version). The pitcher list includes 132 131 pitchers who accumulated at least 25 pitching Wins Above Replacement (two of them, Teddy Higuera and Don Wilson, played only nine seasons in the majors). Again, these spreadsheets represent entirely discretionary lists — your full options are as stated: all major leaguers born between 1922 and 1969 who have not been inducted into the COG and are not on the 1922 part 2 ballot we are also voting on this week.
The deadline to cast your ballots in this redemption round is Sunday night, June 22 at 11:59PM EDT. You can change your votes until 11:59PM EDT on Friday night, June 20. You can keep track of the vote tally in this redemption round here: COG Redemption Round 5 Vote Tally
