This post is for voting and discussion in the 71st round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG).  This round adds to the ballot those players born in 1914. Rules and lists are after the jump.

This round’s new group of 1914-born players joins the holdovers from previous rounds to comprise the full set of players eligible to receive your votes this round.

The new group of 1914-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 11:59 PM EDT Monday, September 22, while changes to previously cast ballots are allowed until 11:59 PM EDT Saturday, September 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 1914 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-1914 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 eleven 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 1914 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:
Whitey Ford (eligibility guaranteed for 8 rounds)
Craig Biggio (eligibility guaranteed for 3 rounds)
Lou Boudreau (eligibility guaranteed for 3 rounds)
Harmon Killebrew (eligibility guaranteed for 3 rounds)
Kevin Brown (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Joe Gordon  (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Eddie Murray (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Roberto Alomar (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Roy Campanella  (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Dennis Eckersley (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Minnie Minoso (eligibility guaranteed for  this round only)

Everyday Players (born in 1914, ten or more seasons played in the major leagues or at least 20 WAR):
Bill Nicholson
Frankie Hayes
Joe DiMaggio
Buddy Rosar
Mike Tresh
Jimmy Wasdell
Mickey Livingston
Rusty Peters

Pitchers (born in 1914, ten or more seasons played in the major leagues or at least 20 WAR):
Johnny Vander Meer
Harry Brecheen
Ellis Kinder
Elmer Riddle
Johnny Rigney

White Sox pitcher Johnny Rigney makes this list with 20.9 WAR despite pitching in a mere eight seasons, only four of which were full seasons of pitching.  Rigney was third in the majors in pitching WAR over the three-year period 1938-1940.  During the 1941 season he got caught up in a public relations mess when he requested a 60-day military draft deferment so he could get enough playing time to earn a contract bonus. That request was a particularly sensitive issue with the public because Rigney was engaged to Dorothy Comiskey, daughter of the owner of the White Sox.  It turned out Rigney didn’t even need the deferment, because his final pre-induction medical exam disqualified him from military service, based on a perforated eardrum.  That medical issue allowed him to finish out the 1941 season.  But after Pearl Harbor, the perforated eardrum became a non-factor, Rigney went into the military and his major league playing career was effectively over at age 28.  He did end up working for his in-laws in the White Sox front office.  His wife inherited the team in 1956 (Rigney serving as co-general manager with his brother-in-law during Dorothy’s tenure as owner), but sold it to Bill Veeck in 1959.