This post is for voting and discussion in the 89th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This round is the first of two adding players born in 1901 to the list of candidates eligible to receive your votes. Rules and lists are after the jump.
Players born in 1901 are being brought on to the COG eligible list over two rounds, split in half based on last names — the top half by alphabetical order is added in this week’s round and the bottom half next week. This round’s new group joins the holdovers from prior balloting to comprise the full set of players eligible to receive your votes this round.
The new group of 1901-born players, in order to join the eligible list, must, as usual, 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). This new group of 1901-born candidates joins the eligible holdovers from previous rounds to comprise the full list of players eligible to appear on your ballots.
Each submitted ballot, if it is to be counted, must include three and only three eligible players. As always, 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.
In total there were 14 players born in 1901 who met the “10 seasons played or 20 WAR” minimum requirement. Seven of those are being added to the eligible list this round (alphabetically from Guy Bush to Flint Rhem). The seven remaining players will be added in next week’s round.
All voting for this round closes at 11:59 PM EDT Tuesday, March 31st, while changes to previously cast ballots are allowed until 11:59 PM EDT Sunday, March 29th.
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 1901 Part 1 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-1901 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 fourteen 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 1901 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:
Harmon Killebrew (eligibility guaranteed for 9 rounds)
Carl Hubbell (eligibility guaranteed for 3 rounds)
Mickey Cochrane (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Rick Reuschel (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Al Simmons (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Paul Waner (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Kevin Brown (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Roy Campanella (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Dennis Eckersley (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Wes Ferrell (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Minnie Minoso (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Graig Nettles (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Luis Tiant (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Dave Winfield (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Everyday Players (born in 1901, ten or more seasons played in the major leagues or at least 20 WAR):
Johnny Cooney
Heinie Manush
Taylor Douthit
Pitchers (born in 1901, ten or more seasons played in the major leagues or at least 20 WAR):
Freddie Fitzsimmons
Guy Bush
Fred Heimach
Flint Rhem
