This post is for voting and discussion in the 130th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This is the second of four rounds of balloting adding to the list of candidates eligible to receive your votes those players born in 1974. Rules and lists are after the jump.
The new group of 1974-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 second group of 1974-born candidates, comprising those with D-L surnames, joins the eligible holdovers from previous rounds to comprise the full list of players eligible to appear on your ballots.
In addition to voting for COG election among players on the main ballot, there will be also be voting for elevation to the main ballot among players on the secondary ballot. For both ballots, which may be voted at the same time or in separate posts, voters must include three and only three eligible players. For the main ballot election, the one player who appears on the most ballots cast in the round is inducted into the Circle of Greats, while for the secondary ballot election, the one player appearing on the most ballots cast is elevated to the main ballot for the next COG election round. In the case of ties, a runoff election round will be held for COG election, while a tie-breaking process will be followed to determine the secondary ballot winner.
Players who fail to win either ballot 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. One additional round of eligibility is earned by any player who appears on at least 10% of the ballots cast or, for the main ballot only, any player finishing in the top 9 (including ties) in ballot appearances. Holdover candidates on the main ballot who exhaust their eligibility will drop to the secondary ballot for the next COG election round, as will first time main ballot candidates who attract one or more votes but do not earn additional main ballot eligibility. Secondary ballot candidates who exhaust their eligibility will drop from that ballot, but will become eligible for possible reinstatement in a future Redemption round election.
All voting for this round closes at 11:59 PM EST Sunday, February 10th, while changes to previously cast ballots are allowed until 11:59 PM EST Friday, February 8th.
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 1974 Part 2 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-1974 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 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 1974 birth-year players 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:
| MAIN BALLOT | ELIGIBILITY | SECONDARY BALLOT | ELIGIBILITY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Brown | 12 rounds | Willie Randolph | 6 rounds |
| Luis Tiant | 9 rounds | Ted Lyons | 5 rounds |
| Manny Ramirez | 6 rounds | Rick Reuschel | 5 rounds |
| Dick Allen | 5 rounds | Todd Helton | 4 rounds |
| Bill Dahlen | 5 rounds | Andy Pettitte | 2 rounds |
| Graig Nettles | 3 rounds | Bobby Abreu | this round ONLY |
| Bobby Wallace | 3 rounds | ||
| Richie Ashburn | this round ONLY | ||
| Ken Boyer | this round ONLY | ||
| Andre Dawson | this round ONLY | ||
| Ted Simmons | this round ONLY | ||
| Don Sutton | this round ONLY |
Everyday Players (born in 1974, ten or more seasons played in the major leagues or at least 20 WAR, D-L surname):
Derek Jeter
Jason Kendall
Jermaine Dye
Darin Erstad
Mike Lowell
Jason LaRue
Geoff Jenkins
Robert Fick
Pitchers (born in 1974, ten or more seasons played in the major leagues or at least 20 WAR, D-L surname):
R.A. Dickey
Braden Looper
Mark Hendrickson
Ray King
As is our custom with first time candidates, here is a factoid and related quiz question on each of the new players on the ballot.
- Derek Jeter led his league with 216 hits at age 38 in 2012. Who is the only older player with a league-leading 200 hit season? (Paul Molitor, 1996)
- R.A. Dickey’s 442.2 IP before his age 35 season are the fewest for any pitcher with a 2000 IP career. Whose record did Dickey break? (Rip Sewell)
- Jason Kendall recorded 13 seasons with 125 games caught, the most ever. Whose record did Kendall break? (Bob Boone)
- Darin Erstad’s 240 hits in 2000 are 63 more than his next best total of 177 two years later. Which player with a 200 hit season since 1901 has the largest gap between his top two hit seasons? (Chick Fullis)
- Jermaine Dye is one of 10 retired players since 1901 with 3500-4000 PA both before their age 30 season and aged 30 or older. Which one of those players recorded less oWAR than Dye in both of those career halves? (Terry Pendleton)
- Mike Lowell played over 500 games at 3B for Boston after joining the Red Sox at age 32. Which player has the most 3B games for Boston after age 30? (Jimmy Collins)
- Jason LaRue caught over 800 games in the NL and never recorded a qualified season. Who was the first catcher to do this? (Jerry Grote)
- Braden Looper is one of 18 pitchers with a 600 game career including 500 relief appearances and 90 starts, but is the only one to record all of those starts after age 30. Before Looper, which of those pitchers had recorded the most starts after age 30? (Rick Honeycutt)
- Geoff Jenkins had his best season in 2000 at age 25, batting .300 with 300 total bases and 100 runs scored, to join Paul Molitor (and later Ryan Braun) as the youngest Brewers to record such a season. Who is the oldest Brewer to post these totals? (Paul Molitor, 1991)
- Mark Hendrickson‘s 5.90 ERA for the Devil Rays in 2005 was then the highest of the post-war era in a qualified full-length season with BB/9 under 2.5. Which pitcher posted the highest such ERA of the 20th century? (Sloppy Thurston, 1925)
- Ray King posted five consecutive 40 IP seasons (2001-05) with 120 ERA+, SO/BB under 2.5 and nary a start, tying John Franco (1984-88) for the longest such streak of seasons by an NL pitcher. Which two pitchers share the AL record (also 5 seasons), and which two pitchers have longer streaks pitching in both leagues? (AL Leaders: Steve Mingori 1974-78, Gregg Olson 1989-93; MLB Leaders: Ted Abernathy 1967-72, Brad Ziegler 2008-13)
- Robert Fick is one of three players since 1901 to play 150 games at catcher, first base and right field. Who are the other two? (Keith Moreland, Ed Kirkpatrick)
