This post is for voting and discussion in the twentieth round of balloting for the Circle of Greats. This round adds those players born in 1952 who were not added last round. Rules and lists are after the jump.
Last round we added the top half of the alphabet from among the eligible players born in 1952, this round we add the bottom half of the alphabet. The new group joins the holdovers from previous rounds to comprise the full group eligible to receive your votes this round. The new group of 1952-born players must, as always, 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 11:00 PM EDT on Thursday, June 6, while changes to previously cast ballots are allowed until 11:00 PM EDT Tuesday, June 4.
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: 1952 Part 2 COG 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 players; additional player columns from the new born-in-1952 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 10 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 new group of 1952 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. In total there were 42 players born in 1952 who met the “10 seasons played or 20 WAR” minimum requirement. 21 of those are being added to the eligible list this round (alphabetically from Rick Langford through Pat Zachry).
Holdovers:
Tony Gwynn (eligibility guaranteed for 12 rounds)
Paul Molitor (eligibility guaranteed for 6 rounds)
John Smoltz (eligibility guaranteed for 6 rounds)
Lou Whitaker (eligibility guaranteed for 5 rounds)
Alan Trammell (eligibility guaranteed for 4 rounds)
Tim Raines (eligibility guaranteed for 3 rounds)
Craig Biggio (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Roberto Alomar (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Eddie Murray (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Ryne Sandberg (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Everyday Players (born in 1952, ten or more seasons played in the major leagues or at least 20 WAR):
Fred Lynn
Darrell Porter
Jerry Royster
Jerry Mumphrey
Craig Reynolds
Ernie Whitt
Roy Smalley
Dan Meyer
Jim Morrison (oh, and RIP Ray Manzarek)
Omar Moreno
Rowland Office
Jerry White
Jerry Remy (“Jerry” is the name of 4 of the 15 players in this list!)
Mike Squires
Ron Washington
Pitchers (born in 1952, ten or more seasons played in the major leagues or at least 20 WAR):
Bob McClure
Rick Waits
Rick Langford
Joe Sambito
Pete Vuckovich
Pat Zachry
