Johnny Mize was not inducted into the Hall of Fame by the primary route of election by the Baseball Writers’ Association. Instead, he had to wait for induction into the Hall of Fame by the secondary method of a Veterans Committee. Mize’s case has long been recognized as one of the biggest oversights by the baseball writers’ Hall of Fame voting process. No oversight in our voting process however, as Mize easily becomes, in his first round of eligibility, the 73rd inductee into the High Heat Stats Circle of Greats. More on The Big Cat, and the voting, after the jump.
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Johnny Mize spent the first ten full seasons of his major league career in the National League, before being sold to the Yankees in his eleventh season. “Rbat” is the hitting component of Baseball-Reference.com’s Wins Above Replacement stat, the component that reflects the number of runs a player created as a hitter above what an average hitter would have created in the same environment.
Most Rbat in National League History, First 10 Years of a Career:
1. Albert Pujols 591.3
2. Stan Musial 524.5
3. Rogers Hornsby 492.2
4. Johnny Mize 479.5
5. Jeff Bagwell 471.6
6. Hank Aaron 445.3
7. Willie Mays 410.2
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Highest OPS+, National League Career (min. 3,000 PAs in the NL)
1. Barry Bonds 182
2. Rogers Hornsby 176
3. Dan Brouthers 172
4. Albert Pujols 170
5. Johnny Mize 164
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Most Triples (Triples!) in the National League, 1936-1942
1. Johnny Mize 73
2. Arky Vaughan 70
3. Dolph Camilli 69
4. Joe Medwick 65
5. Ival Goodman 61
A-Mizing Numbers:
Willie Mays, Age 25-27: 39 Triples, 100 Homers, .399 OBP, .988 OPS, 162 OPS+
Johnny Mize, Age 25-27: 43 Triples, 98 Homers, .423 OBP, 1.049 OPS, 177 OPS+
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Doug is our great quiz-master here at High Heat Stats, but let me try his approach. What major league career record for non-pitchers is shared by Johnny Mize and Gene Woodling?
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Notes on this round’s voting:
–Besides Mize’s election, the big news this round is Roberto Alomar, who received enough support to get him off the “bubble”, so he is no longer at immediate risk of falling off the eligible list. Alomar appeared on 18 ballots, his highest level of support since way, way back in Round 8.
–Support for Harmon Killebrew also topped the 25% support level. Slowly but surely, Killer is accumulating a nice collection of reserved rounds of eligibility.
–All the other holdovers received voting support at the status quo level of at least 10% but less than 25%. The “bubble” group has dwindled to four: Minnie Minoso, Dennis Eckersley, Dave Winfield and Luis Tiant.
–Mize was the only 1913 birth-year guy to receive votes. As we go further back in time, the practice of voters using a vote for a “favorite son”, who appears on only one or a few voter ballots, seems to be tailing off a bit (Tommy Henrich, who was eligible this round, is the sort of guy who might previously have gotten a vote or two). Not surprising, I guess. As we are now dealing with birth-year players whose careers ended 60 and more years ago, we are surely less likely to find the same level of emotional connection between voters and particular players that sometimes leads to a “favorite son” vote.
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The full spreadsheet showing this round’s vote tally is here: COG 1913 Part 2 Vote Tally.
The vote summary for recent Circle of Greats voting rounds is here: COG Vote Summary 2 . An archive with details of the 1968 through 1939 rounds is here: COG 1968-1939 Vote Summary . In both cases, raw vote totals for each past round appear on Sheet 1 and the percentage totals for each past round appear on Sheet 2.
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A spreadsheet listing the full membership to date of the Circle of Greats, along with some of their stats, is here: Circle of Greats Membership . You can also find that same link any time by clicking on “Circle of Greats” at the top of the High Heats Stats home page.
