Suppose we knew nothing of OPS+, WAR, or any other offensive measure invented since Babe Ruth. How do the traditional batting stats of Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell compare to subsequent Hall of Famers at their positions, if each is ranked among his contemporaries?

Here are 16-year rankings against their contemporary middle infielders, for Trammell and Whitaker plus four Hall of Famers (or soon to be): Ryne Sandberg, Roberto Alomar, Barry Larkin and Craig Biggio. Names have been removed, and the listings are unordered. Can you spot the Hall of Famers?

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This post is for voting and discussion in the 43nd round of balloting for the Circle of Greats.  This round adds to the ballot those players born in 1935.  Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading →

After appearing on around 40% of the ballots submitted in each of his first four rounds of eligibility, a level that had not been quite high enough to earn induction, Gaylord Perry broke though this time, appearing on over 50% of the ballots, solidly ahead of Ron Santo, who finished second in the voting.  Perry becomes the 42nd player inducted into the High Heat Stats Circle of Greats.  More on Gaylord and the voting after the jump. Continue reading →

Another HOF vote has come and gone, happily with better results than last year’s fiasco. But, there will be some crowded ballots in the next few years, so one can only hope that deserving players don’t drop off with unseemly haste.

There will, in fact, be so many notable players on coming ballots that I thought it could be useful to try to organize them in some structured way, if only to provide an objective way to assess the performance of voters in the coming elections.

After the jump, a handicapper’s guide to coming Hall of Fame elections.

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Alan Trammell‘s Hall of Fame support fell to 21% on this year’s ballot; in two years, he’ll join Lou Whitaker in veterans committee limbo. To channel my grief, I’ve been shaping some thoughts about them. This post is about peak WAR and career value patterns for a 2B/SS tandem.

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Since 1901, 318 baseball players have posted a 150 OPS+ or better with at least 500 plate appearances. Just 10 of these players, though, have surpassed a 150 OPS+ while walking 25 times or fewer, including just two players since the Deadball Era.

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Most Homers In a Season By a Hall of Famer:
60, by Babe Ruth (1927)
59, by Babe Ruth (1921)
58, by Hank Greenberg (1938) and Jimmie Foxx (1932)
56, by Hack Wilson (1930)
54, by Mickey Mantle (1961), Ralph Kiner (1949) and Babe Ruth (1920 and 1928)
52, by Willie Mays (1965) and Mickey Mantle (1956)

Those top two Ruth seasons are eighth and ninth on the full most-homers-in-a-season list.  Bonds, Maris, two McGwire seasons and three Sosa seasons are ahead of the Babe.

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The pitchers in this quiz share the distinction of being the only post-war hurlers (those who played their entire careers since 1946) with a particular career accomplishment. What is it?

Back in 1989 the Indians were in a dismal place. They had lost over 100 games in each of the previous 2 seasons, and were in the middle of what appeared to be another lost season. They were trailing the White Sox for the division lead by what seemed to be an insurmountable margin. Their owner, the much hated Rachel Phelps, had just inherited the team from her recently deceased father and was planning on relocating to Miami. Rachel Phelps in many respects was Jeffrey Loria with a nicer smile. The team was destined for failure, but somehow pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and won the pennant. Sadly the records from the day do not tell us if they went on to win the World Series. I believe in 1994 a hidden tape was revealed that released this information, but I am a man of principal and refuse to watch such rubbish. Through a minor miracle I have stumbled upon some old scouting reports of the players that made this season possible. Perhaps they can shed a light on what gave these ragamuffins the will to succeed against such long odds. Continue reading →

Over the holidays, we too soon lost one of the outstanding defensive centerfielders in baseball history. Longtime Oriole Paul Blair passed away in Baltimore, aged only 69.

Among contemporary centerfielders, Blair’s 174 WAR fielding runs from 1964 to 1980 were more than the combined total of Garry Maddox (102) and Ken Berry (69) in second and third place. That 174 mark ranks 4th all-time among centerfielders, close behind Jim Piersall (175) and Willie Mays (183), with those three trailing only the phenomenal total of 236 WAR fielding runs posted by Andruw Jones.

After the jump, more on the career of Paul Blair.

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