Whom would you vote for the Hall...?

Question

...from today's announced pre-1943 debut Veterans Committee ballot? (The VC subcommittee will vote in December.)

The ten candidates:

Bill Dahlen

Wes Ferrell

Joe Gordon

Sherry Magee

Carl Mays

Allie Reynolds

Vern Stephens

Mickey Vernon

Bucky Walters

Deacon White

I haven't given any new thought to these candidates, but I've been in support of Gordon before, and not in favor of Mays. Don't really have an opinion on the other eight yet.

How would you vote?

Answer 1

Joe Gordon was an outstanding second basemen and should be considered for HOF.

Carl Mays, a submarining pitcher was really a fine pitcher but many batters were unable to cope with his submarine pitches, and as a consequence, Mays led the league many times in hit batsmen and in fact, one of his submarine pitches killed Ray Chapman and led directly to placing a new clean ball in play after every play.

But a Hall of Famer, no

The others on your list, in my estimation, don't qualify for HOF

Answer 2

I will agree with you on Gordon.

Here's some musings on everyone.

Bill Dahlen—nope, only 4 Black Ink points and 107 Gray and his fielding numbers are not superb.  I don’t know if there are many guys who mostly played in the 19th Century I would put in at any rate.

Wes Ferrell—probably more deserving than his brother, but his peak wasn’t high enough or long enough.

Joe Gordon—maybe…he lost some prime years to the war and was an All-Star almost every year.

Sherry Magee—I would be more inclined to go with Gavvy Cravath…Magee’s similiarity scores don’t match up well for the Hall.  I am again inclined to pass.

Carl Mays—besides killing a guy, he was darn good.  Excellent winning percentage, but the other numbers again don’t leap out at me.

Allie Reynolds—short career and not that impressive.  If he weren’t lucky enough to have been a Yankee, he wouldn’t even get this much consideration.

Vern Stephens—he got a bump by not having to go to WWII.  But I would go with Gordon ahead of him.

Mickey Vernon—primarily a first basemen who doesn’t blow you away as a hitter.  1 HOF member on his top ten similarity scores.  Pass.

Bucky Walters—too much of his peak value came during the War.  I would love to see a guy named “Bucky” in the Hall, but Buck O’Neill would have been a better choice.

Deacon White—His best year was 1877, when he was the oldest player in the league.  He really only was #1 in the early version of the game in three years.  Pass.

Give Joe Gordon some credit for time lost to the war.  He is at least “average HOF member” level.  Everyone else would help to open up the “If X made it in, why not Y?”

Answer 3

sorry chip...you always give good answers to my questions, but i dont recognize any of these names. I dont know if im not old enough, or dont know enough about baseball pre 1960's, but i cant help you. sorry!!