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BASEBALL'S 2016 PRE-INTEGRATION ERA COMMITTEE BALLOT: ARE THERE ANY HALL OF FAMERS LEFT?

BASEBALL'S 2016 PRE-INTEGRATION ERA COMMITTEE BALLOT: ARE THERE ANY HALL OF FAMERS LEFT?
05 Dec
2015
Not in Hall of Fame

Index



Pre-Integration Era Hall of Fame Shortstop: Live Ball

On the other hand, Marty Marion has not been overlooked—he had appeared on 12 BBWAA ballots between 1956 and 1973, garnering 40 percent of the vote in 1970, his best showing. And there is a reason why Marion is not already in the Hall of Fame, which we will now examine.

Here are the five Hall of Fame shortstops associated with the Pre-Integration Era (Live Ball) whose careers overlapped Marion's to some degree, ranked by bWAR, with other qualitative statistics, including fWAR, listed alongside it.

Pre-Integration Era (Live Ball) Hall of Fame Shortstops and 2016 Shortstop Candidate on the 2016 Pre-Integration Era Ballot, Ranked by bWAR

Position Player

Slash Line

wOBA

bWAR

fWAR

OPS+

wRC+

Appling, Luke

.310/.399/.398

.378

74.5

72.7

113

115

Vaughan, Arky

.318/.406/.453

.399

72.9

72.6

136

138

Reese, Pee Wee

.269/.366/.377

.350

66.4

61.3

99

103

Boudreau, Lou

.295/.380/.415

.375

63.0

64.5

120

122

Rizzuto, Phil

.273/.351/.355

.335

40.8

41.3

93

96

Marion, Marty

.263/.323/.345

.317

31.6

30.0

81

83


The table below lists these five Hall of Fame shortstops associated with the Pre-Integration Era (Live Ball) and Marion, ranked by JAWS, along with other JAWS statistics and ratings for the Hall of Fame Monitor and the Hall of Fame Standards. Also included are the JAWS statistics for all shortstops in the Hall of Fame.

Pre-Integration Era (Live Ball) 2016 Shortstop Candidate, Qualitative Comparisons to Hall of Fame Shortstops (Ranked by JAWS)

Player

No. of Years

From

To

bWAR

WAR7

JAWS

JAWS Rank

HoF Mon.

(≈100)

HoF Std.

(≈50)

Vaughan, Arky

14

1932

1948

72.9

50.6

61.8

6

116

52

Appling, Luke

20

1930

1950

74.5

43.8

59.1

9

149

57

Boudreau, Lou

15

1938

1952

63.0

48.7

55.8

15

89

34

Ave of 21 HoF SS

NA

NA

NA

66.7

42.8

54.7

NA

NA

NA

Reese, Pee Wee

16

1940

1958

66.4

41.0

53.6

17

100

39

Rizzuto, Phil

13

1941

1956

40.8

33.8

37.3

35

87

23

Marion, Marty

13

1940

1953

31.6

26.2

28.9

63

57

17


To be fair, the statistics featured in the two tables immediately above are weighted to a player's offensive ability, and shortstop is a position that has been considered to be primarily a defensive one since it had been created in the 19th century (and we'll examine Doc Adams in detail below). And although the Hall of Fame has historically rewarded position players for their offensive prowess much more so that for their defensive ability, it has recognized players whose reputation has rested primarily with their glove than with their bat, from Ray Schalk to Nellie Fox to Ozzie Smith.

So, let's examine whether Marion, who never hit more than six home runs in a single season (he retired with 36 dingers all told) nor came closer than 20 points of a .300 batting average in any given year, has the fielding wizardry to merit inclusion in the Hall of Fame—or at least justify his nicknames "The Octopus" and "Mr. Shortstop."

The table below lists the Pre-Integration Era Hall of Fame shortstops from the live-ball period and Marion, ranked by dWAR, or Wins Above Replacement based on defensive effectiveness only, with other defensive metrics and their career stolen base totals.

Defensive and Stolen-Base Statistics for Pre-Integration Era (Live Ball) Hall of Fame Shortstops and 2016 Shortstop Candidate on the 2016 Pre-Integration Era (Live Ball) Era Ballot, Ranked by dWAR

Player

Putouts

Assists

Double Plays Turned

Total Zone

dWAR

Fld. Pct.

RF/9

League RF/9

Stolen Bases

Reese, Pee Wee

4040

5891

1246

107

25.6

.962

5.05

5.11

232

Marion, Marty

2986

4829

978

130

25.0

.969

5.27

5.24

35

Boudreau, Lou

3132

4760

1180

115

23.3

.954

5.27

5.13

51

Rizzuto, Phil

3219

4666

1217

107

22.9

.968

5.20

5.09

149

Appling, Luke

4398

7218

1424

39

19.0

.948

5.35

5.21

179

Vaughan, Arky

2995

4780

850

17

12.0

.951

5.36

5.43

118


Among his contemporaries already in the Hall of Fame, Marty Marion emerges as the elite fielder, tops in Total Zone defensive runs saved and just a tick over a half-win behind Pee Wee Reese in defensive WAR while he just beats out Phil Rizzuto for the highest fielding percentage, although his range factor compared to the league's suggest that "The Octopus"'s tentacles might not have been as long as previously perceived. Nevertheless, Marion has at least the defensive qualifications to justify his consideration for the Hall.

However, does Marion hold up against all shortstops considered to be outstanding defensive players? Ranked by Baseball Reference's defensive WAR, Marion is tied for 17th all-time among fielders at all positions—and as an indication of the defensive value of a shortstop, all but six of those first 17 slots are filled by shortstops. (Marion shares 17th place with fellow shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh and catcher Jim Sundberg.)

The table below lists defensive statistics (and career stolen bases) for the 17 shortstops on the list of all position players with the 25 highest defensive WAR values all-time. Ten of those shortstops are in the Hall of Fame (denoted by a +) while both Bill Dahlen and Marty Marion are on the 2016 Pre-Integration Era ballot (both indicated in bold italic). (Omar Vizquel will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2018.)

Defensive and Stolen-Base Statistics for the Top 16 Hall of Fame Shortstops and 2016 Shortstop Candidates on the 2016 Pre-Integration Era Ballot, Ranked by dWAR

Player

Putouts

Assists

Double Plays Turned

Total Zone

dWAR

Fld. Pct.

RF/9

League RF/9

Stolen Bases

Smith, Ozzie +

4249

8375

1590

239

43.4

.978

5.22

4.78

580

Belanger, Mark

3005

5786

1054

238

39.4

.977

5.16

4.93

167

Ripken, Jr., Cal +

3651

6977

1565

176

34.6

.979

4.73

4.69

36

Tinker, Joe +

3768

5856

671

180

34.3

.938

5.63

5.40

336

Aparicio, Luis +

4548

8016

1553

149

31.6

.972

5.05

4.89

506

Maranville, Rabbit +

5139

7354

1188

115

30.8

.952

5.92

5.64

291

Wallace, Bobby +

4142

6303

640

105

28.7

.938

5.89

5.61

201

Dahlen, Bill

4856

7505

881

120

28.4

.927

5.96

5.67

548

Vizquel, Omar

4102

7676

1734

137

28.4

.985

4.62

4.35

404

Fletcher, Art

2836

5134

620

145

28.3

.939

5.67

5.50

160

Reese, Pee Wee +

4040

5891

1246

107

25.6

.962

5.05

5.11

232

Marion, Marty

2986

4829

978

130

25.0

.969

5.27

5.24

35

Peckinpaugh, Roger

3919

6337

966

100

25.0

.949

5.31

5.25

205

Davis, George +

3239

4794

590

106

24.0

.940

6.04

5.74

619

Bancroft, Dave +

4623

6561

1021

94

23.4

.944

6.12

5.70

145

Boudreau, Lou +

3132

4760

1180

115

23.3

.954

5.27

5.13

51

McBride, George

3585

5274

609

98

23.2

.948

5.56

5.41

133

+ In the Hall of Fame

Leaving aside the wide variances in the style and quality of play these fielders faced depending on when they played, Marty Marion emerges as a viable if not auspicious candidate at least in terms of defensive play. But even if the shortstop position rewards defensive play as a Hall of Fame qualification, it is not the exclusive, or even the dominant, criterion—were that the case, Mark Belanger, with a career slash line of .228/.300/.280 and 20 home runs in more than 2000 games, would have been inducted by now.

To assess the offensive contribution these defensive stars made during their career, let's examine Hall of Fame shortstops and current Pre-Integration Era shortstop candidate Bill Dahlen included in the table immediately above, whose "slash line" (batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage) are comparable to Marty Marion's, first qualitatively and then quantitatively.

The table below lists those shortstops just identified with their respective qualitative statistics, ranked by bWAR.

Hall of Fame Shortstops (All Eras) and 2016 Shortstop Candidates on the 2016 Pre-Integration Era Ballot, Ranked by bWAR

Position Player

Slash Line

wOBA

bWAR

fWAR

OPS+

wRC+

Smith, Ozzie

.262/.337/.328

.305

76.5

67.6

87

90

Dahlen, Bill

.272/.358/.382

.357

75.2

77.5

110

108

Wallace, Bobby

.268/.332/.358

.333

70.2

62.4

105

104

Reese, Pee Wee

.269/.366/.377

.350

66.4

61.3

99

103

Aparicio, Luis

.262/.311/.343

.296

55.7

49.1

82

83

Tinker, Joe

.262/.308/.353

.319

53.2

55.5

96

96

Bancroft, Dave

.279/.355/.358

.342

48.5

49.2

98

100

Maranville, Rabbit

.258/.318/.340

.313

42.8

42.5

82

83

Rizzuto, Phil

.273/.351/.355

.335

40.8

41.3

93

96

Marion, Marty

.263/.323/.345

.317

31.6

30.0

81

83


The table below lists those shortstops with selected quantitative statistics (i.e., "counting numbers"). These statistics reflect those of a "table-setting" hitter, typically in the lead-off or number-two spot in the batting order, whose duties include getting on base, stealing bases, and moving up runners. Listed in the table are hits, doubles, triples, runs scored, bases on balls, stolen bases, and sacrifice hits.

Hall of Fame Shortstops (All Eras) and 2016 Shortstop Candidates on the 2016 Pre-Integration Era Ballot, Ranked by Hits

Position Player

H

2B

3B

R

BB

SB

SH

Aparicio, Luis

2677

394

92

1335

736

506

161

Maranville, Rabbit

2605

380

177

1256

839

291

300

Dahlen, Bill

2461

413

163

1590

1064

548

*165

Smith, Ozzie

2460

402

69

1257

1072

580

214

Wallace, Bobby

2309

391

143

1057

774

201

173

Reese, Pee Wee

2170

330

80

1338

1210

232

157

Bancroft, Dave

2004

320

77

1048

827

145

212

Tinker, Joe

1690

263

114

774

416

336

285

Rizzuto, Phil

1588

239

62

877

651

149

193

Marion, Marty

1448

272

37

602

470

35

151

* Partial total as this statistic was not recorded for his entire career.

It should be noted that Marion played the fewest games of the ten shortstops profiled, and thus it partially explains why some of his counting numbers, including hits, are the lowest of the sample, which is why he is at the bottom of the list. On the other hand, Marion was also ranked last in the previous table of qualitative statistics, and by now a clear picture of Marion should be emerging.

Marion most closely resembles Phil Rizzuto, whose career overlapped almost identically with Marion's as both shortstops played for a total of 13 seasons each. However, Rizzuto lost three years of his career during World War Two when he served in the US Navy from 1943 to 1945, his age-25 through age-27 seasons. By contrast, Marion, who was only three months younger than Rizzuto, played throughout the war, and in fact had his best seasons during the war, when the talent pool was diluted (as we noted while examining Frank McCormick).

In 1944, Marion was even named the National League's Most Valuable Player, a selection that, much like McCormick's MVP award in 1940, has been criticized over the decades. Marion was certainly an integral part of the St. Louis Cardinals team that won the NL pennant that year and then beat the crosstown St. Louis Browns in the World Series in six games, but Marion's teammate Stan Musial had another stellar year in 1944, finishing at or near the top of most major offensive categories, and would seem to have been a more deserving recipient, as would have Bill Nicholson of the Chicago Cubs, who led the NL in home runs and RBI, or Dixie Walker of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who led the league in batting. Even if the award were for Marion's defensive performance, he was bested at shortstop by the Cincinnati Reds' Eddie Miller in every category except fielding percentage, which Marion took by one percentage point over Miller.

Musial came in fourth in voting after having won his first MVP award in 1943; he won another MVP award in 1946 after having missed the 1945 season because of his military service in the US Navy.

Returning to Marty Marion and Phil Rizzuto: After Rizzuto's playing career ended, he became an announcer for the New York Yankees, the team for whom he played his entire career. Rizzuto became the Yankees' longest-serving announcer, having broadcast games for 40 years, and that was likely a factor in helping him be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the veterans committee in 1994.

Marion became a manager for six seasons, first for his Cardinals in 1951, the year after he retired as a player. Then in 1952 he moved across town to become the player-manager for the Browns for two seasons although his playing time in 1953, at third base, was negligible. After the Browns left town for Baltimore (they became the Orioles), Marion moved to the Chicago White Sox where he was a coach for much of the 1954 season before becoming manager for the final few games; he returned as manager for the next two years. Marion's managerial record is hardly auspicious in aggregate—he won 356 games and lost 372 for a .489 winning percentage—although his management of the hapless Browns, one of the most woeful franchises in Major League history, skews his record as a manager. In two seasons, his Browns won 96 and lost 161, but he notched an 81–73 record for the Cardinals while totaling 179 wins against 138 losses for the White Sox, including a high of 91 wins in 1955; however, his non-Browns teams finished in third place in each of those five seasons.

Rizzuto's admission into the Hall of Fame has been criticized because of his lightweight credentials. Rizzuto did win an MVP award in the American League in 1950, when he established career highs in more than a dozen offensive categories including hits (200), doubles (36), home runs (7), runs scored (125), walks (92), and overall slash line (.324/.418/.439); Rizzuto also led the AL in sacrifice hits with 19 and thus became the only position-player MVP to lead his league in that category. Moreover, his bWAR of 6.7 was best among just about every candidate who received an MVP vote; the Cleveland Indians' Larry Doby, who finished eighth in voting, posted a 6.7 bWAR as well.

As for the other shortstops with similar qualitative offensive statistics in this sample, almost all of them have at least one notable quantitative statistic in his resume—Aparicio, Dahlen, and Smith all swiped at least 500 bases, for example, while even Maranville, a rare example of a dubious BBWAA election, still collected more than 2600 hits. Marion, on the other hand, is uniformly inauspicious.

Based on the statistical record, Marty Marion is one of the best defensive shortstops in Major League history, but even with three World Series rings and one suspect MVP award under his belt, Marion is not a Hall of Famer.

Pre-Integration Era Hall of Fame Left Fielder: 19th Century

As we have seen, Bill Dahlen has been legitimately overlooked for the Hall of Fame, perhaps because his career straddled the 19th and 20th centuries, leaving his legacy behind in the mists of baseball history. That could make it even more difficult for Harry Stovey, whose career spanned the years from 1880 to 1893, encompassing the pre-modern game with its significant differences from the baseball we know today coupled with a fragmented statistical record and nothing but bygone accounts of his feats with which to evaluate him.

On the other hand, the Nineteenth Century Committee of the Society for American Baseball Research declared that Stovey was its Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legend for 2011, and although Stovey did not appear on the Pre-Integration Committee's 2013 ballot, he has made the current ballot, which gives us the opportunity to examine his Hall of Fame worthiness.

Here are the five Hall of Fame left fielders associated with the 19th-century Pre-Integration Era whose careers mostly overlapped Stovey's to some degree, ranked by bWAR, with other qualitative statistics, including fWAR, listed alongside it. Fred Clarke's career began one year after Stovey had retired, but it is included to increase the sample size.

19th-Century Pre-Integration Era Hall of Fame Left Fielders and 2016 Left Fielder Candidate on the 2016 Pre-Integration Era Ballot, Ranked by bWAR

Position Player

Slash Line

wOBA

bWAR

fWAR

OPS+

wRC+

Delahanty, Ed

.346/.411/.505

.428

69.5

73.7

152

144

Clarke, Fred

.312/.386/.429

.390

67.8

72.8

133

131

Burkett, Jesse

.338/.415/.446

.411

62.9

66.6

140

137

O'Rourke, Jim

.310/.352/.422

.360

51.3

52.1

134

127

Kelley, Joe

.317/.402/.451

.405

50.6

54.9

134

130

Stovey, Harry

.289/.361/.461

.380

45.1

54.9

144

132


Those five Hall of Fame left fielders are listed in the table below, ranked by JAWS, with other JAWS statistics and ratings for the Hall of Fame Monitor and the Hall of Fame Standards. Also included are the JAWS statistics for all left fielders in the Hall of Fame.

2016 19th-Century Pre-Integration Era Left Field Candidate, Qualitative Comparisons to 19th-Century Hall of Fame Left Fielders (Ranked by JAWS)

Player

No. of Years

From

To

bWAR

WAR7

JAWS

JAWS Rank

HoF Mon.

(≈100)

HoF Std.

(≈50)

Delahanty, Ed

16

1888

1903

69.5

48.5

59.0

6

234

65

Ave of 19 HoF LF

NA

NA

NA

65.1

41.5

53.3

NA

NA

NA

Clarke, Fred

21

1894

1915

67.8

36.1

52.0

12

86

50

Burkett, Jesse

16

1890

1905

62.9

37.2

50.0

13

191

56

Kelley, Joe

17

1891

1908

50.6

36.2

43.4

23

98

52

Stovey, Harry

14

1880

1893

45.1

31.1

38.1

37

86

34

O'Rourke, Jim

23

1872

1904

51.3

24.2

37.8

39

84

49


Stovey may be overlooked but compared to the 19th-century left fielders already in the Hall of Fame, he lands at the bottom of the rankings. He did have the shortest career of them all, and WAR and JAWS statistics tend to favor players with longer careers and thus more opportunities to provide value.

In this respect, Stovey compares most closely to Jim O'Rourke, whose career was more than one-third longer than Stovey's, reflected in O'Rourke's bWAR—although FanGraphs' WAR rating is bullish on Stovey and nudges him ahead of O'Rourke, while JAWS, which averages peak seasons and overall value, has Stovey just ahead of O'Rourke. (O'Rourke's playing career effectively ended in 1893, although he pulled a Minnie Miñoso and appeared in one game for the New York Giants in 1904, getting a single in four at-bats, and at age 53 becoming the oldest player to hit safely in Major League history.) O'Rourke's Hall of Fame induction by the veterans committee came fairly early, in 1945, largely because for Major League Baseball's first decade and a half, he ranked behind only Cap Anson in several categories—and behind only Stovey in runs scored.

Stovey ranks 73rd in career runs scored with 1492, nestled between Hall of Famers Frank Thomas (1494) and Goose Goslin (1482) on the all-time list (O'Rourke ranks 24th with 1729), 21st in triples with 174 and 34th in stolen bases with 509, keeping in mind that stolen bases were not even recorded as an official statistic until 1886 and that the rules regarding base-stealing as we know it today were not fully implemented until 1898, five years after Stovey's career ended.

With his fourth home run for the National League's Boston Beaneaters in 1891, Stovey became the first Major League hitter to hit 100 home runs; he finished his career with 122. Stovey led the league in round-trippers five times, including a career-high 19 in 1889, while notching double-digit totals in six different seasons. In addition, he led the league in triples four times and posted double-digit season totals eleven times, hitting 20 or more three-baggers three times with a career-best 23 in 1884. His slugging prowess is also reflected in his leading the league in total bases and in slugging percentage three times each. And although his stolen-base record is fragmentary and subject to the rules of the time, Stovey was a league-leader twice, swiping a career-high 97 bags in 1890 while collecting 40 or more in seven consecutive years from 1886 to 1892. Stovey also led the league in runs scored four times, three of those in consecutive seasons as he had nine consecutive seasons with 100 or more runs scored, and he led the league in RBI once.

Flashing both power and speed, Harry Stovey was the prototype of the modern 30-30 hitter even if the first 30-home-run season did not occur until a quarter-century after his retirement. (Babe Ruth's 54 homers in 1920 marked the first crossing of the 30-homer threshold, although Ruth had fallen one shy of that in the previous season, and Ned Williamson had hit 27 homers back in 1884.) Stovey was among the league leaders in both power-hitting (triples and home runs) and baserunning, and for a six-year stretch from 1886 to 1891 he averaged 14 triples, 11 home runs, and 74 stolen bases along with a .292/.380/.471 slash line, 130 runs scored, 83 RBI, and a 146 OPS+.

Like Bill Dahlen, Harry Stovey is considered to be an overlooked 19th-century baseball player worthy of the Hall of Fame. And even though Dahlen is not strictly, or even primarily, a 19th-century player, let's compare both Dahlen and Stovey to those Hall of Famers whose careers did occur exclusively or primarily during the late 1800s.

The following table ranks those players along with Dahlen and Stovey by bWAR while including their other significant qualitative statistics.

19th-Century Pre-Integration Era 2016 Candidates and All Hall of Fame Players Active During Candidates' 19th-Century Career, Ranked by bWAR

Player and Position

Slash Line

wOBA

bWAR

fWAR

OPS+

wRC+

Anson, Cap, 1B

.334/.394/.447

.393

93.9

91.2

142

134

Davis, George, SS

.295/.362/.405

.366

84.7

84.6

121

118

Connor, Roger, 1B

.316/.397/.486

.409

84.1

86.2

153

143

Brouthers, Dan, 1B

.342/.423/.519

.436

79.4

79.5

170

156

Dahlen, Bill, SS

.272/.358/.382

.357

75.2

77.5

110

108

Delahanty, Ed, LF

.346/.411/.505

.428

69.5

73.7

152

144

Clarke, Fred, LF

.312/.386/.429

.390

67.8

72.8

133

131

Beckley, Jake, 1B

.308/.361/.436

.376

64.5

61.2

125

119

Hamilton, Billy, CF

.344/.455/.432

.433

63.3

70.3

141

142

Burkett, Jesse, LF

.338/.415/.446

.411

62.9

66.6

140

137

Keeler, Willie, RF

.341/.388/.415

.383

54.0

55.7

127

124

McPhee, Bid, 2B

.272/.355/.373

.350

52.4

62.7

107

108

O'Rourke, Jim

.310/.352/.422

.360

51.3

52.1

134

127

Kelley, Joe, LF

.317/.402/.451

.405

50.6

54.9

134

130

Ewing, Buck, C

.303/.351/.456

.372

47.7

48.1

129

123

White, Deacon, 3B

.312/.346/.393

.343

45.5

41.1

127

121

Stovey, Harry, LF

.289/.361/.461

.380

45.1

54.9

144

132

Kelly, King, RF

.308/.368/.438

.375

44.3

45.1

139

131

Thompson, Sam, RF

.331/.384/.505

.409

44.3

44.1

147

136

Duffy, Hugh, CF

.326/.386/.451

.394

43.0

48.3

123

118

Jennings, Hughie, SS

.312/.391/.406

.385

42.3

44.9

118

119

Ward, John, SS

.275/.314/.341

.311

35.6

39.8

92

97

Hanlon, Ned, CF

.260/.325/.340

.317

18.0

19.2

102

104

McCarthy, Tommy, RF

.292/.364/.375

.358

16.1

23.3

102

105

Robinson, Wilbert, C

.273/.316/.346

.317

13.9

12.8

83

84


Because all of these players inducted into the Hall of Fame were elected by veterans committees, that election does not rely exclusively on players' performance records on the field. Both Ned Hanlon and Wilbert Robinson are more celebrated as managers, with Hanlon especially considered to be a landmark strategist credited with having invented the hit-and-run play; he is known as "the Father of Modern Baseball."

Meanwhile, John Ward, also known as John Montgomery Ward, was both a player—the only player in history to win at least 100 games as a pitcher and to collect at least 2000 hits as a batter—and a manager although he is also notable in baseball history for forming his own league, the Players' League, which lasted for only one season, 1890, although it had attracted many star players, including Harry Stovey, while offering a players' profit-sharing plan and no reserve clause, progressive business practices most atypical of the Gilded Age and subsequently ignored in baseball for several decades. Furthermore, Ward was an attorney (as was O'Rourke), most unusual at the time and even now, who after his playing days represented players and held front-office jobs.

On the other hand, Tommy McCarthy can consider himself to be the luckiest Hall of Fame player ever as no less than sabermetrics godfather Bill James considers him to be the worst player enshrined in the Hall.

The following table contains the JAWS statistics for these 19th-century players along with Hall of Fame Monitor and Hall of Fame Standards ratings. It is important to note that several players, notably John Ward, played at various positions throughout their careers, and although the statistics represent their aggregate record, Jay Jaffe's JAWS system places them at the position at which they had the most value. In addition, the JAWS Rank is for each player at the position at which he is identified and is not an overall ranking of all positions combined.

2016 19th-Century Pre-Integration Era Candidates, Qualitative Comparisons to 19th-Century Hall of Famers, All Positions (Ranked by JAWS)

Player and Position

No. of Yrs.

From

To

bWAR

WAR7

JAWS

JAWS Rank

HoF Mon.

(≈100)

HoF Std.

(≈50)

Anson, Cap, 1B

27

1871

1897

93.9

41.7

67.8

4

186

64

Davis, George, SS

20

1890

1909

84.7

44.3

64.5

4

81

54

Connor, Roger, 1B

18

1880

1897

84.1

47.0

65.5

5

104

56

Brouthers, Dan, 1B

19

1879

1904

79.4

47.2

63.3

7

162

54

Delahanty, Ed, LF

16

1888

1903

69.5

48.5

59.0

6

234

65

Dahlen, Bill, SS

21

1891

1911

75.2

40.1

57.7

10

94

48

Hamilton, Billy, CF

14

1888

1901

63.3

42.6

53.0

13

154

51

Clarke, Fred, LF

21

1894

1915

67.8

36.1

52.0

12

86

50

Burkett, Jesse, LF

16

1890

1905

62.9

37.2

50.0

13

191

56

Beckley, Jake, 1B

20

1888

1907

61.5

29.8

45.7

26

84

50

Keeler, Willie, RF

19

1892

1910

54.0

36.2

45.1

26

189

49

Kelley, Joe, LF

17

1891

1908

50.6

36.2

43.4

23

98

52

McPhee, Bid, 2B

18

1882

1899

52.4

29.3

40.8

27

74

43

Jennings, Hughie

18

1891

1918

42.3

39.0

40.6

28

88

34

Ewing, Buck, C

18

1880

1897

47.7

30.5

39.1

15

35

38

Thompson, Sam, RF

15

1885

1906

44.3

33.2

38.7

36

174

47

Stovey, Harry, LF

14

1880

1893

45.1

31.1

38.1

37

86

34

O'Rourke, Jim, LF

23

1872

1904

51.3

24.2

37.8

39

84

49

Kelly, King, RF

16

1878

1893

44.3

31.1

37.7

42

64

45

Duffy, Hugh, CF

17

1888

1906

43.0

30.8

36.9

46

155

55

White, Deacon, 3B

20

1871

1890

45.5

26.0

35.7

36

47

35

Ward, John, SS

17

1878

1894

35.6

24.7

30.1

57

42*

28*

McCarthy, Tommy, RF

13

1884

1896

16.1

18.9

17.5

130

44

24

Hanlon, Ned, CF

13

1880

1892

18.0

14.2

16.1

163

12

12

Robinson, Wilbert, C

17

1886

1902

13.9

11.8

12.8

135

25

24

* Ratings for hitting statistics only. As a pitcher, Ward has a Hall of Fame Monitor rating of 92 and a Hall of Fame Standards rating of 43.

Compared to all of the 19th-century Hall of Fame players, it is easy to see why Harry Stovey was overlooked: Stovey is an excellent player but clearly on the bubble. Given the contemporary preference for hitters with power and speed, Stovey does appear attractive in that light, and as noted previously, he did post some impressive numbers to illustrate those qualities.

In terms of value, it is interesting to note that Stovey closely resembles Deacon White, who was the Pre-Integration Committee's sole player choice the last time it convened. White is almost a half-game higher in win value than Stovey, with Stovey making a slightly bigger impact with his peak seasons and with his JAWS rating although that may be marginal because even though White had a longer career, one that predates the formation of the National League in 1876 and thus marking the start of Major League Baseball as we know it today, Stovey is not far behind White in games played and plate appearances.

In his prime, White was a top hitter and run-producer; he led the league in batting twice and in RBI three times; his .312 career batting average is 86th all-time, tied with Albert Pujols and Hall of Famer Fred Clarke. More importantly, though, SABR's Nineteenth Century Committee had tagged White as 2010's Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legend, which they had done subsequently for both Dahlen and Stovey, and which may bode well for both.

Harry Stovey is an excellent early example of a power-hitter who was also a base-stealer and run-scorer. That description also fits Michael "King" Kelly, who, thanks perhaps to better public relations—the 1889 song "Slide, Kelly, Slide" immortalized Kelly's basepath exploits and later named a 1927 baseball comedy film—was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1945. As illustrated in the two tables immediately above, Kelly is also very close to Stovey in value and other qualitative statistics, although in terms of the "fame" in the Hall of Fame, Kelly has name recognition while Stovey does not.

In sum, Harry Stovey's Hall of Fame credentials are truly debatable, strong without being convincing, impressive without being historic, an outstanding ballplayer but not an elite one when compared to 19th-century players already in the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame will not become richer for including him although it will not be degraded for doing so, but that is not an endorsement for including him. He should not be elected.

Last modified on Wednesday, 13 January 2016 21:47

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