1930

Chesbro has used up his eligibility. Meyers is off from lack of support. This election ends Friday.

1 Eddie Ainsmith
8 Chief Bender 7th
2 Donie Bush
5 Ray Chapman
5 Eddie Cicotte
5 Jack Coombs
5 Gavy Cravath
1 Walton Cruise
1 Jake Daubert
8 Harry Davis
11 Mike Donlin
3 Art Fletcher
7 Bud Fowler 9th
1 Larry Gardner
1 Earl Hamilton
5 Joe Jackson 10th
6 Grant “Home Run” Johnson
5 Benny Kauff
4 Ed Konetchy 5th
1 Doc Lavan
7 Tommy Leach 3rd
15 Sam Leever
13 Deacon McGuire
8 Chief Meyers
3 Clyde Milan
11 Bill Monroe 4th
1 Guy Morton
1 Greasy Neale
1 Ivy Olsen
1 Jeff Pfeffer
13 Jack Powell
1 Del Pratt
8 Ed Reulbach
12 Cy Seymour
1 Howie Shanks
1 Amos Strunk
14 Fred Tenney
14 Roy Thomas 5th
4 Hippo Vaughn
7 Sol White
3 Joe Wood

Bob’s ballot:

This will likely be my one and only PC ballot, altho my ’32 ballot will likely be headed by one of three quality Negro Leaguers who enter the ballot that year (Hill, Mendez and Santop).

1. Johnson
2. Fowler
3. Monroe
4. Thomas
5. Konetchy
6. Bender
7. Leach
8. Cravath
9. Pratt
10. Daubert

Terry’s ballot:

1: Gavy Cravvath
2: Grant Johnson
3: Chief Bender
4: Cy Seymour
5: Roy Thomas
6: Joe Wood
7: Donie Bush
8: Mike Donlin
9: Ed Konetchy
10: Bill Monroe

Honorable Mention

Jake Daubert– His doubles numbers are bizarrely low. In 1917 he had 4 (FOUR!!) doubles in 550 plate appearances. He averaged about 580 plate appearances a year, and about 16 doubles. His 28 doubles in 1920, finishing 10th in the league, was about as fluky as Wade Boggs hitting 24 homers in 1987. Daubert was pretty good, with an MVP and some other decent finishes in the Chalmers voting. I don’t see anything about him that says Hall of Famer, but in this group he shouldn’t be embarrassed.

Del Pratt– I think it’s pretty clear that he falls short of being a Hall of Famer, but I’ll tell you this: If the Hall of Famers got together to play a pickup game and I had to use Pratt at second base, I wouldn’t feel like I was at a big disadvantage.

Other Stuff

Eddie Ainsmith– Born Edward Anschmedt on February 4, 1890 in Russia. I did a quick check, and there are eight major leaguers listed as being born in Russia. Ainsmith played longer than the other seven combined.

Walton Cruise– I looked around some, but there ain’t much info about him on the interweb so I can’t say whether or not he was a Scientologist.

Larry Gardner– He averaged less than 2 homers a year (457 of 1931 hits were for extra bases), and his career isolated power was .095. In 25 World Series games he hit 3 homers (8 of 17 hits were for extra bases), and his isolated power was .186. Despite batting just .198 in his four World Series, he was on the winning team all four times. He averaged 65 rbi per 150 games with Boston, 100 per 150 games with Cleveland. Defensive stats aren’t impressive.

Earl Hamilton– My name is Earl? I got nuthin’

Doc Lavan– Lavan, like Spottswood Poles, was buried in Arlington National for his Military service. To be clear he died first, they didn’t just bury him. It was an honor, not an execution. He served as a surgeon in both World Wars, and his “other” career(s) as a doctor were much more distinguished than his mediocre career in the majors.

Greasy Neale– Calling this Hall of Fame football coach a baseball player is like calling Madonna an actress. Sure he did it, but it wasn’t what he did best.

Ivy Olsen– The Dodgers’ first eighteen World Series’ appearances were split up among just four shortstops. Pee Wee had 7, Wills 5, Russell 4, and Ivy Olsen the first 2.

Jeff Pfeffer– Not a Hall of Famer but a very good pitcher for a few years. Yaknow what would be fun? Let’s get Silvester the Cat drunk and make him say this guy’s name over and over until he either throws up or passes out.

Howie Shanks– He was used as a utility guy after his first three years other than 1921, when he played 154 games at third base. It was his best year, both offensively and defensively, and he led the league in triples.

Amos Strunk– 881 games, 127 ops+ for the A’s through age 28. 631 games, 92 ops+ the rest of his career. Spent 50 years selling insurance after his career ended, and he lived to the age of 90.

Results:

Eight ballots, the results:

60 Tommy Leach
44 Bill Monroe
****************
42 Roy Thomas
40 Chief Bender
39 Gavy Cravath
29 Ed Konetchy
27 Grant Johnson
22 Bud Fowler
21 Del Pratt
17 Hippo Vaughn
17 Ed Reulbach
16 Mike Donlin
16 Larry Gardner
15 Joe Jackson
14 Cy Seymour
12 Joe Wood
11 Jack Powell
9 Sam Leever
7 Art Fletcher
7 Chief Meyers
7 Clyde Milan
6 Donie Bush
5 Deacon McGuire
3 Jake Daubert
2 Eddie Cicotte