1957

You know, I’m starting to feel sorry for Joe Cronin. Six years on the ballot, six years of coming in 3rd or 4th. If the GOR were real, I would have to imagine he’d be feeling mighty frustrated by now.

The write-in option wasn’t used much in ’56, and a bunch of long-time candidates are dropping off: Marberry used up his 15 years, and Camilli, Chandler, Cooper, Galan, Lazzeri, Lewis, Walker and Warneke fall by the wayside.

This election ends Wednesday.

5 Newt Allen
13 Earl Averill
14 John Beckwith 10th
1 Hank Bowory
6 Tommy Bridges
4 Ray Brown 7th
2 Bill Byrd
1 Sam Chapman
7 Joe Cronin 4th
5 Roy Cullenbine
14 Kiki Cuyler
2 Leon Day
11 Dizzy Dean
1 Joe DiMaggio
1 Bobby Doerr
11 Wes Ferrell 9th
9 Lefty Gomez
2 Joe Gordon 6th
5 Stan Hack 8th
2 Tommy Henrich
5 Billy Herman
7 Bob Johnson
15 Judy Johnson
8 Chuck Klein
5 Ernie Lombardi
13 Dick Lundy
6 Ted Lyons
2 Biz Mackey 3rd
13 Heinie Manush
4 Joe Medwick
1 Wally Moses
2 Double Duty Radcliff
5 Red Ruffing
1 Jim Russell
4 Hilton Smith
15 Pie Traynor
1 Johnny VanderMeer
2 Bucky Walters
7 Jud “Boojum” Wilson 5th

Bob’s ballot:

I’m feeling sorry for Cronin, but not enough to rank him #1 or #2 (or #3 for that matter). In fact, he actually drops from #3 in ’56 to #4 on this year’s ballot. I had last year’s winners 4th and 5th, and have added DiMaggio, so he drops a spot. Like the Cubs, wait til next year, Joe.

1. DiMaggio
2. Wilson
3. Mackey
4. Cronin
5. J Johnson
6. Traynor
7. Hack
8. Herman
9. Dean
10. Gomez

Not that I think they are overly worthy, but it’s their last year, so I included Judy Johnson and Pie Traynor. For my ballot this year, I included a “fame/renown” component and a “time on ballot” component to my rankings. The two HOF 3rd basemen, plus Dean and Gomez, moved up a lot on my ballot this year because of them.

Terry’s ballot:

1: Joe DiMaggio
2: Jud “Boojum” Wilson
3: Biz Mackey
4: Dizzy Dean
5: Joe Cronin
6: Joe Gordon
7: Billy Herman
8: Stan Hack
9: Joe Medwick
10: Leon Day

Results:

Joe, Joe, Cronin, we want you on our side. Eventually.

12 ballots; the results:

165 Joe DiMaggio
91 Joe Cronin
*****************
90 Biz Mackey
77 Jud Wilson
44 Joe Gordon
34 Stan Hack
31 Wes Ferrell
27 Dizzy Dean
25 Ray Brown
18 Babe Herman
17 John Beckwith
17 Joe Medwick
14 Dick Lundy
12 Hilton Smith
8 Bill Byrd
8 Chuck Klein
8 Ted Lyons
7 Judy Johnson
7 Red Ruffing
7 Pie Traynor
6 Newt Allen
6 Leon Day
4 Bobby Doerr
4 Bucky Walters
3 Bob Johnson
1 Earl Averill
1 Lefty Gomez