The Negro League HOF Ballot

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Posted By: Chad

Just thought I'd get a debate started about who the new HOFers might be on Monday for you HOF collectors to chase. This is how I rate the candidates, 1 through 39. It's still a work in progress. I'm shocked by how far down some of these guys are. I'm really sold on Torriente and Brown being the two best. After that, it's hard. I would probably vote for everyone down to Chet Brewer and that doesn't even include Buck O'Neil. Jud Wilson was awesome, I'm pretty sure of that. Like a healthy Edgar Martinez that could play the field. Santop reminds me a lot of Joe Jackson with a little more pop and the ability to catch some. I have HR Johnson so high because even in his late 30's he was pounding the ball down in Cuba. Still, you can't lose with any of these guys down to 16. I have no idea what the committee will do, but the # of inductees should be closer to 20 than to 10, I think. I could talk about this all day, so I'll just leave this with a disclaimer that I'll be changing my mind about the order of my list from minute to minute. I'd be shocked if anyone agreed with any more than 25% of my list. A lot of the info for this list comes from Riley's Encyclopedia, Holway's compilations, various anecdotal sources and the work the folks at baseballthinkfactory.com are doing on equating Negro League statistics those of MLB. So, yeah, it's all very conjectural. VERY conjectural, which is a lot of the fun, I guess. I can't wait for Monday!

Cristobal Torriente
Ray Brown
Jud Wilson
Louis Santop
Home Run Johnson
Biz Mackey
John Beckwith
Mule Suttles
Pete Hill
Dobie Moore
Dick Redding
Jose Mendez
Cum Posey
Alejandro Oms
Frank Grant
Willard Brown
Dick Lundy
Andy Cooper
Minnie Minoso
George Scales
Ben Taylor
Ghost Marcelle
JL Wilkinson
Chet Brewer
Spot Poles
Newt Allen
William Bell
Rap Dixon
Fats Jenkins
Buck O'Neil
John Donaldson
Sammy Hughes
Candy Jim Taylor
Sol White
CI Taylor
Bill Byrd
Red Parnell
Effa Manley
Alex Pompez


--Chad

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Posted By: Mike M

I'm guessing Buck O'Neil and Minnie Minoso will go in for sure, just based on how the Hall of Fame works. I'm interested to see how many will go in. They all probably deserve it, but I can't see the Hall opening the door to 39 inductees at one time.

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Posted By: howard

That's exactly what I thought. Minoso because he proved his worth in the Majors and O'Neil because he has been a class act and "ambassador" for the game for so many years in addition to his involvement with both the Negro League Hall of Fame and Cooperstown. Both worthy choices IMHO.

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Posted By: dennis

i could not think of 2 better people for the hall of fame than minnie minoso and buck o'neal. both should have been inducted years ago. not many (if any)players with stats better than minoso after the age of 29.