HOF Early Baseball Era Ballots are out

[jingram058]

Some VERY deserving names not on the ballet, IMO. Kind of like the Rock & Roll HOF, I have lost interest anymore. I would hope Dahlen, O'Neil, O'Doul and Reynolds finally get in, but, realistically, after some of the discussions in the not too distant past around here about who ought to be in, I won't hold my breath in anticipation.

[molenick]

Originally Posted by Scocs

I thought there’s a separate Negro League committee that’s meeting in December to examine the lists last looked at in 2006. Where are the names of Dick Lundy, Oliver Marcelle, Dobie Moore, Alejandro Oms, etc on the above list?!

I think now that the Negro Leagues are considered major leagues, there is no longer a separate committee and the candidates have been blended in with the existing era committees. If anything, this list actually leans heavily towards Negro League candidates.

There can only be 10 candidates for each committee so there are going to be many, many candidates left off of the pre-1950 committee list that many of us would have liked to see nominated. It basically covers four eras in my opinion: the pioneer era, 19th century professional leagues, the dead ball era, and the live ball era pre-integration. The next committee by time period covers only 20 years (1950-1969) but will also have 10 candidates. I think at this point anyone hoping for people like Doc Adams, Creighton, Barnes, Browning, Caruthers, Glasscock, Jim McCormick, Magee, etc. to ever get in is out of luck unless the HOF creates committees more focused on a specific era.

Not arguing about this list in particular....just that limiting it to ten for about 100 years of baseball means many worthy candidates will not be included.

[mainemule]

I am much more familiar with the Golden Era group- from the HOF's web-site:

The Golden Days Era ballot includes Dick Allen, Ken Boyer, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Roger Maris, Minnie Miñoso, Danny Murtaugh, Tony Oliva, Billy Pierce and Maury Wills.

I like Boyer as a sleeper as he has both offensive and defensive metrics. Is this finally Hodges time? Minoso and Oliva seem to have similar profiles. Allen has been much talked about since his passing. Kaat is interesting as he had 250 or so wins through age 38/39 and has 16 GGs ( i know as a pitcher but that's just impressive). Don't see Maris, Murtaugh, Pierce or Wills getting in over the other names.

[John1941]

I'm not an expert on the Negro Leagues, but John Donaldson seems like he should be in. Lefty O'Doul too.