Old Judge Trivia Question Thread

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by Joe_G.

Great job Brian, you nailed it.

Connie Mack, class of 1937, died in 1956 at 93
Hugh Duffy, class of 1945, died in 1954 at 87
Clark Griffith, class of 1946, died in 1955 at 85
Kid Nichols, class of 1949, died in 1953 at 83

For anyone who complains about the current Hall voters, there are few mistakes more egregious than taking 14 years to induct Kid Nichols. I don't expect many people will agree with me, but Nichols was the single best player of the 19th century.

[molenick]

And it's not like they weren't putting in 19th century players...in 1946 the veteran's committee selected Tommy McCarthy who is right up there among the worst inductees. If you subscribe to WAR he is not only 65 places behind Harold Baines as a right fielder, but he is behind two people selected as managers (Southworth and Stengel). Granted I am using modern analytics, but even his traditional statistics are unremarkable. Just looking at 19th and early 20th century right fielders who were better: it took Sam Crawford until 1957 to get in and Sam Thompson until 1974.

[oldjudge]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

For anyone who complains about the current Hall voters, there are few mistakes more egregious than taking 14 years to induct Kid Nichols. I don't expect many people will agree with me, but Nichols was the single best player of the 19th century.

I think he may have been the best pitcher who played solely in the 19th century. However, I think Delahanty and George Wright were the two greatest 19th century players.

[oldjudge]

Bobby—My guesses would be Brouthers, Tip O’Neal, and Billy Hamilton

[BobbyStrawberry]

Jay, you have two out of the three, including the #1 player that Fred also had.

Hamilton is #1 (.455) and Brouthers is #2 (.423). Other guesses before I give a hint?

-Matthew

[BobbyStrawberry]

Alright, here's a hint: this player is best known for playing with the Cleveland Spiders during the 1890s.

[molenick]

I cheated and looked it up. I would never have guessed this person, but I do know who he is because I keep voting for him whenever there is a poll about overlooked HOF candidates. My guesses were more obvious (Hamilton, Delahanty, Brouthers).

[Misunderestimated]

The Cleveland Spiders hint gave it away ---- Cupid Childs ? Shortish career for a HOFer and one of the 19th Century guys who benefits from analytics. I doubt that people thought he was the greatest 2nd basemen of his time when he was playing. I think Bill James listed him as the best 2B of the 1890's Bid McPhee won the 1880's, played a lot longer, and was a legendary fielder.

My vote for the 19th Century who was overlooked too long would be Hamilton -- they got to him in 1961. If the object of the game is to score more runs than the other team (which it is) he was one of the best ever. Hamilton scored more than one run per game that he played for his career.

[RUKen]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

I think he (Kid Nichols) may have been the best pitcher who played solely in the 19th century. However, I think Delahanty and George Wright were the two greatest 19th century players.

I just wanted to point out that Kid Nichols pitched in the major leagues 1890-1901 and 1904-1906; his career was not confined to the 19th Century.