COG 1926 Results: There’s No Robbin’ Roberts of his Circle Seat

After several rounds in which holdovers were widely preferred to candidates from each new birth-year class, the 1926 birth-year class produced two very popular candidates, including Robin Roberts, who becomes the 55th inductee into the High Heat Stats Circle of Greats.  More on Robin and the voting after the jump.

A few modern pitchers have pitched more career innings than Robin Roberts by continuing to pitch a very, very long time.  But for piling up innings pitched in the normal scope of a solidly long baseball career, there’s been no one who could top Roberts since the end of the end of the Dead Ball Era:

Past 100 Seasons, Most Innings Pitched Over First 17 Seasons in the Majors
Robin Roberts 4,386
Gaylord Perry 4,358
Warren Spahn 4,343
Don Sutton 4,137
Tom Seaver 4,131

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Most Pitching WAR in the 1950s
1. Robin Roberts 60.4
2. Warren Spahn 57.3
3. Billy Pierce 43.7
4. Early Wynn 37.1
5. Bob Rush 32.9

WAR, as usual here, is Wins Above Replacement, in the version used at Baseball-Reference.com.

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MLB Regular Season Innings Pitched, Leaders By Decade
1900-1909 Cy Young 3,344
1910-1919 Walter Johnson 3,427
1920-1929 Burleigh Grimes 2,797
1930-1939 Carl Hubbell 2,596
1940-1949 Hal Newhouser 2,4543
1950-1959 Robin Roberts 3,011
1960-1969 Don Drysdale 2,629
1970-1979 Gaylord Perry 2,905
1980-1989 Jack Morris 2,443
1990-1999 Greg Maddux 2,394
2000-2009 Livan Hernandez 2,201

(in all the IP numbers in this post, by the way, I’ve rounded down to the nearest full inning to avoid all those unsightly thirds of an inning.)

********************************

Jim Bunning and Chris Short were the mainstays of the Phillies pitching staffs when I was growing up in, among other places, the Philadelphia suburbs.  Short pitched for the Phils from his age 21 season through his age 34 season, 14 years.  Robin Roberts also pitched for the Phils for 14 years, also from age 21 through age 34.  Jim Bunning came to the Phils in a trade rather late in a normal baseball life, at age 32, but was a genuine star in the City of Brotherly Love and all told spent six seasons with the Phils over two separate stints.  How big a star was Bunning for the Phillies?  For the three-year period from 1965 through 1967, here are the top pitching WAR totals in the majors:

1. Jim Bunning 24.8
2. Juan Marichal 21.2
3. Jim Maloney 19.6
4. Sandy Koufax 18.4
5. Chris Short 15.6

This is all by way of introducing the point that if you add together Chris Short’s 14 Phillies seasons together with Jim Bunning’s Phillies seasons, you get just about the equivalent of Robin Roberts’ Phillies career, although Roberts still probably comes out a bit ahead in total franchise accomplishment over the Short and Bunning combo:

Short as a Phillie plus Bunning as a Phillie: 3,773 IP
Roberts as a Phillie: 3,739 IP

Short as a Phillie plus Bunning as a Phillie: 63.6 WAR
Roberts as a Phillie: 69.7 WAR

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Notes on the 1926 round of voting:
–The support for members of the latest birth class went from 15 votes for those born in 1927 to 71 votes for players born in 1926.  Roberts appeared on an impressive 40 of the 64 ballots cast, and Duke Snider also received heavy support, appearing on almost, but not quite, half the ballots.

–So 56 more ballot spots went to the newcomer class than did so in the previous round.  Ernie Banks was inducted last week with 25 votes, so those ballot spots were freed up, but that still left many fewer votes available for the continuing holdover group than we’ve seen in a while.

–As a result, only one holdover, Sandy Koufax, topped the 25% support level that provides a bonus year of guaranteed ballot eligibility — in contrast to each of the last few rounds, in which several guys have been able to add to their stores of eligibility.

–On the other hand, the votes that did go to the holdovers were spread evenly enough around that no one drops off the ballot or loses any rounds of eligibility.  Overall it was a very stable ballot for the holdover list: the only changes from this round to the next will be the addition of Duke Snider (increasing the number of holdovers from twelve to thirteen) and the one extra round of eligibility for Koufax, who already had a huge stock.  Everything else will be status quo on the holdover front.

–It continues to be the case that of our 55 inductees in the Circle of Greats so far, three are left-handed pitchers: Steve Carlton, Tom Glavine and Randy Johnson.

***************************************
The full spreadsheet showing this round’s vote tally is here: COG 1926 Vote Tally.

The vote summary for recent Circle of Greats voting rounds is here: COG Vote Summary 2 .  An archive with fuller details of the 1968 through 1939 rounds is here: COG 1968-1939 Vote Summary .  In both cases, raw vote totals for each past round appears on Sheet 1 and the percentage totals for each past round appears on Sheet 2.

***************************************
A spreadsheet listing the full membership to date of the Circle of Greats is here: Circle of Greats Membership . You can also now find that same link any time by clicking on “Circle of Greats” at the top of the High Heats Stats home page.

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Mike HBC
Mike HBC
9 years ago

Tough call this week, and not just because it gives me an excuse to say this, but…

I’m voting Saaaaaaaaandyyyyyyyyy, Yogi, and the Duke.

Mike HBC
Mike HBC
9 years ago
Reply to  Mike HBC

Except I was reading both at the same time, so I put this in the wrong thread. Well, I hate myself now.

Hartvig
Hartvig
9 years ago
Reply to  Mike HBC

I’m sure it will be just a clever when I read it on the other thread as well.

Dr. Doom
Dr. Doom
9 years ago
Reply to  Hartvig

Haha! Sometimes, a comment on this site will make me laugh. But it’s a true rarity that three consecutive comments make me laugh: Mike’s first comment, for being embarrassing; his second, in which I could laugh with him; and Hartvig’s, in which I could actually laugh at a joke. Thanks, fellas. I just woke up from my Sunday afternoon nap, and I needed a good laugh to help resume the day.

Mike HBC
Mike HBC
9 years ago
Reply to  Dr. Doom

Aw, Doom, anything for you! After all, you’re a doctor, which I safely assume means you’re doing good for the world as a whole. (And I imagine “Doom” is, like, a Romanian family name or something?)

Artie Z.
Artie Z.
9 years ago
Reply to  Dr. Doom

I would guess that he is of Latverian descent.

Let’s see how well that goes over on a baseball site …

Mike HBC
Mike HBC
9 years ago
Reply to  Dr. Doom

I had to look it up, but I appreciate the reference. Though I’m a huge nerd in a number of different ways, that’s not my forte.

Dr. Doom
Dr. Doom
9 years ago
Reply to  Dr. Doom

Correct, Artie Z. I’m honestly a little shocked that anyone gets the reference here, too. But that’s okay; over at Tango’s site, he occasionally talks comics. I’m a HUGE nerd about two things: baseball and Marvel Comics. I dabble in other forms of nerdery (particularly sports nerdery), but I always find myself coming back to my first two loves. Thus, the Marvel-related handle on the baseball sites I frequent. Also, a Little League coach started calling me that after my best ever day of Little League in 1st grade: 2/3 with a 2B, a 3B, and 4 ribbies. On the… Read more »

Darien
9 years ago
Reply to  Dr. Doom

I’m a huge FF fan, so I got your reference from the get-go, Doc. 🙂

Hartvig
Hartvig
9 years ago
Reply to  Dr. Doom

I have to admit that I had to Google the Latverian reference as well altho it was apparently introduced about the time I was 7 years old and just entering my prime comic reading years.

Your dogs name however needed no such assistance for me to fully appreciate.

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
9 years ago

IP leaders, using five instead of zero:

1945-1954
2417 Spahn

1955-1965
2613 Spahn

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
9 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

Innings Pitched Leaders the past 10 years
(2004-2013)

1824 Felix Hernandez (8.3 years)

1801 Barry Freakin’ Zito (13.5 total WAR)

1790 Aaron Harang (100 wins, 100 era+)

1772 Verlander (8 years)

1764 Derek Lowe

1761 Hudson

1753 Lackey

1743 Oswalt

1739 Livan Hernandez

1721 Matt Cain

1699 Kyle Lohse

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
9 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

Voomo: You are missing the top 7,the guys on your list are from #8 through #18.

The top 7 are:
2187 Sabathia
2140 Buehrle
2074 Arroyo
2012 Lee
1973 Haren
1907 Halladay
1829 Burnett

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
9 years ago

Ah.
That makes more sense.
Thank you.

PaulE
PaulE
9 years ago

Birtlecom,
I believe at some point Bill White stated the 1966 Phillies were the most talented team he ever played for? Perhaps in “We Played the Game”?

birtelcom
birtelcom
9 years ago
Reply to  PaulE

Seems like a back-handed compliment, doesn’t it? If a fourth place team was the most talented team Bill White (who was starting first baseman for the 1964 world champion Cardinals) ever played for, that would suggest they kind of underperformed.

Paul E
Paul E
9 years ago
Reply to  birtelcom

I’ll never understand some of the thinking that goes on in retired professional athletes – particularly baseball players. Perhaps White didn’t like Mauch’s managerial style or demeanor? Or maybe it was the fact they were a veteran team with a bunch of guys that had a lot of individual success in prior years?
Guys like Bunning, Short, and Larry Jackson formed a decent 3/4 of a starting rotation. Allen, Groat, Gonzalez, Callsion, Rojas, and Taylor were all still either highly regarded or respected. Perhaps he just wasn’t real happy about missing out on that 1967 & ’68 Cardinals post-season money?