This post is for voting and discussion in the 57th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This round completes the addition, that was begun in the previous round, of those players born in 1925. Rules and lists are after the jump.
Players born in 1925 are being brought on to the COG eligible list over two rounds, split in half based on last names — the bottom half by alphabetical order this round after the top half was included last week. This round’s new group joins the holdovers from previous rounds to comprise the full set of players eligible to receive your votes this round.
As usual, the new group of 1925-born players, in order to join the eligible list, must have played at least 10 seasons in the major leagues or generated at least 20 Wins Above Replacement (“WAR”, as calculated by baseball-reference.com, and for this purpose meaning 20 total WAR for everyday players and 20 pitching WAR for pitchers).
Each submitted ballot, if it is to be counted, must include three and only three eligible players. The one player who appears on the most ballots cast in the round is inducted into the Circle of Greats. Players who fail to win induction but appear on half or more of the ballots that are cast win four added future rounds of ballot eligibility. Players who appear on 25% or more of the ballots cast, but less than 50%, earn two added future rounds of ballot eligibility. Any other player in the top 9 (including ties) in ballot appearances, or who appears on at least 10% of the ballots, wins one additional round of ballot eligibility.
All voting for this round closes at 11:00 PM EDT Tuesday, May 13, while changes to previously cast ballots are allowed until 11:00 PM EDT Sunday, May 11.
If you’d like to follow the vote tally, and/or check to make sure I’ve recorded your vote correctly, you can see my ballot-counting spreadsheet for this round here: COG 1925 Round 2 Vote Tally. I’ll be updating the spreadsheet periodically with the latest votes. Initially, there is a row in the spreadsheet for every voter who has cast a ballot in any of the past rounds, but new voters are entirely welcome — new voters will be added to the spreadsheet as their ballots are submitted. Also initially, there is a column for each of the holdover candidates; additional player columns from the new born-in-1925 group will be added to the spreadsheet as votes are cast for them.
Choose your three players from the lists below of eligible players. The 13 current holdovers are listed in order of the number of future rounds (including this one) through which they are assured eligibility, and alphabetically when the future eligibility number is the same. The holdovers list includes the two winners of the just-completed redemption round. The new group of 1925 birth-year guys are listed below in order of the number of seasons each played in the majors, and alphabetically among players with the same number of seasons played. In total there were 17 players born in 1925 who met the “10 seasons played or 20 WAR” minimum requirement. Eight of those are being added to the eligible list this round (alphabetically from Stan Lopata to Vic Wertz). The nine players further up in the alphabet were added in the previous round.
Holdovers:
Sandy Koufax (eligibility guaranteed for 11 rounds)
Juan Marichal (eligibility guaranteed for 7 rounds)
John Smoltz (eligibility guaranteed for 4 rounds)
Edgar Martinez (eligibility guaranteed for 3 rounds)
Duke Snider (eligibility guaranteed for 3 rounds)
Whitey Ford (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Kenny Lofton (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Willie McCovey (eligibility guaranteed for 2 rounds)
Richie Ashburn (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Craig Biggio (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Harmon Killebrew (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Eddie Murray (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Ryne Sandberg (eligibility guaranteed for this round only)
Everyday Players (born in 1925, ten or more seasons played in the major leagues or at least 20 WAR):
Minnie Minoso
Vic Wertz
Stan Lopata
Les Moss
Hank Thompson
Hank Thompson is one of those rare guys who played less than 10 years in the majors, but racked up enough WAR to make it to our COG ballot. Thompson was the third African-American to play in the modern major leagues, debuting for the St. Louis Browns three months after Jackie Robinson debuted with the Dodgers and less than two weeks after Larry Doby played his first game with the Indians.
Pitchers (born in 1925, ten or more seasons played in the major leagues or at least 20 WAR):
Bobby Shantz
Cal McLish
Bob Rush
