Before this round, Craig Biggio had been eligible for our votes in each of the last 68 rounds of balloting. In last week’s round, he tied for 6th in the voting. But this round he received some strong early support, which seemed to encourage others to jump on a bandwagon that Biggio rode to triumph. Craig becomes the 72nd inductee into the High Heat Stats Circle of Greats. More on Biggio and the voting after the jump.
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Most Career Plate Appearances in National League History:
1. Pete Rose 15,890
2. Hank Aaron 13,090
3. Stan Musial 12,717
4. Barry Bonds 12,606
5. Craig Biggio 12,504
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Most Career Doubles in Major League History:
1. Tris Speaker 792
2. Pete Rose 746
3. Stan Musial 725
4. Ty Cobb 724
5. Craig Biggio 668
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Players Who Played At Least 150 Career Games Both at Catcher and Another “Up-the-Middle” Position (SS, 2B or CF):
150+ Games at Catcher and Second Base
Craig Biggio 428 G at Catcher, 1989 at Second Base
Tom Daly (career 1884-1903) 308 G at Catcher, 1058 at Second Base
150+ Games at Catcher and Shortstop
Jack Rowe (career 1879-1890) 298 G at Catcher, 657 G at SS
150+ Games at Catcher and Center Field
Craig Biggio 428 G at Catcher, 255 G in Center Field
Jim O’Rourke (career 1872-1893) 230 G at Catcher, 463 G in Center Field (plus one G at catcher in 1904)
Roger Bresnahan (career 1897-1915) 974 G at Catcher, 221 in Center Field
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Among the things Biggio was and is most famous for:
Most Times On Base Via A Hit-By-Pitch
1. Hughie Jennings 287
2. Craig Biggio 285
3. Tommy Tucker 272
4. Don Baylor 267
5. Jason Kendall 254
A fantasia on this subject from “The Onion”, published during Craig’s last season: The Great Chase
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Notes on this round’s voting:
–Until this vote, Craig Biggio had never, I believe, in his previous 68 rounds of eligibility, finished even as high as second in any round. His 25-vote total this round was his largest since Round 8, 64 rounds ago.
–With no one in the very small split class of 1913 birth-year guys getting any votes this round, all three newly returned redemption round guys — Dave Winfield, Rick Reuschel and Luis Tiant — received enough support to remain on the ballot. Indeed everyone who received any votes this round also received at least 10% of the vote. Luis Tiant had previously been eligible for just two rounds, receiving 9 votes in his original debut on the eligible list before dropping to five votes the next round and falling off the list. In his return this round, he again received 9 votes.
–Whether Reuschel, Kevin Brown and the two WWII-era middle infielders, Joe Gordon and Lou Boudreau, were going to reach the 25% threshold (which comes with a bonus round of future eligibility) came down to the last few minutes of voting. As of about an hour before the voting deadline, all four of these guys had exactly 25% of the vote, no more and no less — 17 votes out of 68 cast. In the final hour, a ballot came in that did not include any of these guys, putting them all under 25%. But then a final vote came in before the deadline naming Reuschel, Gordon and Boudreau, pulling those three back over the 25% line. A particularly important result for Reuschel, who earns his way off the bubble in his first round back after redemption. Whitey Ford also topped 25% this round, but with a few votes to spare he did so without the same drama as the others.
–With Biggio moving in to the Circle, all the other holdovers remaining eligible, and no 1913-born guys getting any votes, the net effect will be a holdover list that goes from 14 guys this round to 13 next round.
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The full spreadsheet showing this round’s vote tally is here: COG 1913 Part 1 Vote Tally.
The vote summary for recent Circle of Greats voting rounds is here: COG Vote Summary 2 . An archive with details of the 1968 through 1939 rounds is here: COG 1968-1939 Vote Summary . In both cases, raw vote totals for each past round appear on Sheet 1 and the percentage totals for each past round appear on Sheet 2.
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A spreadsheet listing the full membership to date of the Circle of Greats, along with some of their stats, is here: Circle of Greats Membership . You can also find that same link any time by clicking on “Circle of Greats” at the top of the High Heats Stats home page.
