An array of worthy challengers was no impediment for Mickey Mantle, who led wire-to-wire for a first ballot win and enshrinement in the Circle of Greats. Mantle was mentioned on over 85% of ballots with runner-up Eddie Mathews, also on the COG ballot for the first time, exceeding 60%. Jim Bunning and all of the holdovers in their last round of eligibility managed to attract sufficient support to remain on the ballot.

A much-heralded phenom from Oklahoma, Mantle had a tough time as a 19 year-old rookie in the Big Apple. Some tough love from his father in a famous phone call back home set the Mick straight, and onto his path to stardom as one of the outstanding center-fielders in major-league history. At his retirement after 18 seasons, Mantle’s 109.7 career WAR (15th all-time) was 4th among center-fielders, trailing only HOFers Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, and contemporary Willie Mays (who also debuted in the 1951 season). Forty-five seasons later, those four still hold down the same top 4 spots with no player since coming within 25 WAR of Mantle.

More on the Commerce Comet after the jump.

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Our mystery player is a 20th century pitcher. Among other accomplishments, he:

• led his league in ERA, ERA+, Complete Games and Shutouts, but each only once in his career
• had back-to-back 20 win seasons, but never led his league in Wins
• ranks 3rd in career W-L% for his franchise (min. 1000 IP)
• over his 4 year peak, made top 5 in his league in ERA, ERA+, WHIP, Complete Games, Shutouts and HR/9 (min. 750 IP)
• allowed 5 hits or less in over 25% of complete games over his career
• was unbeaten in multiple World Series starts

Congratulations to James Smyth! He correctly identified our mystery pitcher as none other than Babe Ruth. I chose the Babe as the subject of this quiz to alert our readers that the good people at Retrosheet.org and Baseball-Reference.com have been busy, and have now updated their databases and search engines to include complete box scores and game logs back to 1914, Ruth’s debut season.

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This post is for voting and discussion in the 48th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG).  This is the first of two rounds of voting for players born in 1931.  Rules and lists are after the jump.

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After runner-up finishes in the previous two rounds of voting, Al Kaline swamped the field as the voters’ resounding choice to become the next inductee into the Circle of Greats. A mainstay in the Tiger outfield for more than two decades, Kaline was an outstanding player in all facets of the game, retiring in 1974 as the all-time AL career leader for right-fielders in WAR, Offensive WAR, Defensive WAR and WAR Baserunning Runs.

More on Al Kaline after the jump.

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These are the only players who, in the 1901 to 1960 period, had a career accomplishment that has become rather more common since then. What is it?

Congratulations mostly to ATarwerdi96! And a nod to Richard Chester for getting the final detail. They teamed up to identify that these are the only players to compile 600 games from 1901 to 1960 at each of two positions, with at least one of them in the infield. With expansion has come expanded opportunities for versatile players to shine all over the ball field. More after the jump.

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Following up from the AL version, here’s a collection of statistical tidbits for last year’s NL teams that you probably won’t find anywhere else.

Enjoy.

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As we wait impatiently for the new season, here’s a quick look back at last year and some of the more unusual team accomplishments of that season. And I do mean unusual – chances are you won’t find these stats anywhere but HHS.

More after the jump.

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Unless you’re a backup catcher with exactly one stolen base in your career. Then it’s a great play … especially if it works.

That’s what happened back in 1982, four hours into this game on what was no doubt a steamy August afternoon in St. Louis. Tom Tango posted a discussion of this play on his website last month, and I thought it might also interest our readers here at HHS.

More after the jump on the rules implications of stealing home with two strikes on the batter.

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This post is for voting and discussion in the 47th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG).  This round is for voting on the group of players born in 1932.  Rules and lists are after the jump.

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Bob “Hoot” Gibson has been elected as the latest inductee to the Circle of Greats. Gibson was a consistent winner over a 17-year career with the Cardinals, with 20 wins in 5 of 6 seasons (1965-70), 15 wins in 10 of 11 seasons (1962-72) and 12+ wins with a winning record for 13 straight seasons (1961-73). Gibson’s 251 career wins are tops for his generation of pitchers with their entire careers between 1955 and 1980.

As impressive as his career accomplishments are, Gibson is probably most remembered for an iconic 1968 season, and for his dominating post-season performances in three memorable 7-game World Series. More on Bob Gibson after the jump.

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