Comparisons, again...

So I decided to compare another bunch of players who may or may not deserve to be counted as some of the great players of the game. Some that may have been underrated, or at least under appreciated in their day. By the same token, some may have also been overrated.

I chose ten players at random, eight non-Hall of Famers, and two that are enshrined. Somewhat random choices, with the Hall of Famers being sot of the control group, I chose two that were not in the upper stratosphere of the statistical realm.

As before, I am basing these on each player's ten best seasons, and will give you the average of those seasons, along with my statistical calculation, or their raw number, which takes out the performances against their team and league averages, which I use in the season to season analysis.

But enough of that boring stuff...

Let's make this a game...which numbered player matches which letter statistics, and see if you can guess which two are the Hall of Famers. Which of them do you think should be in the Hall?

Players:

1. Al Oliver
2. Bill Buckner
3. Dale Murphy
4. Rusty Staub
5. Bobby Bonds
6. John Olerud
7. Bill Madlock
8. Dick Allen
9. Ron Santo
10. Ryne Sandberg

	HR	RBI	AVG	SLG	OB	SB	RC/G	MY #
PLAYER A	30	89	.300	.564	.404	10	1.11	2.0807
PLAYER B	27	81	.271	.480	.368	36	1.10	1.9445
PLAYER C	11	72	.304	.433	.365	14	0.94	1.7380
PLAYER D	12	67	.316	.457	.401	15	0.93	1.7898
PLAYER E	26	81	.264	.470	.369	10	1.02	1.86
PLAYER F	19	90	.305	.488	.431	1	1.04	1.9561
PLAYER G	14	86	.313	.468	.369	5	1.07	1.9114
PLAYER H	23	80	.289	.476	.365	26	1.02	1.8648
PLAYER I	27	100	.288	.490	.396	3	1.03	1.9125
PLAYER J	15	75	.287	.442	.399	2	0.85	1.6875

Quite frankly, some of these numbers and rankings surprised me, and I didn't expect to have five .300 hitters on this list. So I will further add more information for each of the above, along with their career totals for the same information as listed.

PLAYER A

351

1119

.292

.534

.398

133

1.07

1.9988

PLAYER B

332

1024

.268

.471

.368

460

1.06

1.8951

PLAYER C

174

1208

.304

.433

.365

183

0.94

1.5949

PLAYER D

163

860

.305

.442

.388

174

0.90

1.7254

PLAYER E

398

1266

.265

.469

.364

161

0.95

1.7807

PLAYER F

255

1230

.295

.465

.418

11

0.94

1.8242

PLAYER G

295

1285

.302

.472

.359

84

0.92

1.7513

PLAYER H

256

1061

.285

.442

0.36

344

1.02

1.7813

PLAYER I

342

1331

.288

.490

.386

30

0.95

1.7926

PLAYER J

292

1466

.279

.431

.387

47

0.80

1.6181

How did you do? Here are the answers...

#A-8 Dick Allen, a.k.a. “The Wampum Walloper”, was the 5^th player to reach 200 hits in his rookie season. He had the 7^th highest batting average in the 60's, with the 6^th highest On Base Percentage during that time. He was the 2^nd player to win an MVP in his first year in a new league. He finished in the top 10 MVP votes one other time. He was the 2^nd Chicago White Sox player to win an MVP, their 4^th home run champion, and their 2^nd RBI champ. He was also the second Phillie to win the Rookie of the Year, and the 4^th Phillie to hit 40 homers in a season. He led his league in homers twice, led in RBIs once. During his rookie year, he led the league in runs scored, triples and total bases. He led in slugging three times and in on base percentage and walks once. He drove in 90 or more runs six times, and hit 20 or more homers in nine consecutive seasons. According to Willie Mays, Allen hit the ball harder than anyone he had ever seen. He founded a doo-wop group called “The Ebonistics” and performed with them in various Philadelphia night clubs. In 1996, he reached his highest percentage in Hall of Fame balloting, but that was just 18.9% of the vote, far below the 75% needed for enshrinement.

#B-5 Bobby Bonds During the 1970's, this man had the 5^th most hits, 4^th most Home Runs, (only Hall of Famers hit more: Willie Stargell, Johnny Bench and Reggie Jackson) 7^th most Runs Batted In, 2^nd most runs scored and 4^th most stolen bases. He was the 5^th player to reach 200 Home Runs AND 200 stolen bases in his career, and just the 2^nd to eclipse the 300 barrier for each as well.. He was the 4^th Yankee to lead the team in home runs and then be traded for the following season. He was the first player in the 'modern era' (since 1900) to hit a Grand Slam in his first major league game. He led the league in runs scored twice, total bases once, and finished in the top 5 in MVP voting twice. Hit 20 or more homers in seven straight seasons, drove in 90 or more runs four times, and scored over 90 runs nine times. He scored 100 or more in five straight seasons, leading the league twice. In those five consecutive seasons, he averaged 123 runs scored. He drove in 100 runs three times. He was the 2^nd player to have multiple 30/30 (Homers and Stolen Bases) seasons, but he was the first to 30/45. He and his so, Barry are the only members of the 300 Homer/400 Stolen Base club. His highest Hall of Fame vote was in 1993 when he reached 10.3%.

#C-2 Bill Buckner was a 2^nd round draft pick by the Dodgers. He was the 4^th player to get 200 hits in each league, and is one of nine players to get 200 hits in a season, but hit less than .300. He has the 7^th lowest strikeout rate for a player who led his league in batting. He drove in 20.27% of the Cubs runs in 1981, He scored over 1000 runs in his career (1077 to be exact), but never more than 100 in a season. He set the major league record for assists by a first baseman in a season in 1985. (the record has since been broken) His last home run was inside-the-park, at age 40, on notoriously bad ankles. He played 22 seasons altogether, won one batting title, led the league in doubles twice, and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting twice. He received 2.1% of the Hall of Fame vote in his only year of eligibility, 1996.

#D-4 Bill “Mad Dog” Madlock had the 2^nd highest batting average in the 70's. He was the 3^rd National League player to win a batting title, and be traded the following season. He was the 1^st Cub to win back to back batting titles, and the 3^rd Cub with 6 hits in a game. He finished in the top ten in MVP voting twice. He won four batting titles, which was a record for third basemen, but was surpassed by Hall of Famer Wade Boggs. His four National League batting titles since 1970 is second to Tony Gwynn's eight. One of three right handed batters to win multiple batting titles in the NL since 1960. He was drafted in the 5^th round of the 1970 draft by the Washington Senators. In his only year of Hall of Fame eligibility, 1993, he received just 4.5% of the vote.

#E-3 Dale Murphy. This man won 2 MVP awards. He recorded the 5^th highest hit total during the 80's, and was 2^nd in both Home Runs and Runs Batted In in the 80's as well, along with soring the 4^th most runs. He has the most hits of any player born in the state of Oregon. He has the 13^th highest home run career total for someone who never played in the World Series. He was the 2^nd Braves player to win an MVP, the 3^rd to lead the league in homers and the 2^nd to lead in RBI. Along with the 2 MVP awards, he finished in the top 10 in voting two other times. He scored 90 or more runs on six different occasions. He led the league in games played for four consecutive seasons. He led the league in RBIs twice, and had a streak of four years of driving in 100 or more. He had eleven years of hitting 20 or more homers, eight of those consecutive. He hit 36 or more for four straight seasons as well. He is a member of the 30/30 club, for 30 homers (36) and 30 stolen bases in the same season. He was the 1^st round pick of the Braves (5^th player chosen overall, behind Bill Almon, Tommy Boggs, Lonnie Smith and Tom Brennan) in 1974. He received 23.2% of the Hall of Fame vote in 2000, his highest percentage.

#F-6 John Olerud went straight from college to the major leagues, In his career, he only played in 3 minor league games, all during his final season. He has the 8^th highest On Base Percentage during the 90's. Was the 1^st Blue Jay to win a batting title, and was the 2^nd to hit for the cycle in each league. He had just one top 5 MVP vote, and just the one batting title, but he hit .290 or higher eight times, and .350 or better twice. He is the 4^th American Leaguer to get 200 hits and 100 walks in a season. He walked 90 or more times in six seasons. He led the league in doubles once, and drove in 90 or more in seven seasons, six of those consecutive. He was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 3^rd round of the 1989 draft. In his only year of Hall eligibility, 2011, he received just .7% of the vote.

#G-1 Al “Scoop”Oliver finished 2^nd in Rookie of the Year voting, and finished in the top 10 in MVP votes four times. He had the 3^rd most hits in the 70's, 8^th highest batting average in the 80's. He was the 3^rd player to get 200 hits in each league. He is the single season Hits and RBI leader in Expos/Nationals history. He hit .280 or better in fourteen consecutive seasons, and hit .300 or better in nine straight. He drove in more than 100 runs twice, leading the league once. He lad the league in batting and hits one time as well. He led the league in doubles twice, and had nine seasons where he hit 30 or more. He hit the last home run at Forbes Field, and drove in the first run at Three Rivers Stadium. He was appointed “Mr. Ambassodor” for the city of Portsmouth, Ohio. In 1991, his only year of Hall eligibility, he received 4.3% of the vote.

#H-10 Ryne “Ryno” Sandberg became just the third 2^nd baseman to hit 40 homers in a season, and is also a member of the 200 Home Run/Stolen Base club. He was the 1^st Chicago Cub to lead the National League in Runs Scored for two consecutive seasons. He also holds the National League record for Gold Gloves by a 2^nd baseman with 9. He has the most career hits of any player born in Washington state. He retired in mid-season, and then un-retired after eighteen months to play two more seasons. He was the 20^th round selection of the Phillies in the 1978 draft. He was voted into the Hall of Fame in 2003, his third year of eligibility.

#I-9 Ron SantoThis player holds the National League record for most consecutive games played at third base. He accumulated the 10^th most hits in the 1960's, and had the 5^th most Home Runs and Runs scored during that decade. He has the 4^th highest total of Home Runs hit at Wrigley Field, and hit the most Home Runs of anyone born in Washington State. He is the only third baseman to have eight consecutive seasons of 90 or more Runs Batted In. He led the league in triples once, sacrifice flies three times, and walks four times. He finished 4^th in Rookie of the Year voting, and had 2 top 10 MVP seasons. He became the first player to enforce the 5 and 10 rule, in which a veteran player with 10 years of experience, and 5 years with the same team can refuse a trade to another team. He hid the fact that he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes until 1971, afraid that he might have been forced into early retirement. He had both lower legs amputated due to complications of his diabetes in the early 2000's. He endorsed the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Ron Santo Walk from 1979 through his passing in 2010, and raised over $65 million dollars for that organization. He reached as high as 43.1% of the Hall of Fame vote in 1998, but still falling short of enshrinement. He was then selected in 2012 for enshrinement by the Veteran's Committee.

His charitable foundation's information can be found here:

http://ronsantofoundation.com/

#J-4 Rusty “Le Grande Orange” Staub was the last active player who played for the Houston Colt .45's. He ad the 6^th most Runs Batted In during the 70's, had the 6^th highest Runs Batted In during the 70's, and has the 8^th highest Runs Scored of any player who never scored 100 in a season. He was the 2^nd teenage rookie to play in 150 or more games in a season, was the 2^nd player to hit a home run before their 20^th birthday, and after their 40^th birthday. He led his league in doubles once. He only had 1 year in which he finished in the top five for the MVP Award, there were 6 other seasons in which he received votes. He had eight straight pinch hits, which tied a National League record, and also one year had 25 pinch hit RBIs, which tied the Major League record. He is the only player in history to have reached 500 hits for four different teams. He reached 7.9% of the Hall of Fame vote in 1994, his highest vote tally.

Off the field, he created the “New York Police and Fire Widows' and Childrens' Benefit Fund” which has raised more than $100 million that has been distributed to the families of police and man and firefighters who had lost their lives in the line of duty. 

 The link to this organization is:

http://www.answerthecall.org/

I would love to know what you think, or how you did....

1924

It was a prosperous time for many. Calvin Coolidge was in the White House, and would be re-elected that November. The United States was not at war, people were working (the unemployment rate was at 5%) and the economy was booming.

The first ever Winter Olympics were held in the French Alps, and the Summer Olympics were held in Paris. Notre Dame went undefeated in college football, and the National Hockey League expanded into the U.S. For the first time, adding the Boston Bruins.

Macy's held its first ever Thanksgiving Day Parade.

More than nine and a half million fans passed through the turnstiles in 1924, which seems like a lot, but the reality is that only four teams averaged more than ten thousand spectators per game. The Boston Braves dew just over one hundred thousand, or an average of twenty three hundred per game. Granted, they were a last place team that would lose a hundred games that year.

But, the Washington Senators, who would win the World Series drew five hundred eighty thousand, averaging almost seventy four hundred per game.

The Boston Braves began the season in mourning. Their third baseman, Tony Boeckel, was killed the previous December in an auto accident. Inauspiciously, he is the first major league baseball player to die as a result of a traffic accident.

In other historic baseball feats:

Babe Ruth eclipsed the 40 Home Runs and 200 Hits totals for the third time in his career.

Rogers Hornsby of the Cardinals hit .424, which is still the National League record. He bested Zack Wheat, the runner up by .51, which is also a record.

Ike Boone of the Red Sox batted .337, the 8^th highest for an American League rookie.

Kiki Cuyler of the Pirates set the National League record of hitting .354 as a rookie. That record would fall to his future teammate Paul Waner in 1927.

Al Simmons of the A's would hit .308 in his rookie season, beginning a run of 11 straight .300 plus seasons to start a career.

Goose Goslin of the Senators hit 12 Home Runs, while the team totaled just 22 for the season, making Goslin responsible for 55% of his team's Home Run totals, the 4^th highest total in American League history.

Walter Johnson of the Senators and Dazzy Vance of the Dodgers each won the “Pitching Triple Crown”, which is when a pitcher leads their league in Earned Run Average, Wins and Strikeouts. Vance would be the first National League Pitcher to accomplish this feat, and Johnson's third. It is also the third time that it had been accomplished in both leagues the same year, and it would be the last time until it was done in 2011.

Wilbur Cooper of the Pirates would be the 5^th National League pitcher to win 20 or more games while batting over .300. Joe Shaute of the Indians would be the 9^th American League pitcher to do so.

White Sox pitcher Sloppy Thurston would be just the third American League pitcher to win 20 games for a last place team, going 20-17.

So let's look at the 1924 season at hand.

First, in the National League, the New York Giants were one of the teams to average over 10,000 fans per game. They had dominated the National League, and this would be their fourth consecutive National League championship. As a team, they batted .300, and led the league in Runs Scored, Home Runs and Runs per Game. Their offense carried them to a one and a half game lead over the upstart Brooklyn Dodgers.

That mark of .300 is the fifth highest team season batting average in National League history.

The Giants were led by future Hall of Famer Frankie “The Fordham Flash” Frisch, and George “High Pockets” Kelly.

The Washington Senators outlasted the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees to win the American league Championship. In doing so, they became the first team to win the World Series after finishing the previous season with a losing record. They were managed by Bucky Harris, who in a totally obscure and random statistic (the kind I like) holds the record for most managerial wins by someone whose astrological sign is Scorpio.

The World Series itself was one of the more exciting, with the Senators winning in seven games. The last game was won by an Earl McNeely single in the bottom of the twelfth to drive in Muddy Ruel with the winning run. Walter Johnson, who came in to pitch in the bottom of the ninth earned his first World Series win, and his only World Championship. (The Senators would lose the 1925 Series to the Pirates)

Of note in the Series, it marked the first time that two pitchers homered during the Series. Rosy Ryan in Game 3 and Jack Bentley in Game 5. Both for the Giants. That feat would not be repeated until 1967.

So let's delve, shall we?

The Power rankings were:

Senators	World Series Champs
Giants	National League Champs
Tigers	3rd in American League
Yankees	2nd in American League
Pirates	2nd in National League

Why don't we start in the National League with the pitchers. Statistically, the Nationals were 8.16% moire effective than the Americans, but the American League hitters were far more dominant than the National League hitters. One would figure that an 8% swing would work both ways, and in theory, that AL hitters would be 8% better than their NL counterparts, but in 1924, the AL hitters were statistically 10.48% better than the NL.

Anyway, the National League pitchers, with Runs Allowed Average along with Earned Runs Allowed:

Pitcher	Team	W-L	ERA	RA
Dazzy Vance	Dodgers	28-6	2.16	2.60
Hugh McQuillan	Giants	14-8	2.69	3.33	3 saves
Pete Alexander	Cubs	12-5	3.03	4.36
Emil Yde	Pirates	16-3	2.83	3.25
Carl Mays	Reds	20-9	3.15	3.86
Eppa Rixey	Reds	15-14	2.76	3.25	1 save
Wilbur Cooper	Pirates	20-14	3.28	3.89	1 save
Virgil Barnes	Giants	16-10	3.06	3.41	2 saves
Bill Doak	Dodgers/Cardinals	13-6	3.10	3.47	3 saves
Jack Bentley	Giants	16-5	3.78	4.07	1 save

And against their team:

Jesse Barnes	Braves	15-20	3.23	3.87
Dazzy Vance		Above
Johnny Cooney	Braves	8-9	3.18	3.93	2 saves
Pete Alexander		Above
Jimmy Ring	Phillies	10-12	3.97	5.14
Hugh McQuillan		Above
Allan Sothoron	Cardinals	10-16	3.57	4.67
Bill Doak		Above
Vic Aldridge	Cubs	15-12	3.50	4.05
Emil Yde		Above

So then factoring everything, we get a final ranking of:

Dazzy Vance

Jesse Barnes

Pete Alexander

Hugh McQuillan

Emil Yde

Carl Mays

Johnny Cooney

Eppa Rixey

Bill Doak

Wilbur Cooper

So now to the American League:

Walter Johnson	Senators	23-7	2.72	3.14
Herb Pennock	Yankees	21-9	2.83	3.27	3 saves
Tom Zachary	Senators	15-9	2.75	3.29	2 saves
Stan Baumgartner	A's	13-6	2.88	3.73	4 saves
George Mogridge	Senators	16-11	3.76	4.10
Rip Collins	Tigers	14-7	3.71	4.13
Sloppy Thurston	White Sox	20-14	3.80	4.64	1 save
Howard Ehmke	Red Sox	19-17	3.46	3.97	4 saves
Curly Ogden	A's/Senators	9-5	2.58	3.88
Firpo Marberry	Senators	11-12	3.09	4.06	15 saves

And against their team:

Sloppy Thurston		Above
Stan Baumgartner		Above
Red Faber	White Sox	9-11	3.85	4.35
Sherry Smith	Indians	12-14	3.02	4.00	1 save
Joe Shaute	Indians	20-17	3.75	4.39	2 saves
Herb Pennock		Above
Ernie Wingard	Browns	13-12	3.51	4.25
Howard Ehmke		Above
Walter Johnson		Above
Eddie Rommel	A's	18-15	3.95	4.50

Which brings us this list:

Walter Johnson

Sam Thurston

Herb Pennock

Stan Baumgartner

Sherry Smith

Tom Zachary

Howard Ehmke

Joe Shaute

Red Faber

Rip Collins

Now, on to the offensive side of the game.

Beginning with the National League:

Name	Team	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	SB
Rogers Hornsby	Cardinals	25	94	.424	.507	.696	12
Kiki Cuyler	Pirates	9	85	.354	.402	.539	32
High Pockets Kelly	Giants	21	136	.329	.371	.531	7
Ross Youngs	Giants	10	74	.356	.441	.521	11
Jim Bottomley	Cardinals	14	111	.316	.362	.500	5
Zack Wheat	Dodgers	14	97	.375	.428	.549	3
Jack Fournier	Dodgers	27	116	.334	.428	.536	7
Frankie Frisch	Giants	7	69	.328	.387	.468	22
Cy Williams	Phillies	24	93	.328	.403	.552	7
Emil (Irish) Meusel	Giants	6	102	.310	.351	.423	11

And then against their teams:

Rogers Hornsby	Above
Kiki Cuyler	Above
Cy Williams	Above
Zack Wheat	Above
Edd Roush	Reds	3	72	.348	.376	.501	17
Jim Bottomley	Above
Jack Fournier	Above
High Pockets Kelly	Above
Stuffy McInnis	Braves	1	59	.291	.311	.360	9
George Grantham	Cubs	12	60	.316	.390	.458	21

This then brings us the following rankings:

Roger Hornsby

Kiki Cuyler

Zack Wheat

Jim Bottomley

High Pockets Kelly

Jack Fournier

Ross Youngs

Edd Roush

Frankie Frisch

George Grantham

Over in the American League, where the heavy hitter live, we have a bunch of very familiar names populating these lists. The Yankees had individual leaders in just about all of the offensive categories, thanks to babe Ruth. Of course, their first baseman was also able to nab on offensive title. For triples. But it wasn't who you think. It was Wally Pipp, who hit 19 triples. Twenty-one year old Lou Gehrig would play in just ten games in 1924.

But, the initial numbers are:

Babe Ruth	Yankees	46	124	.378	.513	.739	9
Harry Heilman	Tigers	20	225	.346	.478	.533	13
Goose Goslin	Senators	12	129	.344	.421	.516	15
Bob Meusel	Yankees	12	124	.325	.365	.494	26
Eddie Collins	White Sox	6	86	.349	.441	.455	42
Joe Sewell	Indians	4	106	.316	.386	.429	3
Bibb Falk	White Sox	6	99	.352	.406	.487	6
Harry Hooper	White Sox	10	62	.328	.413	.481	2
Ike Boone	Red Sox	13	98	.337	.404	.497	2
Joe Hauser	A's	27	115	.288	.358	.516	7

Then compared to their teams:

Babe Ruth	Above
Joe Hauser	Above
Goose Goslin	Above
Bob Meusel	Above
Ike Boone	Above
Joe Sewell	Above
Harry Heilman	Above
Joe Harris	Red Sox	3	77	.301	.406	.430	6
Bobby Veach	Red Sox	5	99	.295	.359	.426	5
Al Simmons	A's	8	62	.308	.353	.431	16

So our final rankings are:

Babe Ruth

Goose Goslin

Bob Meusel

Joe Hauser

Harry Heilman

Ike Boone

Joe Sewell

Eddie Collins

Bibb Falk

Harry Hooper

Now, as I talked about during the 1912 season recap (and the 1927 article as well), the Chalmers Award was the annual award presented each year, but it didn't last very long. In its absence, each league would present a League Award annually to the best player in each of the leagues. The voting was convoluted, and players who had previously won the award were exempted from further voting.

The League Awards belonged to Walter Johnson and Dazzy Vance. It would be the first time that pitchers were awarded the “most valuable' awards in the same season. Johnson had won a Chalmers Award in 1912, so was till eligible for the League Award. It was Vance's first award.

Now, were I to have voted back then, and imagining that there was no restriction on voting, I would have voted as follows:

National League:

Player	League Award voting
Dazzy Vance	1st
Rogers Hornsby	2nd
Zack Wheat	3rd (tie)
Jim Bottomley	17th
High Pockets Kelly	6th

And in the American League:

Babe Ruth	No votes, won in 1923
Goose Goslin	No votes
Walter Johnson	1st
Sloppy Thurston	No votes
Herb Pennock	4th