Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

You can thank the Fordham Flash for a lot of those HOF picks.

Frankie Frisch was chairman of the Veterans Committee, of which he was a member from 1967-1973, and saw to it that many of his former Giants and Cardinals teammates were elected. The players inducted during Frisch’s reign include Jesse Haines, Dave Bancroft, Chick Hafey, Rube Marquard, Ross Youngs, and George Kelly. These players, known as “Frisch’s Friends”, were all inducted between 1970 and 1973. After Frisch died in a car accident in 1973, Jim Bottomley, Freddie Lindstrom and Travis Jackson were subsequently added by the Veterans Committee, obviously in homage to their former chairman.

Joe Tinker? Johnny Evers? (both due to a short poem dashed off by a sports reporter whose game story was eight lines too short) Ray Schalk? (because he didn't throw a World Series?) Candy Cummings? (yes, he is credited as the first to throw a curve ball, but he didn't throw it very many times or very successfully).

MAZ!

Red Schoendienst and Phil Rizzuto.

Red Ruffing

When Schalk, Evers and Tinker's careers ended this is the WAR leaders for their positions.

Buck Ewing 47.7
Wally Schang 45
Roger Bresnahan 41
Charlie Bennett 39.1
Jack Clements 32.1
Deacon McGuire 31.2
Ray Schalk 28.5

Rogers Hornsby 127
Eddie Collins 123.9
Nap Lajoie 107.4
Bid McPhee 52.4
Johnny Evers 47.7

Honus Wagner 131
George Davis 84.7
Bill Dahlen 75.2
Bobby Wallace 70.2
Jack Glasscock 61.9
Joe Tinker 53.9

If you look at the catchers. All of them but Schang and Schalk were done or almost done when Schalk hit the majors. From 1912 to 1929 Schang and Schalk were the top catchers in the league.

Evers and Tinker both went to 4 World Series. Evers won 3 and Tinker won 2. Good double play combination in a time when fielding wasn't the best in the world. If they don't deserve to be there then maybe Fox and Aparicio shouldn't be in the Hall either.

I don't think we should bash players for not having better numbers than players that played 50+ years after them.

I think Maz and Schoendienst got in because when they played Nellie Fox was the only second baseman better. Great fielding in a weak era for the position.

Rizzuto was not even close to being the best short stop of his era. Al Dark, Vern Stephens, Lou Boudreau, Pee Wee Reese, and Arky Vaughan were all better during his career. Ernie Banks started towards the end of Rizzuto's run. If he was a Tiger then he never gets in.

Wish there was a way to find out who voted for Erstad and Boone...

Maybe they shouldn't be voting anymore.

And the person who voted for Jim Deshaises a few years ago too.

Don Drysdale although he was the go to Dodger for TV show cameos along with Wes Parker