Albright's musings

[jalbright]

I'm going to create this thread to replace the "data warehouse" thread. I want to put an index of topics and players discussed in the next few posts, so it will be easier for folks to accesss. That in turn should make all the materials in this thread easier to find for those using this thread. Like Bill Burgess' Ty Cobb thread, my goal here is to provide information resources for others, and would ask that you try to refrain from posting questions and comments here. With this in mind, I reserve the right to move any and all posts made by others here. If necessary, I will establish a discussion thread and provide a link here.

Almost all of the comments in this thread were originally posted in another thread. I will tell you which thread the comment is from if I can. If not, you could always quote my comment and begin another thread with your questions and comments. Of course, if you want my response, it would be wise to PM me to make sure I see your question or comment.

I'll start out by trying to group materials on Japan, Negro Leaguers, and the 19th century together, but over time, that arrangement will begin to fall apart.

Hope you find this useful.

Also, please note that post 21 allows you to link to any page in this thread.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

Guide to discussions of worthiness of various Negro Leaguers and Japanese League players for BBF HOF in this thread

Cuban players
#410--Omar Linares


Negro League contributors
#64--Ed Bolden--ELECTED
#244-Andy Cooper
#61--Vic Harris
#244-Effa Manley
#244-Jose Mendez (he's still qualified as a contributor, but I've decided to back him as a player) ELECTED
#244-Buck O'Neil--ELECTED
#429-Alejandro Pompez
#65--Cum Posey--ELECTED
#62--C. I. Taylor--ELECTED
#63--Frank Warfield
#244-Sol White
#66--J. L. Wilkinson--ELECTED

Negro League Players
#41---In BBF HOF before bio created
#57---John Beckwith--ELECTED
#44---Ray Brown--ELECTED
#300--Willard Brown--ELECTED
#75---Perucho "The Bull" Cepeda--ELECTED
#399--Oscar Charleston--ELECTED
#367--Bus Clarkson
#43---Ray Dandridge--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #491)
#54---Leon Day
#133--Bingo DeMoss
#396--Martin Dihigo--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #490)
#53---Willie Foster--ELECTED
#227--Josh Gibson--ELECTED also #296
#47---Frank Grant--ELECTED
#55---Pete Hill--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #493)
#42---Monte Irvin--ELECTED
#309--Will Jackman
#48---Grant "Home Run" Johnson--ELECTED
#134--Judy Johnson
#374--Oscar "Heavy" Johnson
#465--Buck Leonard
#401--John Henry "Pop" Lloyd--ELECTED
#349---Dick Lundy
#56---Biz Mackey--ELECTED
#133--Oliver Marcelle
#325--Jose Mendez--ELECTED
#59---Dobie Moore--ELECTED
#60---Alejandro Oms--ELECTED
#233--Satchel Paige--also post #398--ELECTED as seen by new rating system, #498)
#132--Spottswood Poles
#52---Cannonball Dick Redding--ELECTED
#45---Bullet Joe Rogan--ELECTED
#50---Louis Santop--ELECTED
#137--Chino Smith (also post #368) as seen by new rating system, #495)
#58---Hilton Smith--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #499)
#400--Turkey Stearnes--ELECTED
#46---Mule Suttles--ELECTED
#133--Ben Taylor
#402--Cristobal Torriente--ELECTED
#348--Quincy Trouppe
#49---Willie Wells--ELECTED
#397--Smoky Joe Williams--ELECTED
#51---Jud Wilson--ELECTED

Japanese League Players
#187--Akira Bessho--ELECTED
#185--Yutaka Enatsu
#182--Isao Harimoto--ELECTED
#176--Kazuhisa Inao--ELECTED
#161--Masaichi Kaneda--ELECTED
#186--Masaaki Koyama
#181--Shigeo Nagashima--ELECTED
#180--Katsuya Nomura--ELECTED
#188--Hiromitsu Ochiai
#177--Victor Starffin--ELECTED
#189--Koji Yamamoto
#467--Tetsuharu Kawakami
#501--Yutaka Fukumoto
#502--Hiromitsu Kadota
#503--Sachio Kinugasa
#504--Hideo Fujimoto
#505--Minoru Murayama
#506--Jiro Noguchi
#507--Shigeru Sugishita
#508--Tetsuya Yoneda


Contributors
#208--Larry MacPhail--ELECTED
#209--Lefty O'Doul--ELECTED
#209--Matsutaro Shoriki (Japan)
#341--Marvin Miller--ELECTED
#342--Connie Mack--ELECTED
#427--Shigeru Mizuhara
#428--Jim Creighton
#435--Alexander Cartwright
#436--Henry Chadwick
#442--Ed Barrow
#454--Wilbert Robinson
#462--Tom Connolly
#464--Joe McCarthy
#469--Iso Abe

[jalbright]

Posts on various major leaguers
#423--Pete Alexander--ELECTED
#103--Dick Allen--ELECTED
#175--Roberto Alomar--ELECTED
#387--Cap Anson--ELECTED
#281--Luis Aparicio--ELECTED
#407--Luke Appling--ELECTED
#429--Buzz Arlett
#205--Richie Ashburn--ELECTED
#152--Earl Averill--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #493)
#343--Jeff Bagwell--ELECTED
#267--Sal Bando (as seen by new rating system, #491)
#146--Ross Barnes--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #490)
#305--Jake Beckley (as seen by new rating system #489)
#151--Albert Belle--ELECTED
#412--Johnny Bench--ELECTED
#334--Chief Bender
#165--Charlie Bennett--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #492)
#412--Yogi Berra--ELECTED
#415--Craig Biggio
#104--Bert Blyleven--see also #128--ELECTED
#198--Barry Bonds
#159--Bobby Bonds (as seen by new rating system, #495)
#242--Bret Boone
#335--Jim Bottomley--also #432
#220--Lou Boudreau--ELECTED
#284--Ken Boyer--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #491)
#136--Roger Bresnahan--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #492)
#358--Tommy Bridges
#204--Lou Brock--ELECTED
#384--Dan Brouthers--ELECTED
#304--Kevin Brown (as seen by new rating system, #498)
#424--Mordecai ("Three Finger") Brown--ELECTED
#324--Pete Browning
#498--Charlie Buffinton
#214--Jim Bunning--ELECTED
#391--Jesse Burkett--ELECTED
#262--Max Carey--ELECTED
#121--Gary Carter--ELECTED
#125--Joe Carter
#288--Bob Caruthers--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #498)
#489--Norm Cash
#309--Cesar Cedeno (as seen by new rating system, #493)
#277--Orlando Cepeda--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #489)
#16---Frank Chance as player and manager--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #489)
#334--Jack Chesbro
#354--Cupid Childs--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #490)
#218--Will Clark--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #489)
#143--Fred Clarke--ELECTED
#388--John Clarkson--ELECTED
#413--Roger Clemens
#416--Ty Cobb--ELECTED
#418--Eddie Collins--ELECTED
#457--Jimmy Collins
#335--Earle Combs
#332--Dave Concepcion
#498--David Cone
#385--Roger Connor--ELECTED
#283--Wilbur Cooper
#239--Stan Coveleski--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #499)
#353--Gavvy Cravath
#420--Sam Crawford--ELECTED
#241--Jose Cruz
#301--Kiki Cuyler
#111--Bill Dahlen--ELECTED
#118--George Davis--ELECTED
#213--Dizzy Dean--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #499)
#383--Ed Delahanty--ELECTED
#408--Joe DiMaggio--ELECTED
#109--Larry Doby--ELECTED
#265--Bobby Doerr--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #490)
#222--Larry Doyle--ELECTED
#215--Don Drysdale--ELECTED
#258--Hugh Duffy--ELECTED
#287--Darrell Evans--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #491)
#330--Dwight Evans
#336--Johnny Evers--also #431
#386--Buck Ewing--ELECTED
#278--Red Faber--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #499)
#336--Rick Ferrell
#282--Wes Ferrell--ELECTED
#232--Rollie Fingers--ELECTED
#263--Elmer Flick--ELECTED
#499--Whitey Ford
#217--Nellie Fox--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #490)
#210--Bill Freehan--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #492)
#140--Pud Galvin--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #499)
#126--Steve Garvey
#271--Jack Glasscock--ELECTED
#328--Lefty Gomez
#487--Dwight Gooden (as seen by new rating system, #488)
#199--Joe Gordon--ELECTED
#286--George Gore--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #493)
#112--Goose Goslin--ELECTED
#105--Goose Gossage--ELECTED
#200--Bobby Grich--ELECTED
#499--Clark Griffith
#211--Burleigh Grimes--ELECTED--also post #463 (as seen by new rating system, #499)
#268--Heinie Groh--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #491)
#356--Ron Guidry
#219--Stan Hack--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #491)
#335--Chick Hafey
#334--Jesse Haines
#390--Billy Hamilton--ELECTED
#492--Gabby Hartnett
#102--Rickey Henderson--ELECTED
#115--Billy Herman--ELECTED
#257--Keith Hernandez (as seen by new rating system, #489)
#496--John Hiller
#150--Paul Hines--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #493)
#131--Gil Hodges
#335--Harry Hooper
#334--Waite Hoyt
#275--Catfish Hunter
#409--Joe Jackson--ELECTED
#336--Travis Jackson
#16---Hughie Jennings as manager and player--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #497)
#319--Bob Johnson
#422--Walter Johnson--ELECTED
#240--Addie Joss--also #431
#149--Joe Judge
#487--Benny Kauff
#392--Tim Keefe--ELECTED
#404--Wee Willie Keeler--ELECTED
#336--George Kell
#347--Charlie Keller
#285--Joe Kelley--ELECTED
#335--George Kelly
#141--King Kelly--ELECTED
#337--Ralph Kiner--ELECTED
#498--Silver King
#340--Dave Kingman
#155--Chuck Klein
#444--Sandy Koufax
#419--Nap LaJoie--ELECTED
#346--Bill Lange
#174--Barry Larkin--ELECTED
#336--Tony Lazzeri
#287--Tommy Leach (as seen by new rating system, #491)
#212--Bob Lemon--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #499)
#336--Fred Lindstrom
#493--Kenny Lofton
#235--Mickey Lolich
#336--Ernie Lombardi
#270--Herman Long
#178--Ted Lyons--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #499)
#142--Sherry Magee--ELECTED
#302--Heinie Manush
#287--Rabbit Maranville--ELECTED
#193--Roger Maris
#334--Rube Marquard--also #433
#303--Edgar Martinez (as seen by new rating system, #496)
#238--Tino Martinez
#421--Christy Mathewson--ELECTED
#279--Carl Mays--ELECTED
#147--Willie Mays--ELECTED
#124--Bill Mazeroski
#335--Tommy McCarthy
#395--Jim McCormick (as seen by new rating system, #499)
#145--Joe McGinnity--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #499)
#228--Fred McGriff--ELECTED
#236--Dave McNally
#269--Bid McPhee--ELECTED
#350--Cal McVey--ELECTED
#106--Minnie Minoso--ELECTED
#406--Johnny Mize--ELECTED
#139--Tony Mullane--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #498)
#221--Dale Murphy--ELECTED
#498--Mike Mussina
#403--Buddy Myer
#361--Graig Nettles (as seen by new rating system, #491)
#183--Hal Newhouser--ELECTED
#393--Kid Nichols--ELECTED
#117--Phil Niekro--ELECTED
#489--John Olerud
#237--Tony Oliva
#351--Al Oliver
#116--Jim O'Rourke--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #494)
#329--Rafael Palmiero (as seen by new rating system, #489)
#194--Dave Parker--ELECTED
#96---Dickey Pearce
#360--Herb Pennock
#216--Tony Perez--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #489)
#394--Gaylord Perry--ELECTED
#280--Johnny Pesky
#414--Mike Piazza
#273--Billy Pierce
#94---Lip Pike
#426--Eddie Plank--ELECTED
#493--Kirby Puckett
#231--Dan Quisenberry--ELECTED
#108--Old Hoss Radbourn--ELECTED
#119--Tim Raines--ELECTED
#490--Willie Randolph
#114--Pee Wee Reese--ELECTED
#498--Rick Reuschel
#125--Jim Rice (as seen by new rating system, #494)
#276--Sam Rice
#163--Hardy Richardson--ELECTED
#166--Eppa Rixey--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #499)
#339--Phil Rizzuto (as seen by new rating system, #497)
#468--Jackie Robinson
#326--Edd Roush--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #493)
#184--Red Ruffing--ELECTED
#120--Amos Rusie--ELECTED
#331--Jimmy Ryan
#260--Nolan Ryan--ELECTED
#498--Bret Saberhagen
#336--Ray Schalk
#498--Curt Schilling
#336--Red Schoendienst
#287--Joe Sewell--ELECTED
#344--Jimmy Sheckard
#179--Ted Simmons--ELECTED
#455--George Sisler
#148--Enos Slaughter--ELECTED
#345--Lee Smith (as seen by new rating system, #496)
#352--Reggie Smith (as seen by new rating system, #495)
#243--Sammy Sosa
#389--Al Spalding (as seen by new rating system, #499)
#266--Vern Stephens
#498--Dave Stieb
#95---Joe Start (as seen by new rating system, #488)
#207--Harry Stovey--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #494)
#230--Bruce Sutter--ELECTED
#203--Don Sutton--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #499)
#164--Ezra Sutton--ELECTED
#498--Frank Tanana
#492--Gene Tenace
#453--Bill Terry
#471--Sam Thompson (as seen by new rating system, #495)
#237--Luis Tiant (as seen by new rating system, #498)
#336--Joe Tinker
#136--Joe Torre (as a player)--ELECTED AS MANAGER (as seen by new rating system, #492)
#201--Alan Trammell--ELECTED
#456--Pie Traynor (as seen by new rating system, #491)
#264--George Van Haltren--ELECTED
#206--Rube Waddell--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #499)
#419--Honus Wagner--ELECTED
#322--Larry Walker (as seen by new rating system, #495)
#160--Bobby Wallace--ELECTED
#425--Ed Walsh--ELECTED
#272--Bucky Walters
#335--Lloyd Waner
#107--John Montgomery Ward ELECTED AS A CONTRIBUTOR (as seen by new rating system, #497)
#357--Lon Warneke
#323--Mickey Welch (as seen by new rating system, #499)
#110--Zack Wheat--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #494)
#287--Lou Whitaker--ELECTED
#138--Deacon White--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #492)
#470--Hoyt Wilhelm
#355--Bernie Williams
#113--Billy Williams--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #494)
#147--Ted Williams--ELECTED
#202--Vic Willis--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #499)
#299--Maury Wills
#338--Hack Wilson--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #493)
#98---George Wright--ELECTED (as seen by new rating system, #497)
#144--Early Wynn--ELECTED
#157--Jimmy Wynn (as seen by new rating system, #493)
#405--Cy Young--ELECTED
#335--Ross Youngs

[jalbright]

Posts on groups of individuals:
#9 through 11--rankings of my personal HOF
#12----Negro League Managers and Executives
#13----Media Contributors
#14----Pioneeer Contributors
#15----Japanese Managers
#16----Major League Managers
#17----Major League Executives
#22---rankings of those in my queue not in BBF HOF
#24----Japanese Players on my early ballots
#27----Japanese Players in my queue but not on my early ballots
#99 through 101--19th century players
#123---Mexican stars
#127---Ranking of Japanese stars I consider HOF worthy
#156---Best players of the 1990's
#158---leaders in win shares (pitchers and position players) by decade
#171---Ranking of managers by success points
#195--all time major league and non major league teams
#226--my all 19th century team
#310--my all 20th century team
#363--my all time blackball team of Cooperstown outsiders
#366--converting 19th century batting lines into MLB norms
#369--MLB comparables for some Negro League pitchers
#370--MLB comparables for some Negro League OF and C
#371--MLB comparables for some Negro League IF
#372--Negro Leaguers I think still need to be included in the HOF
#373--my Suburbs of Cooperstown draftees versus the bottom of the HOF
#376--MLB Comparables for Perucho Cepeda and Pancho Coimbre
#377--MLB Comparables for Leon Day and Ray Dandridge
#378--Best non-MLB international team
#403--Buddy Myer and Billy Herman compared
#411--MLBers not in HOF all-time team
#434--links to Bill Burgess' work on Francis Richter and John B. Foster, and many sportswriters
#445 through 450--manager leader lists
#451--Deadball award winners.
#459--Some more Negro Leaguer comps (Rile, Monroe, Poles, HR Johnson, and "Double Duty" Radcliffe

Rankings by position
#11------------all players in my personal HOF
#19------------Top 25 retired players per rating system
#20------------Cooperstown's biggest mistakes in inclusions
#122-----------best players not yet in Cooperstown by position
#129-----------ten worst pitchers in HOF
#167-----------relief ace rating system
#274-----------change to my rating system for 60 foot 6 inch pitching distance pitchers
# 472-486.......New rating system, broken out in rank order, alphabetically and by postion

[jalbright]

Posts on various topics

#6----how I construct my ballot
#7----my current ballot
#8----the current voter guide
#18---rating system discussed
#23---Links to all my writings on top Japanese players and managers
#24---Thumbnails of top Japanese players plus links to targeted writings on same
#25---Most similar major leaguers to leading Japanese candidates
#26---link to some of my key articles on Japanese candidates for Cooperstown
#28 to 36--Japanese players, the Japanese Hall and Cooperstown
#37 and 38--Negro League versus Japanese stars
#39---Comment on limitations of data other than from major leagues after 1900
#40---Key references for info in Negro Leaguer comments
#67---link to Baseball Think Factory discussions on Negro Leaguers
#68 and 69--Negro League links to bios and data
#70---Mulitple listings by James latest Historical Abstract as best player/pitcher of year in Negro Leagues
#71---Negro League honors
#72---How many Negro Leaguers should we honor?
#73 and 74--different aspects of Negro League play
#76 to 86--discussion of use of statistical versus anecdotal evidence
#87---comment on 2006 vote for Negro Leaguers
#88---Pre 1871 statistics
#89---George Wright pre 1871 stats
#90---Joe Start pre 1871 stats
#91---Dickey Pearce pre 1871 stats
#92---Deacon White and Lip Pike pre 1871 stats
#93---comments on several pre 1871 players
#130--various lines for inclusion/exclusion to the HOF
#135--review of catcher playing time
#153--longevity and consistency
#154--Frisch's teammates selected by VC to HOF
#162--how to handle HOF cases of players who allegedly used performance enhancing drugs
#168--Negro League all-star teams by city/state/region
#169--Key players on some very talented Negro League squads
#170--Why didn't Negro League pitchers succeed like Negro League hitters did?
#171--Evaluations of Japanese stars in McNeil's Baseball's Other Stars
#190--Number of regular starting pitchers 1876-1892
#191--Negro League evaluations as an exercise in circumstantial evidence
#192--Web resources for Japanese stats
#196--BBF resources on converting stats from Cuban baseball to MLB equivalents
#197--Clay Davenport article on converting stats from Cuban baseball under Castro to MLB equivalents
#208--Larry MacPhail--ELECTED
#223--Judge Landis' legacy
#224--why 19th century players need some adjustment upward for their shorter schedules
#225--why Japanese pitchers from 1960-80 walked guys less than their major league counterparts
#229--Rickey Henderson versus Billy Hamilton as a leadoff hitter
#234--Jimmy Wynn and how we make home park adjustments
#246--Enos Slaughter compared to Kirby Puckett
#247--Tuffy Rhodes' home run totals in Japan
#248--The Favorite Toy Method and fluke seasons
#249--Eddie Collins versus Joe Morgan
#250--Julio Franco and International baseball stats
#251--competitive balance is not the same as quality of play.
#252--use of home/road splits
#253--the HOF chances of Pete Rose versus those of Joe Jackson
#254--model for how I evaluate the HOF chances of active players (Pujols, Rolen and Edmonds)
#255--Factors for and against improvement in the quality of play
#256--the 1901 AL and 1960's AL were not minor league quality
#259--link to discussions of issue of measuring league quality
#260--comparison of top pitchers of 1970's
#261--link to discussion of permitting international players in the HOF
#289--discussion of why I use the categories I do in evaluating players
#290--discussion of why average quality of play can be deceptive in evaluating players from Japan, the Negro Leagues, and the 19th century
#291--one way to tell who the best Negro Leaguers were: who were the draws?
#292--Some poll results on who the all-time Negro Leaguers were
#293--Experts All-Time teams which include non MLB players
#294--some expert picks on all-time Japanese players
#295--how Casey Stengel used Whitey Ford
#297--link to Negro League data thread
#268--link to Negro League award thread
#307--Griffith Stadium's effect on HR during Josh Gibson's career
#308--Impact of Ruth being a pitcher on development of his batting style.
#311--Impact of being a foreign born child of non-US citizens on getting into the HOF
#312--Links to specially informative (IMO) BBF threads
#313--Why is the path to the majors so difficult for Cuban defectors?
#314--Billy Southworth and managing during wartime
#315--George Steinbrenner's worthiness of a spot in the HOF
#316--George Weiss' baseball career--ELECTED
#317--Hughie Jennings' playing and managerial careers--ELECTED
#318--The 1971 HOF class
#320--Clark Griffith--ELECTED
#321--The role of "fame" in HOF selections
#327--Joe Gordon versus Bobby Doerr
#364--Bill James' ranking of top Negro Leaguers, and listing of those Negro Leaguers nominated for the HOF in 2006 but not inducted
#379--3000 hits and 300 wins
#380--Bill James' comment on HOF candidacies (compare them to the available choices)
#381--collection of links to my arguments in favor of admitting international players to Cooperstown.
#382--comparing pitchers across eras
#431--parallels between Joss and Evers
#437--why we have less 3B in the HOF from before the 1930's
#438--comparison of Sisler and Beckley
#440--info on National Association win shares calculation.
#441--info on National Association win shares calculation.
#442--info on National Association win shares calculation.
#452--The Cobb/Speaker scandal
#458--Joss, Waddell and Dean compared to their respective peers.
#460--The "illegality" argument against PEDs
#461--The Negro Leagues adaptation to the 1920's explosion in HR hitting
#466--Bucky Walters 1938-41

[jalbright]

My contributors in the Media category are rather few, as I want somebody with a significant impact on a national level. Also, if one's contribution is limited to a single book, it has to be as earthshaking as the first Macmillan encyclopedia (sorry, Jim Bouton!).

David Neft Headed up the enormous and enormously important project of creating the first modern baseball encyclopedia, the first Macmillan Encyclopedia

Harry Caray Though his status as a Chicago baseball mainstay is important, lots of announcers have that qualification and I'm not voting for them. What sets Harry apart in my mind is his role in popularizing the use of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for the seventh inning stretch. Put the two together, and I think he qualifies.

Al Munro Elias For his role as a popularizer of baseball statistics

Ty Tyson He is the first to regularly broadcast team games over radio

Felo Ramirez became Canel's partner in 1950 just five years after his on-air debut in Cuba, broadcast 31 World Series and 40 Caribbean Series to the Spanish-speaking world

Vin Scully--ELECTED Not only has he loyally served the Dodgers for many years, he also has been prominent nationally. AG2004 points out the following:

Scully holds the record for most World Series by an English-language broadcaster, including 23 national broadcasts.

Television
NBC - 1953, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1974, 1984, 1986, 1988

Radio
NBC - 1966
CBS - 1979-82, 1990-93, 1995-97

Also, the American Sportscasters Association voted him the ASA Sportscaster of the Century Award in 2000.

Between the number of postseason broadcasts and the high regard he has among his peers, I think Scully is worthy of induction.

[jalbright]

Pioneers

Dr. Jobe His invention of the Tommy John surgery has saved countless pitching careers, including, of course, Tommy John's.

Lefty O'Doul--ELECTED A pretty good player who adds the fact he was a key player in getting professional baseball established in Japan.

Dickey Pearce He was at least a good player in the pre 1871 era, and maybe even great. Add to that he invented bunting and made shortstop a key defensive position, I think he deserves a spot.

Dan Okrent Developer of Rotisserie Baseball and also played a large role iin bringing Bill James to the attention of a national audience.

Bob Davids the driving force behind the founding of SABR

Charles W. Leavitt, Jr. The architect fot the first concrete and steel ballpark, Forbes Field. After seeing it, every team wanted one for itself.

Joe Spear Headed the Camden Yards project. Combined the old style park charm with modern amenities. Every team wanted a park like it, spawning the recent park building surge.

Ted Giannoulas, aka the San Diego Chicken There were baseball clowns before him, but he's the one who popularized the mascot/clown role so that everybody has one.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

My list of qualified Japanese managers. Success points are a Bill James creation. The numbers given are not discounted in any way, and are from a system I modeled on James' system, but isn't identical to it.

Kazuto Tsuruoka--ELECTED Manager's Success Points: 70
He is Japan's winningest manager, with 1807 regular season victories to his credit as well as a .609 winning percentage. His teams were over .500 in 21 of the 23 seasons he managed, and he won 11 pennants. In those 11 pennants was a stretch of 4 pennants in five years and another stretch of 4 pennants in six years.

Tetsuharu Kawakami --ELECTED Manager's Success Points: 60
He managed fourteen seasons for the Yomiuri Giants and was over .500 each season. He won 11 pennants and won the Japan Series every time. Nine of those pennants were consecutive, the fabled "V-9" Giant club.

Shigeru Mizuhara Manager's Success Points: 62
He won eight pennants in nine years from 1951 to 1959 for the Yomiuri Giants. He also won four Japan Series in the period 1951 to 1955 and won a pennant for the Flyers.

Sadayoshi Fujimoto Manager's Success Points: 49
He established the Yomiuri club as a powerhouse, winning pennants in every season from the 1938 Fall season through 1943.

Osamu Mihara Manager's Success Points: 44
He won pennants as a manager for three different franchises, most notably the Lion dynasty he presided over. He won 4 Japan Series in a stretch of five years.

Masaaki Mori Manager's Success Points: 42
He won 7 pennants in 8 years, and six Japan Series in seven years within that stretch.

Yukio Nishimoto Manager's Success Points: 43
He won pennants for three franchises and had a stretch of five pennants in six years. Unfortunately, though he led eight teams to the Japan Series, he never grabbed the brass ring, five of the losses coming to Kawakami's "V-9" Giants.

Toshiharu Ueda Manager's Success Points: 39
He won four pennants in a row, capturing the Japan Series title in a stretch of three consecutive years within that period.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

The major league managers I think I'd put in, together with their Manager's success points (as calculated by Bill James this time) and any comments I have:

Frank Chance--ELECTED 28 points The manager of the Cub powerhouse built by Selee matured under his leadership. An excellent, though not quite great first baseman, IMO.

Billy Martin: 29 points. His behavior was poor, and he wore out his welcome quickly no matter where he went. But if you wanted to win right now, there was nobody better while he was around managing.

Hughie Jennings--ELECTED 24 points. An excellent shortstop, albeit in a short career. I can't go for him just as a player, but when you combine it with his success as a manager, I can.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

Major/Minor league executives

George Weiss--ELECTED see this from Cooperstown's website: http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/ho...iss_George.htm

Paul Krichell The man who scouted many of the best players to stock Weiss' Yankee farm system.

Clark Griffith--ELECTED: He's got a better pitching record than I thought (nearly or actually HOF caliber in its own right), and then when you add in the fact he was a reasonably successful manager (career record over .500), he owned a World Champion club and another pennant winner and owned that franchise for a long time, I have to say the combination makes him deserving of the honor.

OK, that's my list of contributors until somebody convinces me to make some changes to it.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

Other pages in this thread (I use the standard 25 per page):
page 2 (posts 26-50):
page 3 (posts 51-75):
page 4 (posts 76-100):
page 5 (posts 101-125):
page 6 (posts 126-150):
page 7 (posts 151-175):
page 8 (posts 176-200):
page 9 (posts 201-225):
page 10 (posts 226-250):
page 11 (posts 251-275):
page 12 (posts 276-300):
page 13 (posts 301-325):
page 14 (posts 326-350)
page 15 (posts 351-375)
page 16 (posts 376-400)
page 17 (posts 401-425)

[jalbright]

This post will cover the top Japanese players and managers:

Sadaharu Oh: ELECTED BBF HOF JULY 2005
The following has links to everything I've written about him for baseballguru.com:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/In...ml#Sadaharu_Oh

Katsuya Nomura ELECTED BBF HOF JANUARY 2006
Links to all my writings on him in baseballguru.com:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/In...Katsuya_Nomura

Shigeo Nagashima ELECTED BBF HOF APRIL 2006
Links to all my writings on him in baseballguru.com:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/In...igeo_Nagashima

Isao Harimoto ELECTED BBF HOF NOVEMBER 2006
Links to all my writings on him in baseballguru.com:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/In...#Isao_Harimoto

Koji Yamamoto
Links to all my writings on him in baseballguru.com:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/In...#Koji_Yamamoto

Masaichi Kaneda ELECTED BBF HOF
Links to all my writings on him in baseballguru.com:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/In...asaichi_Kaneda

Victor Starffin--ELECTED
Links to all my writings on him in baseballguru.com:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/In...ictor_Starffin

Kazuhisa Inao--ELECTED
Links to all my writings on him in baseballguru.com:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/In...#Kazuhisa_Inao

Akira Bessho
Links to all my writings on him in baseballguru.com:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/In...l#Akira_Bessho

Tetsuharu Kawakami (as a manager) ELECTED BBF HOF
Links to my writings on his managerial career in baseballguru.com:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/In...uharu_Kawakami

Kazuto Tsuruoka--ELECTED (as a manager)
Links to my writings on his managerial career in baseballguru.com:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/In...azuto_Tsuruoka

Shigeru Mizuhara
Links to my writings on his managerial career in baseballguru.com:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/In...igeru_Mizuhara

For Japanese stats, go to http://www.japanbaseballdaily.com/DataWarehouse.html
Kaneda, Inao, Starffin and Bessho are pitchers, while the rest of the players are batters. You'll have to pick the right alphabetical grouping and scroll to the data.
For the managers, go to the very bottom of the page and click on the Individual Managers ("a to l" or "m to z", as appropriate) and scroll to their records.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

Links to targeted writngs on quality of top Japanese players plus thumbnail sketches of same:

Sadaharu Oh ELECTED BBF HOF JULY 2005
For a look at part 1 of my review of his case for Cooperstown, see:http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...lbright12.html

For a look at my major league equivalent for him (in part 2 of my review of his case for Cooperstown), go to: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...lbright13.html

For a season by season projection of his major league equivalents, see: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...lbright14.html

For a comparison of Oh to his contemporaries in the majors and to first ballot HOFers, see: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...lbright16.html

For a comparison of Oh to candidates who made the top ten in BBWAA voting but not Cooperstown, see: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...lbright17.html

For a comparison of Oh's best years to major league players in the same years, see: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...ight32.html#Oh

He's the Japanese career leader in homers, RBI, walks, runs scored and slugging, and would be in on-base percentage if it were an official statistic. He won two consecutive Triple Crowns, was MVP 9 times, the best first baseman in the Central League (won a Best Nine Award) 18 times, and won 9 Golden Gloves, the first nine awarded, in the last nine years of his career. He led his league in runs scored 12 times, in homers 15 times, in total bases 12 times, in RBI 13 times, in walks 18 times, in slugging percentage 14 times, and average 5 times.

Katsuya Nomura ELECTED BBF HOF
For a look at my major league equivalent for him, go to:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...Katsuya_Nomura

For a comparison of Nomura to major league catchers of the 1960's, see: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...32.html#Nomura

He's the career leader in at bats, and is second in both career hits and homers. He won a Triple Crown, 4 MVPs, 19 Best Nines at catcher, and a single Gold Glove at catcher, though the award didn't come about until he had caught 18 or so seasons. He led his league in average once, runs scored 3 times, homers 9 times, total bases 5 times, RBI 7 times, and walks and slugging percentage twice each.

Shigeo Nagashima ELECTED BBF HOF
My major league equivalent for the man generally described as the most popular player ever in Japan is at:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...igeo_Nagashima

For a look at him versus other top third basemen, see: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...igeo_Nagashima

For a look at major league equivalents of his best seasons compared to major leaguers in those years, see: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...html#Nagashima

Nagashima won 5 MVPs, 17 Best Nines at third base, and 2 of the first three Gold Gloves awarded at third in his last years. He led the league in runs scored, homers, and walks twice each, total bases and average six times each, RBI 5 times, and slugging percentage 4 times.

Isao Harimoto ELECTED BBF HOF NOVEMBER 2006
My major league equivalent for him is at:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...#Isao_Harimoto

For a comparison of his major league equivalent on a career basis, see: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...#Isao_Harimoto

For a comparison of his major league equivalents for his best seasons, see:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an....html#Harimoto

He's the career leader in hits, and third in both career average and career runs scored. He's also sixth in career homers. He won an MVP, 16 Best Nines in the outfield, but no Gold Gloves. He led his league in walks 4 times, total bases and slugging percentage three times each, and 7 times in average.

Masaichi Kaneda--ELECTED BBF HOF NOVEMBER 2005
For my major league equivalent for him, see:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...asaichi_Kaneda

For a comparison of his major league equivalent on a career basis, see:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...asaichi_Kaneda

He pitched most of his career for bad Swallows teams, yet managed to be the Japanese career leader in wins, strikeouts and innings pitched. He won awards given to the best pitchers in Japan in four different seasons (3 Best Nines and a Sawamura), and led the league in wins and ERA three times each and strikeouts 10 times.

Victor Starffin--ELECTED
My major league equivalent for this pitching star from the early days of professional ball in Japan is at:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...ictor_Starffin

For a comparison of his major league equivalent on a career basis, see:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...ictor_Starffin

He won 2 MVPs, and won the first Best Nine for a pitcher in 1940 (a MVP year), the only year in which Best Nines were given before 1947. He's fifth in career ERA. He led his league in wins 6 seasons, but that includes both the "Spring" and "Fall" seasons of 1938 and the "Fall" of 1937. He led in win percentage in two seasons, the "Fall" of 1938 being one. His one time leading the league in ERA for a season was that "Fall" 1938 season, and he led in strikeouts twice, once in his fabulous 1938 "Fall" campaign. He's tied for the most wins in a season at 42 with Inao.

Kazuhisa Inao--ELECTED
My major league equivalent for him is at:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...#Kazuhisa_Inao

For a comparison of his major league equivalent on a career basis, see:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...#Kazuhisa_Inao
He won 2 MVPs and 5 pitching Best Nines, was second in career winning percentage and third in career ERA. He led his league in wins four times, including tying Starffin for the Japanese record at 42. He led in winning percentage twice, ERA five times, and strikeouts three times.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

Here's my choices for the most similar major leaguer based on career records to my Japanese ballot choices and some comments:

Sadaharu Oh=Willie McCovey with 700 more walks in his career! They are contemporary players. ELECTED BBF HOF JULY 2005

Katsuya Nomura=Gary Carter's stats extended by 1300 more AB--and done mostly in the 1960's! Carter probably rates an edge against base stealers, but I'd think Nomura could otherwise hold his own against Carter defensively. The best catcher in all of baseball IMO in the period 1960-1968. His projection meets 61 of Bill James' HOF standards (50 is average).ELECTED BBF HOF JANUARY 2006

Shigeo Nagashima=Ron Santo like stats, but in a neutral park. Nagashima's defense is also at least as good. Played at roughly the same time as Santo. His projection meets 57 of Bill James' HOF Standards. ELECTED BBF HOF

Isao Harimoto=Paul Molitor's stats with 60 more career homers, but 10 less points of average, if Paul played left field his whole career--in the 1960's. His projection meets 58 of Bill James' HOF Standards. ELECTED BBF HOF NOVEMBER 2006

Masaichi Kaneda=Steve Carlton, but with more wins and ten years earlier. His projection meets 76 of Bill James' HOF Standards. ELECTED BBF HOF NOVEMBER 2005

Victor Starffin=Joe McGinnity. Starffin's projected record of 308-143 is much better than McGinnity's actual record of 246-142, but I wanted to go with a comparatively low strikeout deadball-era pitcher. His projection meets 68 of Bill James' HOF Standards. ELECTED BBF HOF

Kazuhisa Inao=Juan Marichal--and they played about the same time. His projection meets 67 of Bill James' HOF Standards. ELECTED BBF HOF

I did consider left hand/right hand issue and the era played, in adjusting from what I found to be the most similar guys to the projections, but certainly not style. Oh's batting style is much more like Mel Ott's than anybody else in the majors I can think of, for instance. I'm really addressing productivity issues in my most similar selections above.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

If you want a ranking of Japanese players without conversion to MLB equivalents, go here: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...lbright01.html

For other possible Japanese players who I think are worthy of Cooperstown, see:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...lbright25.html
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...lbright30.html and
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...lbright32.html

Hope you find this helpful.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

Those Japanese players in my queue not covered in posts 23 through 25 above:

Position Players

Hiromitsu Ochiai

For a short comment on his career and how I rank him among Japanese players, see here: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...romitsu_Ochiai

For his major league equivalent, please see here:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...romitsu_Ochiai

For a look at the most similar players to his major league equivalent on a career basis, see: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...romitsu_Ochiai

For a look at the most similar players to his single season best performances, see: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...32.html#Ochiai

Koji Yamamoto

For a short comment on his career and how I rank him among Japanese players, see here: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...#Koji_Yamamoto

For his major league equivalent, please see here:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...#Koji_Yamamoto

For a comparison of his career major league equivalent to top center fielders, see: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...#Koji_Yamamoto

For a look at the most similar players to his single season best performances, see: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an....html#Yamamoto

Pitchers

Akira Bessho

For a short comment on his career and how I rank him among Japanese players, see here: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...l#Akira_Bessho

For his major league equivalent, please see here:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...l#Akira_Bessho

For a look at the most similar players to his major league equivalent on a career basis, see: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...l#Akira_Bessho



Jiro Noguchi

For a short comment on his career and how I rank him among Japanese players, see here: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...l#Jiro_Noguchi

For his major league equivalent, please see here:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...l#Jiro_Noguchi

For a look at the most similar players to his major league equivalent on a career basis, see: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...l#Jiro_Noguchi

Masaaki Koyama

For a short comment on his career and how I rank him among Japanese players, see here: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...Masaaki_Koyama

For his major league equivalent, please see here:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...Masaaki_Koyama

For a look at the most similar players to his major league equivalent on a career basis, see: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...Masaaki_Koyama

Yutaka Enatsu

For a short comment on his career and how I rank him among Japanese players, see here: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...#Yutaka_Enatsu

For his major league equivalent, please see here:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...#Yutaka_Enatsu

For a look at the most similar players to his major league equivalent on a career basis, see: http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...#Yutaka_Enatsu

The longest of these comments on players might be a page long, but often they are only a paragraph.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

The next few posts are a miscellany of issues I've come across with respect to the issue of whether or not Japanese players should be inducted into Cooperstown. There's not enough in them to make a coherent article, but I want to put down my thoughts on these things somewhere.

I've seen a new variant of the "National" argument (i.e. the "National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum") which uses the mission statement. It argues that the Hall is an emblem of the culture, though it is not clear from the mission statement whether this should be American culture, baseball's culture, or the culture of American baseball.

My first point is this argument is essentially irrelevant, in that including worthy international players is in all honesty a matter of choice. The mission statement can be changed on a whim and carries no compulsive force on what the Hall will choose to do in the future. It only embodies the goals of the institution as of the last time it was altered.

Even if the mission statement carried such force, any of the three "cultures" the mission statement could reasonably be said to be talking about all have ideals which run counter to the idea of perpetuating the exclusion of Japanese players who have been limited or prevented from competing in MLB by virtue of a business decision by MLB to allow Japanese teams to tie up Japanese players. America proclaims the ideal that it is open to everyone and welcomes fair competition. The sport of baseball's ideals declare it is open to all those with the talent to compete in the game at the level in question. This is true whether we are talking about baseball as a whole or only American baseball. Perhaps these cultures do not live up to their professed ideals--but if that is true, should we blindly follow the lead of these cultures in turning our backs on their professed ideals rather than calling on them to actually live up to such ideals? I think not.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

Another interesting aspect of the argument that the Hall of Fame is the "National" Hall of Fame and Museum is that while the Hall of Fame does act as though it is limited to Major League and Negro League baseball, the museum does not. The museum regularly has exhibits on international baseball. If the Hall is truly meant only to deal with "National" baseball issues, what are those exhibits doing there?

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

There are those who have expressed a dislike for any analogies drawn between the Negro leagues and the Japanese leagues. For those folks, there is another analogy I can point to: The Baltimore Orioles of the International League of the 1920's refused to sell their players to the major leagues.

The International League of that time was one of the highest level minor leagues. Japan's leagues are about the best in the world below the Major Leagues, so there's a clear parallel there. Before Nomo went stateside, Japanese players were kept in Japan for their entire careers as the result of business decisions by the owners of Japanese teams and the major leagues. Since then, those players have the freedom to go to the majors after nine or ten years of service in the Japanese leagues under revised business decisions by the leagues in question. The Baltimore Orioles of the 1920's were kept on that team by similar business decisions. One of the Baltimore Orioles of that time was a left handed pitcher named Lefty Grove. He was a great pitcher who was held in Baltimore for several years despite demonstrating he had the talent to excel in the majors, like several Japanese standouts who were kept in Japan.

Bill James discussed what credit Grove should receive for those five years in an evalution of his greatness on page 425 of his first Historical Abstract. He wrote the following:

[W]hat Grove's "career" record doesn't show is that he was a great pitcher--and I mean a great pitcher--for five years before he reached the majors. Is Grove to be deprived of the distinction . . . [due him] because Jack Dunn [ed. the owner of the Baltimore Orioles] wanted to keep him at Baltimore? What if Jack Dunn had never [ed. emphasis in original] sold him to Philadelphia? Would he just be nothing then? Sure, Grove had to make some adjustments once he reached the major league level, but he had gone as far as he could go in the minors, and he obviously had the ability to make any adjustments that he needed. If you're comparing career length, Grove in my book has to be given some significant credit for those five years he was a great pitcher before he came to the majors

I submit the arguments James made for Grove are equally applicable to the best players in the history of Japanese baseball.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

I used to think the most important aspect of Ichiro's (or whoever is the first Japanese league player to be inducted) induction into Cooperstown would be the precedent he set. By that logic, it would be ideal if Ichiro had less than ten years' of major league service or his statistics in the majors alone were not what would generally be considered HOF quality. In such a case, it would be clear that his Japanese performance contributed to his induction.

That precedent is important, but not as vital as I once thought. His mere presence is a precedent, in that Japanese greats of the past can be compared to him. If a reasonable argument can be made that they are greater players than Ichiro, he still sets a key precedent.

However, the above only changes the nature of the precedent set by Ichiro. Really, the key is that Cooperstown needs to acknowledge that excluding Japanese players is a choice it has made and can easily change--and then for it to be sufficiently motivated to make that change. By that standard, what happens when Ichiro or that first Japanese player is inducted is far more important. If that induction gets strong Japanese press coverage and a significant attendance by Japanese visitors, followed by a regular stream of Japanese visitors, the Hall's powers that be will notice and will have plenty of motivation to take that course of action. After all, as Bill James has pointed out, the Hall is run by the Clark Foundation in part to help Cooperstown's local economy. James has further noted that one thing the Foundation has excelled in is money management. If they see a financial opportunity in inducting Japanese players, they are quite likely to pursue it.

If the idea that inducting Japanese players into Cooperstown is actually in the best interest of the Hall takes root among the powers that be in the Hall, I beleive it is inevitable that such inductions will occur. However, since such inductions are a matter of choice by the Hall, they are not likely to occur unless or until the Hall reaches that conclusion.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

I haven't laid out my position regarding Cooperstown and Japanese players in an explicit form. I will correct that oversight in this post:

1. There are three major team sports in the US and Canada which have a true international scope in baseball, basketball and hockey. Baseball is the only one which does not have a Hall of Fame which seeks to honor all of its sports greatest players.

2. It would be in baseball's best interest, given the trend toward internationalization to join hockey and basketball in having a HOF which does seek to honor all the game's greatest players, no matter what leagues they played in.

3. Cooperstown is the institution best suited to fulfilling that role for baseball.
The Japanese Hall is in Tokyo, and in that sense is more accessible than Cooperstown's location. However, the Japanese Hall has chosen a uniquely Japanese path and has already honored many players for their exploits in Japanese high school and college ball. Further, while it has done a reasonably good job of honoring Japan's greatest professional players, most of those professional players honored, while good, do not meet the standard of the greatest ever to play the game. I don't think any Hall of Fame should un-induct players. However, that position makes it very problematic to use the Japanese Hall as the Hall for all the very best baseball players. Cooperstown has its mistaken selections to be sure, but I think we can live with them. The only possible alternative to my mind would be a whole new Hall. However, it would be prohibitively expensive to rival Cooperstown's library and exhibits of memorabilia, not to mention very difficult for such a new Hall to even get to the point of being perceived as a realistic competitor.

4. It would be in the best interest of Cooperstown to accept the role of the Hall of Fame of all the greats of the game.

5. Any institution which sought to honor all of baseball's greatest players while ignoring the best Japanese players would fail miserably in its goal.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

Lefty O'Doul has been inducted into the Japanese Hall for the tours of major leaguers he arranged. Victor Starffin, a Russian who played there is in, as are two Japanese-Americans, Wally Yonamine and Tadashi Wakabayashi. There's a fifteen year wait for everybody to get in, and it's even more if you're in uniform as a coach when that time is reached. Randy Bass came within two votes last year of making it despite playing only six years there--and the circumstances of his departure from the Japanese game left some hard feelings on both sides--though I think Bass had the right to expect that the Hanshin club would keep its word--and he had to do what he could to keep his child alive and remain fiscally solvent.

Bobby Rose won't be eligible for about another decade, but he'll deserve serious consideration whern that time comes. Tuffy Rhodes is still active and will also deserve strong consideration when he's eligible. Beyond that, Americans have had limited impact primarily because few stayed even five years. The thing is, the Japanese Hall is advertised and conducts itself as a purely Japanese affair. Heck, guys who were stars only at the high school or collegiate level in Japan have been inducted. Cooperstown's own mission statement talks about a "global audience" and it likes to pretend it has all the greatest players, despite excluding Japanese players, some worthy Negro Leaguers, not to mention some of their own horrible selections.

If you intend to argue that simply because Japan's Hall doesn't honor many Americans, we shouldn't honor Japanese players, you'll be using a red herring IMO. Who cares how Japan approaches its Hall? I care about how Cooperstown does things. If Cooperstown drops the crap about a "global audience" and stops pretending that it has all the greatest players in the world in it as opposed to the greatest to play x number of years in North America, I'll stop pushing for Japanese players. However, so long as they keep acting like that and I draw breath, I will advocate what I have advocated here.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

I've covered the guys who are in the Japanese Hall of Fame and Randy Bass. Let's look at this from another perspective. Who among the foreigners, exactly, has earned inclusion in the Japanese Hall, but has been denied it after becoming eligible? Bobby Rose, Tuffy Rhodes, and Roberto Petagine haven't become eligible under the 15 year wait after they finish playing in Japan. The Japanese Hall has, by my count, inducted 70-80 professional players in Japan. If we assume that inductees should at least be close to the 80 best in Japanese baseball history who are eligible, only three other foreigners I'm aware of can come close: LeRon Lee, Boomer Wells, and Warren Cromartie. Frankly, you can make an argument for any of the three, but they're marginal by that standard--and, excluding the Japanese who served Japan in WWII, the Japanese Hall has done a fairly good job of picking the top 80 or so among the eligibles.

So you can't make any strong argument about Japanese bias against foreigners in their Hall, even if it were relevant. However, I strongly argue that what the Japanese Hall does is completely irrelevant to what Cooperstown should do.

We all know that Japanese players who have never played in the majors aren't likely to be inducted into Cooperstown any time soon. But the Negro Leaguers weren't going anywhere until people started championing their cause, either. Granted, the Japanese cause isn't quite as righteous as the Negro Leaguers, but the fact is, the decision was not for Japanese players to make--and the majors were complicit in denying them that option. To me, that plus the high level talent of the very best in Japan are sufficient reason to change the status quo.

Frankly, the hardest part in doing what I want to do is designing a well thought out approach that helps us avoid making more Highpockets Kelly-type mistakes in terms of players inducted to the Hall. But it can be done.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

The examples people give to support the argument Japanese baseball is (or was) of low quality are guys like Bass, who barely got more than 200 PA in one season to show what he could do. He didn't do so well in such a limited shot--so what? Mike Schmidt was horrible as a rookie--but the Phillies stuck with him. There are many other guys who needed time to get it going in the majors and then did quite well. Bass did well in the minors, and progressed when he was given a full shot in Japan.

Another thing they like to say is nobody (or almost nobody--think Fielder and Soriano, at least) went there and came back and succeeded--few went over as young men, and even fewer came back without being well into their 30's--and often finished as players. I don't think it means anything except that guys didn't go to Japan until they saw they weren't going anywhere in the majors. After they made the move, if they failed, they were pretty well out of the game. If they succeeded, they tended to take a few years to enjoy success--by which time they were getting too old to come back to the majors. That scenario doesn't tell us much about the quality of play in Japan.

Also, a very recent article I did looked at Bass' two NPB triple crown seasons, among others, and they were darned good years, about the same as Mattingly's 1985 and 1986. So, the raw NPB numbers are somewhat inflated. My conversion factors take that air out of the balloon. For a link to that article:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/an...lbright33.html

The Easler/Boomer Wells comparison from that article is apt here as well, as Easler is a fine example of the type of player who went to Japan and thrived. He stayed and finally got a legitimate shot in the majors--and showed his skill.

There's a big disparity in the power stats, to be sure. However, I think that if my NPB to MLB conversions work so well for hitters precisely because they accurately define the differences between the leagues. It would be great if I had good NPB park effect data because it would improve things, but if the data has been compiled, I sure as heck can't find anybody who knows where it is. That means creating that ballpark data by going back through Japanese newspapers--and I read precious little Japanese and live in the US. So I'm in no position to do that.

Jim Albright

[jalbright]

Japanese homers have risen relative to the majors despite larger Japanese parks and a major league trend toward more homer friendly parks. However, where players in Japan used to walk less in Oh's day than in the majors, they now walk more. This is probably a function of changes in pitcher usage. When a guy's pitching 400 innings in a 130 game season, he'll be better off if he can get balls in play quickly.

There's no question there's a huge difference in home run data. Even today, there's about 60% as many homers per AB in the majors as in Japan. Adjusting for the shorter Japanese season might bring the number up to 70% of NPB seasonal totals or so, but that's it. In Oh's day, it was closer to 52% of homers per AB in the majors, and might have gotten as close as 65% of actual NPB seasonal totals, as seasons then were usually 130 games, and they've been around 140 lately. So the differences in the numbers are not pronounced. Japanese players have seemingly closed the gap in HR rates to a small degree despite factors which should have increased the gap--though it's hard to quantify how much.

Jim Albright