1982 Hall of Fame Ballot

[leecemark]

--CKL owners please cast your ballot here for the players you endorse for our Hall of Fame. 75% support required for induction. The voting will close midnight EST on Friday, October 26.
--Two new candidates debut this season; Sal Bando the 3rd team 3B on the 70s All Decade team and Bobby Bonds the 3rd team RFer.
--Three holdovers return; Dick McAuliffe the 1st team 2B from the 60s All Decade team, Norm Cash the 2nd team 1B and Jimmy Wynn the 2nd team CF from that team.
--You may also write-in a candidate. Select the Other option and make a nominating post for the player you'd like to see considered. Anyone who gets 2 votes will be on next year's ballot.

[leecemark]

--Sal Bando was the first selection in the 1966 Rookie Draft. He debuted for he Knights in 1968 and was their everyday 3B for the next 4 years, each of which the team advanced to the playoffs. He had a breakout year in 1969, batting 295/395/533 with 37 HR and 123 RBI. Bando made his first All Star game and finished 4th in the MVP race that year. He signed a free agent deal with the Wranglers in 1972 and spent 3 years with them. He had a 2nd All Star season and an 8th place MVP finish in 1973. He had his third and final All Star appearance and a 7th place MVP finish for the Spikes in 1976.

[leecemark]

--Bobby Bonds was the 2nd overall pick in the 1968 draft. He debuted with the Knights that same year (ironically rookie teammates with Bando). He spent 4 years with the Knights, before assuming the same sort of nomadic career he had in real life - playing for 7 teams over the following 10 years.
--They were mostly good years. Bonds hit 30 HR seven times with 4 of those being 30 seasons. He was 6 SB short of being a 300/300 man. Bonds made 3 All Star teams and twice received MVP support, albeit 9th place finishes both times.

[leecemark]

--Dick McAuliffe is second in almost every category on the Knights leaderboards and helped them to 13 playoff appearances in his 14 seasons. He was runnerup in the MVP voting in 67 and had one other top 10 finish. You can make a pretty good argument he is the best retired middle IFer in CKL history. Here is how he compares to 1980 inductee Maury Wills;

McAuliffe 274/360/439 145 Hr 710 RBI 821 runs
Wills 292/352/356 44 HR 518 RBI 1006 runs

--McAuliffe was pretty clearly the better hitter and had a much higher peak. He was also a very good defensive SS, while McAuliffe was a below average SS turned above average 2B. I've supported McAuliffe since he hit the ballot.

[leecemark]

--Norm Cash is the #2 man in games played at 1B, about 300 behind McCovey. He won 3 rings to MCovey's four and was the number 2 man (behind Frank Robinson) of the great Hard Cider dynasty.

McCovey 270/371/500 443 HR, 1456 RBI, 1351 runs
Cash 288/374/487 310 HR, 1195 RBI, 1088 runs

[leecemark]

One thing you might want to look for Wynn is his MVP points ranking. He's in the top 20 all time and everyone ahead of him is a HOFer or a likely future HOFer with the possible exception of Fred Lynn (who seems to be building a strong case of his own). Wynn never won the award, but he appeared among the top vote getters several times and is probably the third best CFer in the history of the league (behind Mays and Mantle).

He won two rings ('73 and '75 Spikes), and was the centerpiece of several other fine teams: '65 Cannons (90 wins and a WC slot), '68 Gold Sox (103 wins and the Robinson pennant winner), '69 Hard Cider (114 wins and Cartwright division winner), '72 Gamblers (99 wins and a WC spot), and '74 Spikes (101 wins and Chadwick division winner). So if championships and winning teams give any extra credit, Wynn definately qualifies. His teams won two Classic rings, 3 pennants, 5 division titles, and 3 more WC slots and usually he was one of the leading players, if not THE leading player, on those clubs

[rmadachik]

any chance we can give Bob Gibson a re-look on this ballot. I would be willing to write him back on to my ballot if that means he has a chance of being re-considered

[leecemark]

--We don't have a VC so I guess a guy could make it back on the ballot with a couple supporters.

[rmadachik]

--We don't have a VC so I guess a guy could make it back on the ballot with a couple supporters.

I would like to oficially throw my support in for Bob Gibson to be included on this years ballot

[leecemark]

--Well he would be a write in this year, but if another owner joins you in supporting him he would be on next year's ballot (assuming he didn't get to 75% as a write-in.

[Windy City Fan]

I'll join in the write in campaign for Gibson. I backed him when he was still on the ballot.

[Windy City Fan]

I'm iffy on Bando. It would be nice to see how he stacks up among other 3B. Santo is our HOF standard guy and Brett, Schimdt, Evans, and B. Bell have all had about a decade or so at the hot corner to make them a fair comparison to Bando.

MacAuliffe is a guy I'm tempted to reconsider. His lack of playing time is the biggest hurdle for me. Anyone want to make an argument for him?

I'm sold on Cash, Wynn, and will be casting a write in vote for Gibson to get him back on the ballot.

[leecemark]

--McAuliffe was kind of blocked by a talent surplus on the Knights early in his career. He spent his first five seasons splitting time with Leo Cardenas at SS. McAuliffe was the better hitter, but Cardenas was the better defender (and a decent hitter for a 60s SS). He got some playing time at 3B, but they had Eddie Mathews from 61-63 and Ken Boyer in 64 (his real life MVP season). He might have played 2B, but he had no real life playing time there and the Knights had a pretty good real 2B in Junior Gilliam. When he finally claimed an everyday job he was one of the best players in the CKL for the 2nd half of the 60s. He missed half the 69 season with a knee injury and went back to sharing time for the remainder of his career. He isn't exactly a slam dunk choice but he is 2nd to Willie Mays in almost every team leadership for a Knights team thats made the playoffs 20 of 21 seasons (13 of McAuliffe's 14 years).

[Windy City Fan]

CAn we see the CKL careers of the other 3B I mentioned? It would help put Bando in perspective I think.

As for McAuliffe, he did miss some potential playing time early on due to the log jam of talent on the Knights. I'm starting to look at him a little more favorably, but I know his accomplishments have been suprassed by current 2B like Carew, Grich, and Morgan. Still being a key cog on those Knights teams is a big point in his favor I think.

[catcher24]

Here is a career line for each of the five, with Santo included for comparison.

thirdbasemen.JPG