AIR HOF project, 1st election (1936)

[jalbright]

This is the first election of the AIR (Actual Induction Rate) HOF. We're going to elect folks at the pace Cooperstown did, which means 5 players and no contributors for 1936.

This election will be open until Saturday September 22 at 7 am EST.

I'll include this information in every first post. After this, I'll display the format of the posts at the beginning of the project, though for this opening post, some won't mean much.

[jalbright]

The Rules:

1) BBF users in good standing may participate, provided they have not been banned from multiple projects in this forum. Anyone who has been told his or her votes will not count in more than one project in this forum will not have his or her vote counted unless he or she applies to the project manager for the right to vote and gets that request granted. However, if there is more than one vote being cast from any one computer or IP, it must be cleared in advance. Should there be unannounced multiple votes from the same IP, I will investigate the circumstances, and all user names involved may be barred from this project as a result, and all but one of the multiple usernames permanently banned from the site. I only anticipate exceptions for family members living in the same home, but I will entertain requests on other bases. Please note that I and the other mods who participate in the project have the capability of determining the IP from which posts come, and I for one intend to monitor same. I have had to deal with a single user manipulating a project with multiple votes, and I don't intend to repeat the experience.

2) Elections will require a eight (8) voter quorum. If we do not get ten voters and there are candidate(s) who would be elected no matter what the voters needed to make a quorum did, those candidate(s) will be inducted. Otherwise, no one will be inducted. Further, if we fail to elect a full complement of candidates for the ballot in question in two of any four consecutive elections, the portion(s) of the project failing to meet the election requirement will end. If, for instance, we're doing fine on the player end but not the contributor end, I would drop the contributor end under this rule.

3) We will start in 1936, just as Cooperstown did. Each year Cooperstown elected a player, we will vote for our top 15 players ranked #1 through 15, Points will be awarded on the basis of 21 minus the rank, so first will be worth 20 ponts, 2d 19 points and so on down to 6 pts for 15th. We will induct the same number of players the Hall did in that year. Some years, the Hall inducted no one, and those years, we will not either. If a voter does not number his selections, I will try to get him/her to do so. If they do not do so before the end of the election period, I may in my sole discretion invalidate the ballot. I have included this provision in order to ease the process of recording the votes. On another point, I know, the 1936 backlog is huge--but that was a historical issue they couldn't avoid, so neither will we.

4) We will also have a contributor ballot, and will elect as many as were inducted that year. Contributors will be ranked 1 through6, with points awarded 9-8-7-6-5-4. Voters may choose to participate in either one of the ballots or both. There will be many years without a contributor ballot, as many years no contributors were inducted.

5) It is permissible to vote for a candidate on both the contributor and player lists.

6) You are allowed to change your ballot at any time the voting is open. However, if you change your ballot, you've got to notify me (jalbright) by PM or by a new post in the voting thread, or the changes likely will not be registered.

7) Players will become eligible at the earliest of the following three criteria:
a) the year of death plus two will be used if that yields an earlier date;
b) the first missed season after the player reaches age 40; and
c) five years after the player’s career ended.
Please note that the Negro Leagues will be considered ended in 1952 for purposes of this rule.

8) Contributors become eligible at age 65 or in the year of death plus two. whichever comes first.

9) Each election will run for approximately two weeks unless expressly altered by the project manager, contributors and players done simultaneously.

10) No one is excluded from being a candidate, regardless of the league they played in, except those elected in either the contributor or player ballots. At that point, they are removed from further consideration. If there are players who returned to the Negro Leagues or Japan after going to the majors, the departure from the majors will be their career end date for purposes of this project.

11) The standard for including a player on one's ballot is that the player must in the voter's opinion be among the very best eligible players (preferably the number voted on, but if a voter wishes to support someone they feel is 18th in a 15 person ballot instead of one of the top 15, it's too close for anyone to reasonably object. On the other hand, supporting the 30th best eligible candidate on a 15 person ballot is probably beyond the pale). I reserve the power to invalidate ballots which I do not feel are a reasonably knowledgeable, good faith effort to rank the players. One issue I am quite concerned about is that I do not want to see what clearly appear to be attempts to manipulate the ballot so as to elect a candidate. In isolation, I probably could live with this, but if it became a widely used tactic, the project would devolve into something I have no desire to be associated with. Moreover, I think that this position asks everyone else to cast legitimate votes so that you can manipulate the system to favor your pet candidates. I cannot accept that, as it strikes me as unfair to other voters. For example, you can't expect to favor even a legitimate HOF candidate like Bill Dahlen over Babe Ruth to get Dahlen elected without being asked to provide a reasonable justification for ranking Dahlen over Ruth. If you can provide a reasonable justification in that scenario, the ballot will stand. If not, you will be asked to make a change. I realize voters will sometimes have idiosyncratic choices, and I try to allow for that. However, a clear flouting of a consensus is apt to be met with a request that the ballot be justified pursuant to this rule. Certainly, a reasonable justification does not indicate in essence simply that you want Dahlen elected. Furthermore, if I invalidate multiple ballots by the same individual as failing to meet this rule, that individual will forever lose the right to have his/her ballots counted. Voters are encouraged to consider character, sportsmanship, and compliance with the rules and spirit of baseball in their rankings of players.

12) I will post lists of eligible players and contributors before each election. If you have a question about the eligibility of a candidate, please ask. I will provide a list of future eligibility dates as well.

13) My eligibility lists come from all persons in the BBF HOF, BBTF Hall of Merit, and Cooperstown, plus all persons getting a vote in a BBF HOF election in the past year and a half or in a BBWAA election. This is a relatively comprehensive list, and thus I must request that if you want another candidate included, you provide some justification for why said candidate is worthy of getting a vote in this project. The main area I think this might come into play is if a voter supports a person who was eligible for the final selections from the recent pre WWII or Negro League committees but not on my master list. That fact alone would serve as ample justification for putting said candidate on the list. We may learn more about Cuban ball or what have you and thus include others after a case is made for them, however. The contributor list is undoubtedly not as comprehensive, and this fact will be taken into consideration. For players, any request for a multiple time all-star in the all-star era will be approved. Players of that quality will generally be approved without much ado. However, when a player lacks that kind of qualification, I will likely ask for you to get a second from among our voters via a post in the current election thread. When in doubt, I will also require a second for suggested contributors. If a second is forthcoming, the player will be added. If not, the request will be rejected. I want to limit requests and seconds to players or contributors you actually might vote for.

14) Other than the sportsmanship and character issues, players are to be evaluated solely upon their play. I would prefer that if a player is qualified by his play standing alone that he be elected on that basis. However, a candidate may only be elected either as a contributor or a player, but not both. Contributors are the area where the entire body of work during his career in the sport, including his play, managing, scouting, executive, writing, broadcasting or other work in the sport is relevant. Contributors are to be ranked based on who the voter thinks is most worthy of induction into the Contributor group in this project.

15) Any ballot with two (2) or more spots unfilled with eligible candidates is invalid. In the event of the listing of ineligible names, I will try to notify the voter so that he/she can correct the ballot before the end of the voting period. If the change is made timely, it will count. If not, and there are two or more invalid names, the ballot will not be considered valid. If there is only one, the ineligible name will be stricken and all names after it on the affected ballot will be moved up one spot.

16) Any players listed beyond the 15th place for any ballot will be ignored. If more than one person is listed as tied for the last available place and the ballot is oversize, all names will be dropped, which may lead to the invalidation of the ballot.

17) Ties are not permitted in ballot listings. I reserve the right to invalidate ballots for use of ties in the rankings, be it within a single ballot or over the course of several ballots. If the voter does not correct such a listing voluntarily, except in the case of an oversize ballot tie for the last eligible place, if do not invalidate the ballot, I will choose the placement of the two "tied" candidates, generally preferring the candidate preferred by the other voters.

18) For any ties between candidates straddling the in/out line of selections, the first tiebreaker is the number of candidates. If there Is still a tie for first, the next consideration is the ranking of the candidates by the ballots cast. If there are more than two candidates tied, use a 2-1-0 or whatever is appropriate for the number of players tied system. If a voter does not list a candidate, he receives zero points in the tiebreaker procedure. Once one person separates from the tied group, restart with the remaining candidates until there are only as many candidates as the rules call for being elected. If it is still tied after that, those with the most #1 votes as the next step, then the most #2 votes and so on to see if that breaks the tie. If not, we will induct all candidates who remain tied at that point.

19) One thing we're going to have to be aware of is the timeline in the case of at least a few contributors. Two which jump out at me are Buck O'Neill, 1976, and Branch Rickey, 1946. I intend to eventually vote for both men, but in 1946, Jackie Robinson was still in Montreal. Really, Branch should wait until at least 1947 after Jackie's success in the majors to get credit for that move. If you think Rickey belongs in the top 5 in 1946 without his role in breaking the color line, that's fine--but he shouldn't get credit for that important success until it actually happened. Buck O'Neill did some important things up until 1976, but after that he was in Ken Burns' Baseball and he was instrumental in the establishment of the Negro Leagues Hall of Fame (both occurred in or around 1994). If you think he belongs based on accomplishments before those two things, that's perfectly acceptable, but please don't credit him with them before they actually happened.

[jalbright]

The 1936 class has no contributors, since none were elected. The player list is large:

For at least this election, I've bolded names who made one of the following "Halls": Cooperstown, BOB, BBF HOF, Progressive project, the Single Ballot HOF and the BBTF Hall of Merit:

Adams Babe
Adams Sparky
Alexander Pete
Altrock Nick
Anson Cap
Archer Jimmy
Austin Jimmy
Baker Frank
Bancroft Dave
Barnes Ross
Barry Jack
Battin Joe
Beaumont Ginger
Beckley Jake
Bender Chief
Bennett Charlie
Bergen Marty
Bigbee Carson
Bodie Ping
Bond Tommy
Bradley Bill
Breitenstein Ted
Bresnahan Roger
Brouthers Dan
Brown Mordecai
Browning Pete
Burkett Jesse
Burns George
Bush Donie
Bush Joe
Cadore Leon
Camnitz Howie
Carey Max
Carrigan Bill
Caruthers Bob
Chance Frank
Chapman Ray
Chase Hal
Chesbro Jack
Childs Cupid
Cicotte Eddie
Clarke Fred
Clarkson John
Coakley Andy
Cobb Ty
Collins Eddie
Collins Jimmy
Collins Shano
Connor Roger
Conroy Wid
Coombs Jack
Cooper Wilbur
Coveleski Stan
Crandall Doc
Cravath Gavvy
Crawford Sam
Creighton Jim
Criger Lou
Cross Lave
Cruise Walt
Cummings Candy
Dahlen Bill
Daubert Jake
Davis George
Davis Harry
Delahanty Ed
Dinneen Bill
Doak Bill
Donlin Mike
Donovan Bill
Dooin Red
Doyle Jack
Doyle Larry
Duffy Hugh
Dugan Joe
Dunlap Fred
Ehmke Howard
Elberfeld Kid
Ens Jewel
Evers Johnny
Ewing Buck
Faber Red
Falkenberg Cy
Fletcher Art
Flick Elmer
Foster Eddie
Foster Rube
Fraser Chick
Galvin Pud
Glasscock Jack
Gleason Kid
Gonzalez Mike
Gore George
Gowdy Hank
Grant Eddie
Grant Frank
Griffith Clark
Grimes Burleigh
Groh Heinie
Hahn Noodles
Hamilton Billy
Hargrave Bubbles
Harris Bucky
Heilmann Harry
Herzog Buck
Hill Pete
Hinchman Bill
Hines Paul
Hooper Harry
Hoy Dummy
Huggins Miller
Irwin Charlie
Jackson Joe
Jennings Hughie
Johnson Home Run
Johnson Walter
Jones Charley
Jones Fielder
Jones Sam P.
Jordan Tim
Joss Addie
Judge Joe
Keefe Tim
Keeler Willie
Kelley Joe
Kelly King
Kerr Dickie
Killefer Bill
Kilroy Matt
Kling Johnny
Knabe Otto
Kremer Ray
LaJoie Nap
Lange Bill
Larkin Henry
Latham Arlie
Leach Tommy
Leever Sam
Lewis Duffy
Lloyd Pop
Lobert Hans
Long Herman
Lowe Bobby
Luque Dolf
Lyons Denny
Magee Sherry
Maranville Rabbit
Marquard Rube
Mathews Bobby
Mathewson Christy
Mays Carl
McAleer Jimmy
McCarthy Tommy
McCormick Jim
McGinnity Joe
McGowan Bill
McGraw John
McInnis Stuffy
McLean Larry
McPhee Bid
McVey Cal
Meadows Lee
Mendez Jose
Meusel Bob
Milan Clyde
Miller Dots
Miller Hack
Moore Dobie
Moran Pat
Mostil Johnny
Mullane Tony
Murphy Danny
Murray Red
Nehf Art
Nichols Kid
Oeschger Joe
O'Leary Charlie
O'Neill Tip
O'Neill Steve
O'Rourke Jim
Orr Dave
Pabor Charlie
Paskert Dode
Pearce Dickey
Peckinpaugh Roger
Peitz Heinie
Pennock Herb
Perdue Hub
Phillippe Deacon
Pike Lip
Pipp Wally
Plank Eddie
Poles Spotswood
Quinn Jack
Radbourn Charlie
Raymond Bugs
Remsen Jack
Rice Sam
Richardson Hardy
Ring Jimmy
Ritchey Claude
Rixey Eppa
Robertson Dave
Roush Edd
Rucker Nap
Rudolph Dick
Rusie Amos
Ryan Jimmy
Santop Louis
Schacht Al
Schaefer Germany
Schalk Ray
Schang Wally
Schreckengost Ossie
Schulte Frank
Scott Everett
Scott Jack
Severeid Hank
Seymour Cy
Sheckard Jimmy
Shocker Urban
Sisler George
Smith Earl
Smith Sherry
Sparks Tully
Speaker Tris
Stahl Jake
Start Joe
Steinfeldt Harry
Stovey Harry
Street Gabby
Sutton Ezra
Sweeney Bill
Tannehill Jesse
Tenney Fred
Thomas Ira
Thompson Sam
Tiernan Mike
Tinker Joe
Toney Fred
Torriente Cristobal
Turner Terry
Van Haltren George
Vance Dazzy
Veach Bobby
Waddell Rube
Wagner Honus
Wallace Bobby
Walsh Ed
Wambsganss Bill
Ward John M.
Warfield Frank
Welch Mickey
Wheat Zack
White Deacon
White Sol
White Will
Williams Cy
Williams Ken
Williams Smoky Joe
Williamson Ned
Willis Vic
Witt Whitey
Wood Joe
Wright George
Yerkes Steve
Young Cy
Youngs Ross
Zimmer Chief

[jalbright]

This post would be where I'd post the previous election results, but obviously, we don't have any such results.

[jalbright]

Here is where I'd post the alphabetical list of those already inducted, but we don't have any yet.

[jalbright]

Here is where I'd post the year by year list of inductions, but again we don't have any yet.

[jalbright]

Here's where I'll list the candidates eligible for this election. I won't bother here since it's a duplicate of the new eligibles.

[jalbright]

My ballot

Players
1. Ty Cobb
2. Honus Wagner
3. Walter Johnson
4. Tris Speaker
5. Eddie Collins
6. Cy Young
7. Smoky Joe Williams
8. Nap Lajoie
9. Kid Nichols
10. Pete Alexander
11. Pop Lloyd
12. Roger Connor
13. Dan Brouthers
14. Cap Anson
15. Christy Mathewson

[jalbright]

At about the one week mark, I'll post the guys who will become eligible for the next election (like Babe Ruth for 1937).

[chicagowhitesox1173]

My ballot

Players
1. Ty Cobb
2. Honus Wagner
3. Walter Johnson
4. Tris Speaker
5. Eddie Collins
6. Cy Young
7. Smoky Joe Williams
8. Nap Lajoie
9. Kid Nichols
10. Pete Alexander
11. Pop Lloyd
12. Roger Connor
13. Dan Brouthers
14. Cap Anson
15. Christy Mathewson

I thought Negro League players couldn't be elected until after 1952.

[jalbright]

Nope. The note about that is for those who played in the Negro Leagues after 1952 and not in the majors. Basically, my sense is that by that time, the leagues rarely had enough of a concentration of top talent to push off the end of their careers. I'm no fan of making Negro Leaguers experience a delay beyond what other players experience in the projects I run. I'm glad you pointed this out so I can try to remove any confusion.

[jjpm74]

To help quell down the list, maybe you could boldface who is in the HOF, who is in the BBFHOF, and maybe who is in the HOM and Progressive HOF? Another way to go would be to just list candidates who have been elected to one of those halls (at least for the players through 2000) as it's very unlikely that anyone not in one of those halls would get serious consideration here. I'd like to participate, but that initial list is prohibitively long, IMO.

[jalbright]

I can bold those names in this election, but I'm not sure I'll continue it after this election. The lists of new candidates won't be as large after this, though a few years may be fairly large when the Hall elected no one for a time. I'll probably bold similar lists for the 1937 contributors. I will say that posting prior results will help in this regard in future elections.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

1.) Ty Cobb
2.) Walter Johnson
3.) Honus Wagner
4.) Cy Young
5.) Tris Speaker
6.) Pete Alexander
7.) Eddie Collins
8.) Nap Lajoie
9.) Pops Lloyd
10.) Christy Mathewson
11.) Cap Anson
12.) Kid Nichols
13.) Harry Heilmann
14.) Dan Brouthers
15.) Smokey Joe Williams

[jjpm74]

1. Honus Wagner
2. Ty Cobb
3. Walter Johnson
4. Eddie Collins
5. Cy Young
6. Smokey Joe Williams
7. King Kelly
8. Pop Lloyd
9. Nap Lajoie
10. Christy Mathewson
11. Jim O'Rourke
12. Dan Brouthers
13. George Sisler
14. Zach Wheat
15. Cap Anson