The 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame Election, Part 3. Early Baseball Era Candidates #6 through 10

The only guarantee for failure is to stop trying. John C. Maxwell

December 1, 2021

In this post, I continue my analysis of the 10 men eligible to be elected by the Hall of Fame’s Early Baseball Era Committe for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022 by profiling the second five players [#6-10].

6) Victor “Vic” Harris [LF], b. 1905 [1922-1947], OPS+ 114 [SH]

Vic Harris is an interesting choice by the Committee that chose the potential candidates active before 1950 for the Early Baseball Committee. A very good outfielder in the Negro Leagues, Vic Harris forged a long career in the Negro Leagues as a player. If he had not been a victim of discrimination, Vic Harris would have probably been in the Major Leagues by 1926 and a regular shortly thereafter. Harris, a temperamental but extremely competitive man, would have almost certainly been a favorite of his Major League managers. Harris would have probably lasted as a regular until 1939 or 1940. At that point, his fading skills would have made him replaceable by younger and better players. Like many Major League players of that time, Vic Harris may have added on to his career by playing during the World War 2 years from 1942-1945 while the Major Leagues were decimated by the draft.

[Note on analyzing the Seamheads’ Negro League statistics: it is my belief that the quality of the Major Negro Leagues fluctuated between the quality of the highest classification of the Minor Leagues and the Major Leagues itself. The quality of the Negro Leagues was roughly equal to the highest Minor League classification when the Leagues began in the 1920s and then rose steadily. In the early 1930s, it is quite possible that the Negro Leagues were equal or close to equal to the caliber of the Major Leagues. In 1937, because of the founding of the Negro American League and sustained player raids by Latin American teams, the quality once again went down to highest Minor League classification standards. With this in mind, Negro League statistics need to sometimes be reduced by up to 90 percent, sometimes 95 percent, and sometimes not at all. To use the career of Vic Harris as an example: Harris becomes viable as a major league player 1923 when his Negro League OPS+ went past 100. His years playing in the 1930s are against better competition than in the 1920s and must be adjusted upwards. In the late 1930s, his OPS+ slips back below 100 and his career as a Major League regular would have come to an end. Player shortages during World War 2 could have possibly prolonged his career.]

But a careful analysis of career indicates that, if he had played in the Majors, it is very unlikely that Vic Harris would have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame simply as a player. Harris was a good hitter but not an outstanding one. He does not elevate his status by being a defensive wizard either. Vic Harris spent his career basically as a left fielder, the least important defensively of the three outfield positions. Not only are there many White outfielders of this era with better qualifications, Vic Harris does not measure up to some of his Black contemporaries such as Fats Jenkins, Clint Thomas, Neil Robinson or Herbert “Rap” Dixon as an potential Hall of Famer as an outfielder. All four of these Negro League outfielders are far more deserving of the Hall of Fame than Harris simply for their playing careers. But, like George Scales below, Vic Harris is a combination candidate. Harris had a long and successful career as a field manager.

Vic Harris managed the Homestead Grays from 1936 to 1942 and then again from 1945 to 1948. The Grays dominated the Negro National League [NNL] from 1937 to 1945, finishing first or winning the pennant every year while also winning the Negro World Series multiple times. The Grays then capped off this incredible run by winning both the 1948 pennant and the Negro World Series one final time during the last season of the NNL. It does seem like the field manager of such a formidable Baseball dynasty deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. And this, rather than his playing career (or perhaps in combination with his playing career), is the true basis for Harris’ candidacy for admittance to the Baseball Hall of Fame. So the actual question of Vic Harris’ Hall of Fame candidacy should perhaps be: “Is the combination of both his playing career and his managerial career enough to justify his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame?”

One could argue that the true “manager” and architect of the Homestead Grays dynasty that lasted from 1937 to 1945 teams was Cumberland “Cum” Posey, the team owner. Posey, of course, has already been inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame for this role. Posey had actually been the team’s field manager in 1935 but turned the title over to Harris. And this becomes the crux of the issue. Due to the free flowing nature of the Negro Leagues, field managers in these Leagues did not exactly have the same job responsibilities as their Major League counterparts. What exactly were Harris’ duties as a field manager? How much credit should he get for how great the team was at that time? Or did Harris simply do the menial stuff that Cum Posey did not want to waste his time doing? Interestingly, Harris took a war time job for the 1943 and 1944 seasons and the Grays did not miss a beat. One thing that cannot be disputed is that Cum Posey was definitely the man in charge. Was Vic Harris a great field manager or just Posey’s factotum? It is hard to tell.

After Cum Posey’s 1946 death, Vic Harris did lead the Homestead Grays to one last pennant in 1948. And under his leadership, the Grays won the last Negro World Series in the final season of the NNL. However, one could easily argue that the credit for this last victorious season actually goes to Seward Posey and Rufus Jackson, the two men who ran the Homestead Grays after Cum Posey passed away. In the last year of a dying league, they spent the money for one last shot at glory. But Harris was still there and that should certainly count for something. You cannot simply take away all of the credit. And it is a truism that a bad manager can do much more to wreck a situation than a good manager can do to improve it. But until a better understanding of exactly how much credit is apportioned to Vic Harris for his managerial talents, I cannot advocate his election to the Hall of Fame.

7) George “Tubby” Scales [2B-3B], b. 1900 [1921-1946], OPS+ 141 [SH]

The last of the seven Negro League players on this list. George Scales is yet another combination candidate like Vic Harris. George Scales played in the Negro Leagues for well over 20 years; and was also, later in his career, a very well regarded manager. But, unlike Harris, George Scales does not need the extra credit of being a good (or great) manager to make his Hall of Fame case complete. In the field, he played every position but catcher during his career. However, Scales’ appearances in the outfield and especially as a pitcher were minimal. He was was basically an infielder. He played mostly 2B and 3B but also some SS and 1B. His career path around the infield was somewhat odd. Beginning at 3B [1921-23], Scales then played 2B [1924] before shifting over to primarily SS [1926-28]. He returned to 2B [1929-32] before returning to 3B [1933-41]. From 1942 on, he played primarily 1B. Scales’ fielding statistics are actually better at 2B and SS rather than 3B. This would seem to indicate that his strength in the field was range rather than his arm. But it was with his bat that George Scales would truly make his mark.

If he had been allowed to play in the Major Leagues, George Scales would have had an extremely long career. He would have probably made his first appearance in the Majors in 1923. George Scales would have quickly become a regular and stayed a regular until 1940. He would have probably also had an extended World War 2 coda to his career with his last significant playing time in 1943 and perhaps even limited appearances in 1944 and 1945. His career plateau OPS+ in the Major Leagues would have probably been from 140 to 150. Depending on his home park, he would have averaged .350-.375 with 20-25 home runs during his absolute peak seasons. Because he would have played for 20 years in the Majors, there is a good chance that his career hits total would have approached or exceeded 3000. The sheer length of George Scales’ career would have provided him with the counting stats that would have made his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame inevitable.

It is interesting to compare Scales to his Major League contemporaries at 2B [Rogers Hornsby, Frankie Frisch, and Tony Lazzeri] and 3B [Pie Traynor, Fred Lindstrom, and Jimmy Dykes]. Scales does not really compare to Hornsby at all [the comp for Hornsby would be John Beckwith]. His career path was very similar to that of Frankie Frisch or Jimmy Dykes. But he was obviously a much greater player than Dykes. During their peak years, Tony Lazzeri and Freddie Lindstrom were comparable to Scales as hitters. But Scales’ career and peak were much longer than theirs. George Scales was a much greater hitter than Pie Traynor, though probably not his match as a third baseman. In value, the best comparison for George Scales is surely Frankie Frisch. Frisch was almost surely faster and a better fielder, but Scales was a greater and more powerful hitter. It seems clear that, after Rogers Hornsby, the contest for the best 2B of that time period would be between Frankie Frisch or George Scales.

Of course, this says nothing about his managerial career. George Scales was a well regarded field manager for mostly the New York Black Yankees and the Baltimore Elite Giants at various times from 1932 to 1947. He also managed in the Puerto Rican Winter League for 12 seasons, finishing first a reported 6 times. After the 1958 winter season, George Scales retired from baseball and became a stockbroker until he passed away in 1976. Interestingly, one other player that George Scales somewhat resembles is Jackie Robinson. Robinson also played all over the field and was a smart and mobile player. Later on in his playing career, Robinson also had trouble keeping the weight off although he fortunately never picked up a disparaging nickname like ‘Tubby’ as Scales did. If George Scales had been allowed to play in the Major Leagues without discrimination, he would have long since been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. For that very reason, I advocate his election to the Hall of Fame now.

8) Allie Reynolds [P], b. 1917 [1942-1954], ERA+ 109, WAR 25.7 [BR]

Allie Reynolds is somewhat of an oddity on this list. Unlike the first seven Negro League candidates, Reynolds played in the Major Leagues. His career straddles the 1950 cut-off for the Early Baseball Era Committee (Reynolds actually had his best seasons in the 1950s). Allie Reynolds, unlike the Negro Leagues candidates, has had an enormously long time to be considered by various electorates for induction into the Hall of Fame. Despite this, Reynolds has never been seriously considered. Probably his best qualification for the Hall of Fame is his impeccable won-lost record of 182 wins against only 107 losses. Normally, this would be the sign of a great pitcher. But, in this case, the record also reflects the quality of the two teams that Reynolds played for: the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees. Both of these teams were well run and very successful while employing Reynolds to pitch.

Other than his winning percentage, Allie Reynolds does not have any of the other earmarks of a Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher. Strangely, Reynolds does not even have the argument that many of his contemporaries do (that their careers were impacted negatively by the Second World War). The war actually allowed Reynolds to reach the Major Leagues and begin his career earlier than his talent dictated. Reynolds, outside of his one great season in 1952, was usually a barely-above-average innings-eater with command issues. Of course, there is great value to a team from a pitcher who can give it bulk innings of above average production. But it does not end up fashioning a Baseball Hall of Fame career. Allie Reynolds’ 25.7 wins above replacement from Baseball Reference does not even place him among the 1000 greatest players of all time. For this reason, I cannot advocate his election to the Hall of Fame.

9) William “Bill” Dahlen [SS], b. 1870 [1891-1911, OPS+ 110, WAR 75.2 [BR]

William “Bad Bill” Dahlen has basically two good arguments supporting his possible election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The first argument is simply Dahlen’s contemporary George Davis. In 1998, Davis, who had played from 1890 to 1909 was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Davis, who had been basically forgotten by the tides of baseball history, owed his late induction to modern baseball analysis. This analysis had concluded that George Davis was the greatest player in the history of the Major Leagues who was not already in the Hall. In fact, this analysis showed that he was significantly better qualified than the average Major League Hall of Famer. Thus began a campaign to get him elected. And Davis got in. His election then kickstarted the case for Bill Dahlen to also get elected. Davis and Dahlen are directly comparable. Both played great shortstop and were very good hitters for a very long time. Both had been equally forgotten. Although it is pretty clear that Davis was better than Dahlen, his advantage is slight. Dahlen, like Davis, is also pretty clearly significantly over-qualified statistically. In other words, the first argument to put Dahlen into the Hall is simply: “If Davis is in, why not Dahlen too?”

The second good argument for Bill Dahlen being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame is closely related to the first argument. Once George Davis was elected, Bill Dahlen became, by modern baseball analysis, the best player still on the board, waiting to get into the Hall. But there is a caveat. Dahlen is the best ‘player’ unelected but there is actually a pitcher even more qualified. By Baseball Reference’s WAR stat [wins above replacement], Jim McCormick, who pitched from 1878 to 1887 [won-loss record of 265-214], is tied for the 73rd greatest career in Major League history [WAR of 76.2]. All 72 players above him (and Bobby Wallace who he is tied with) are already in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Bill Dahlen is second on this list of unelected players, all alone as the 79th best player of all time with 75.2 WAR [George Davis, for reference, is #53 with 84.5 WAR]. Considering that the Baseball Hall of Fame currently has 333 members with 235 elected from the Major Leagues, Jim McCormick and Bill Dahlen would both seem to be over-qualified. Of course, this is a completely dry statistical analysis. But it is the core of Dahlen’s second good argument for election and induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

One of the oddest things about the possible election of Bill Dahlen to the Hall of Fame is that he is not actually famous. For all intents and purposes, Dahlen has been pretty much forgotten by all but the baseball statistics aficionados. Interestingly, one of the arguments often used to try to promote the election of some players is that they are famous (Roger Maris and Maury Wills are two examples currently on the 2022 Ballot). Especially if their statistics fall a little short. Should not this argument be applicable in reverse? Dahlen’s statistics do not fall short. He is fully qualified. But Bill Dahlen is basically forgotten and not famous at all. This seems an injustice. An injustice that could be partially righted by simply inducting Dahlen into the Baseball Hall of Fame. For this somewhat convoluted reason, I advocate his election to the Hall of Fame.

10) Frank “Lefty” O’Doul [LF-P], b. 1897 [1919-1934], 143 OPS+, WAR 27.1 [BR]

The last man on this list has quite a bit in common with the first man on this list [#1 Buck O’Neil]. Other than just the initial ‘O’ in their last name, both men were a type of Baseball Renaissance Man. Frank “Lefty” O’Doul is a candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame as a player, manager, executive, and promoter. As a player, Lefty O’Doul was a fantastic hitter but not much of a fielder. As a hitter, he was very clearly Hall of Fame caliber but his career path took some detours that blocked his road to immortality. As a manager and executive, he won over 2000 games primarily for the San Francisco club of the Pacific Coast League; but, at that time, the city of San Francisco was not yet a Major League town. As a promoter, O’Doul was involved in the formation of the Japanese Baseball Leagues and then their rejuvenation after the Second World War. He was inducted into the Japanese Hall of Fame for his efforts. It can certainly be argued that Lefty O’Doul is not qualified for the Baseball Hall of Fame under any one of these categories. But O’Doul’s combination of qualifications for the Baseball Hall of Fame is actually pretty compelling.

To say that Lefty O’Doul had a somewhat odd career would be understating it. In 1917, O’Doul began his career as a pitcher for the San Francisco Seals (his hometown team). From 1917 to 1923, his primary position would be pitcher. For the season of 1919, he was drafted by the New York Yankees. Oddly, the Yankees kept O’Doul on their pitching staff for the next two years [1919 and 1920] principally as a batting practice pitcher. In 1921, the Yanks returned the now 24 year old O’Doul to San Francisco. Lefty proceeded to go 25-9 as a pitcher while also batting .338 and slugging .529 [in just 136 at bats] for the Seals. Strangely, this did not kickstart his career. In 1922, Lefty O’Doul went back to the New York Yankees to pitch some more batting practice. In 1923, the sore-armed O’Doul finished his pitching career with the Boston Red Sox. At a career crossroads, O’Doul converted to the outfield and returned to the Pacific Coast League with the Salt Lake City team for 1924. At the age of 27, O’Doul clouted .392 for the Utah team. From 1924 to 1927, O’Doul would pound Pacific Coast League pitching. In retrospect, it seems obvious that he should have converted from pitcher to slugger quite a bit earlier.

In 1927, Lefty O’Doul won the inaugaral Most Valuable Player [MVP] award of the Pacific Coast League. He slugged 33 home runs while batting .378 for the 1927 season. In 1928, now 31 years old, O’Doul rejoined the Major League as a hitter. Despite injuries, he hit .319 his first year. Then in 1928, he slugged 32 home runs and won the National League batting championship with a .398 average. He won a second batting championship in 1932 with a .368 average. A slow start in 1933 cost O’Doul his position as a starter but he could still hit. Playing part-time in 1934, Lefty averaged .316 and slugged a robust .525 for the year. In 1935, Lefty O’Doul returned to the Pacific Coast League [PCL] as a manager and part-time player. O’Doul would manage in the PCL until 1957. In his aborted seven year career [1928-1934] as a Major league slugger, Lefty O’Doul pretty much demonstrated that, if he had just started a little earlier, he would already be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Considering the bizarre glut of non-qualified 1920s and 1930s players thrown into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee during the 1960s and 1970s, his election as part of this crew would have been inevitable.

Does the fact that Lefty O’Doul was a Baseball Hall of Fame caliber hitter who just did not play long enough in the Major Leagues due to factors out of his control matter? Does the fact that, with just a little better luck, Lefty O’Doul would already be in the Hall of Fame carry any weight? Does the fact that he could be given some extra credit for promoting, or at least encouraging, the cross cultural connections between the White and Japanese Major Leagues count? Does his long and very successful career as a minor league manager, mostly in a future Major League city, add to his Hall of Fame case? It seems to me that this total package of accomplishments is worthy of election. For that reason, I do advocate the election of Lefty O’Doul to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

However, my advocacy for the election of Frank “Lefty” O’Doul to the Baseball Hall of Fame comes with the caveat that it should probably come (just like the election of John “Buck” O’Neil) under some other category than player, pioneer, executive, manager or umpire.

NEXT:

A quick round-up of the players on the Golden Age Era ballot before the election announcement tomorrow.

The 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame Election, Part 2 Early Baseball Era Candidates 1-5

The Greater the Obstacle, the more Glory in Overcoming it. Moliere

November 25, 2021

For 2022, there are 10 men eligible to be elected by the Hall of Fame’s Early Baseball Era Committe. These Committee members will cast their ballots on December 5, 2021; and the results will be announced that night. These new members, if any, will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 24th of 2022 in Cooperstown, New York.

The candidacies of the 7 Negro League related players will be examined first with the 3 White Major League players eligible evaluated last. The 10 players are scrutinized in this sequence to acknowledge that the Negro Leaguers have had far fewer opportunites for induction than their White peers. The players themselves will be listed in the following order:

• The Favorite: John “Buck” O’Neil
• The Most Qualified: Grant “Home Run” Johnson and Dick Redding
• The Wild Cards: John Donaldson and John “Bud” Fowler
• The Managers: Victor “Vic” Harris and George Scales
• The Oddity: Allie Reynolds
• The Leftovers: William “Bill” Dahlen and Frank “Lefty” O’Doul

In this post, I will examine the credentials of the first 5 of these 10 select men; and pass judgment on whether I would: 1) advocate for their election [a YES vote]; 2) not advocate for their election but am not against it either [a MAYBE vote]; or 3) oppose their election [a NO vote]. In my next post, I will examine candidates 6 through 10.

After each candidate’s name will be the following information: 2) His primary fielding position; 2) Year born; 3) First and last full year of their Black or White Major League career; and 4) His career OPS+ and/or ERA+ stat. Also, if they played in the White Major Leagues, their WAR [Wins Above Replacement stat] will be listed last. All statistics are from the website baseballreference.com [BR] for the White Major Leagues and/or the website seamheads.com [SH] from their Negro League database* for those players who toiled behind the Color Line.

*Seamheads’ Negro Leagues Statistical database current to 11/19/2021.

1) John “Buck” O’Neil [1B], b. 1911 [Career 1937-1948], 104 OPS+ [SH]

Buck O’Neil has to the absolute favorite of the 10 Candidates who are being considered by the Early Baseball Era Committee for induction in 2022. The last time that the Hall of Fame inducted anyone from the Negro Leagues was 2006. In that induction, seventeen members of the Negro Leagues went into the Hall of Fame all at once. Reportedly, Buck O’Neil missed election with the class of 2006 by a single vote. To his credit, O’Neil did not shed a tear of pity for himself. On July 29, 2006, he gave the induction speech for all the Negro Leaguers who did make it that year. Buck O’Neil passed away shortly after on October 6, 2006. All of this has led to a distinct feeling that a miscarriage of justice was done when his election was denied. A betting man would have to put his money down on Buck O’Neil to be elected in 2022.

That being said: Buck O’Neil does not deserve induction for his playing career. His career as a first baseman in the Negro Major Leagues has some superficial similarities to the career of Mickey Vernon in the White Majors. Even so, it is pretty obvious that O’Neil was not as good as Vernon. No one is clamoring to put Mickey Vernon into the Hall of Fame. But then there is the rest of O’Neil’s resume. Buck managed the Kansas City Monarchs to multiple pennants from 1948 to 1955. Starting in 1956, he was a Major League scout for the Chicago Cubs and then the Kansas City Royals. In 1962, Buck O’Neil was the very first African American coach in the Major Leagues. For years, Buck was one of the strongest and best voices keeping the memory of the Negro Leagues alive. In 1981, he joined the Veterans Committee of the Hall of Fame. In 1990, Buck O’Neil was one of the founders of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The pinnacle of O’Neil’s long life was probably the previously mentioned 2006 election of 17 members of the Negro Leagues to the Hall of Fame. A life well lived, to say the least.

One of the many odd things about the Baseball Hall of Fame is that there is no category for a Baseball Renaissance Man. Baseball Hall of Fame members are chosen from the distinct categories of players, executives, managers, and umpires. They do not have a category for coaches or scouts or the composer of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” And there is no category for anyone who qualifies under multiple categories, perhaps merits election for the totality of their contribution to the game of Baseball, but absolutely does not deserve election under any single category. The career of Buck O’Neil would certainly fit this description. While we do not advocate the election of Buck O’Neil to the Hall of Fame under any of the present categories, we do advocate that the Baseball Hall of Fame create such a combination or meritorious category. It would allow the Hall of Fame to do justice to Buck O’Neil and maybe some other candidates. Of course, great injustice is often done by simply waiting for justice to occur. With that in mind, we do advocate that John “Buck” O’Neil be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

2) Grant “Home Run” Johnson [SS], b. 1872 [Career 1894-1914], 158 OPS+ [SH]

If you were trying to determine the greatest player or pitcher that has been passed over and forgotten by the Hall of Fame, you would probably not go wrong by starting your search with the African-American players and pitchers who played primarily before the Negro Leagues even started in 1920. Such a search would quickly lead you to Grant “Home Run” Johnson. The greatest Negro hitter of his time, Johnson’s entire career on major Negro teams had been over for years when Andrew Foster (a former teammate) founded the Negro Leagues. A shortstop in his prime, he was not without defensive value. The direct contemporary of both Honus Wagner and Napoleon Lajoie, Grant Johnson is the missing member of this elite triad.

The Seamheads Negro Leagues database, put together by Gary Ashwill and a raft of other Negro League researchers, credits Grant Johnson with an OPS+ of 158 over his long career. Careful analysis of these Negro Leagues statistics shows that the quality of the Negro Leagues [1920-1948] in the database was usually between the highest classification of the Minor Leagues (currently classified as Triple-A) and the Major Leagues itself. Of course, this varied over time. At some points, the quality was as low and perhaps a touch lower than Triple-A. But, at other times, the quality was actually close to equal or maybe even [sacrilege] a touch higher than the Major Leagues. Evaluating these statistics must be done very very carefully; but the compiled database of box scores in the Seamheads Negro League database has been a godsend to Negro League researchers.

The quantity of the statistics in the database also fluctuates. In the 1920s, the statistical record is much better, sometimes complete or all but complete. In the early 1930s, the record gets much worse because of the Great Depression. But then it improves as the years roll on. In the early 1940s, the record once again begins to get quite good and the Negro Leagues themselves actually begin to compile the statistics. Full statistics were actually published for both the 1944 and 1945 seasons for both the NAL and NNL. But then the compiled statistical record once again falls apart as the Negro Leagues disintegrate and the Press, both black and white, stops covering them. Interestingly, published statistics for the Negro Leagues are much better well into the 1950s. At this point, the remaining Negro League teams were hanging on by selling players to Organized Baseball. Probabaly because the published stats were helpful to promote these player sales, the statistics become more plentiful.

Of course, Grant “Home Run” Johnson finished his career with the major Negro teams of his time many years before the foundation of the Negro Leagues themselves. The Seamheads database also contains statistics going far back before 1920. But these statistics dwindle over time. By the 1890s, the statistics are merely a trickle. And these stats are even more unreliable than the statistics from the actual Negro Leagues. The obvious question is: how can you compare Johnson’s reported 158 career OPS+ in this receding record to the career Major League OPS+ of his contemporaries Napoleon Lajoie and Honus Wagner? The career OPS+ of Lajoie was 150 and Wagner was slightly higher at 151. Would not discounting the quality of the games making up Johnson’s Seamheads’ record for not being Major League caliber bring Johnson’s OPS+ down well below the career OPS+ of both Lajoie and Wagner?

But there is an obvious answer to this question. The Seamheads’ database statistics for Grant Johnson are much more plentiful in his 30s than they are in his 20s. Johnson turned 30 in 1902. Of the 1790 plate appearances [PA] listed for Johnson, only 64 of them came in the year 1902 or earlier. From 1903 to the year 1909, Johnson registered 1,017 PAs. From 1910 to 1914, he had 709 more PA. The median age for Grant Johnson per PA is 36 years old. In other words, if you normalized Johnson’s OPS+ for his age and career path, it would rise significantly. There is no way around the conclusion that Grant Johnson was one absolute whale of a hitter. John Henry Lloyd [141 OPS+] and Pete Hill [171 OPS+] would probably be considered the greatest Black hitters of the next generation. Grant Johnson played with both in the fading years of his career and the flowering of their talent. The evidence available suggests that Grant Johnson was just as great a hitter (or an even greater hitter) then either Lloyd or Hill.

If he had been allowed to play his whole career in the White Major Leagues, Grant “Home Run” Johnson would have surely amassed over 3000 hits. If he had played in a park that did not unreasonably suppress his home runs (like Honus Wagner did), Johnson would have probably held the career HR record until Babe Ruth came along to annihilate it. Grant Johnson would have been a legend. Of course, this would also make Johnson one of the 100 greatest Baseball players of all-time. And it is more probable that he was in the top 50. It is our contention that Grant “Home Run” Johnson is the answer to the question: Who is the greatest Baseball player passed over by both the BBWAA and the various Veteran’s Committees of the Hall of Fame? Because of this, we strongly advocate that the great Grant “Home Run” Johnson be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

3) Richard “Dick” Redding [P], b. 1890 [Career 1911-1936], ERA+ 129 [SH] aka “Cannonball”

Richard “Dick” Redding is the flip side of the Grant “Home Run” Johnson coin. Dick Redding is probably the greatest African-American pitcher who has been passed over by the Baseball Hall of Fame. Like Grant Johnson, Redding’s best years came before the formation of the Negro Leagues. In his prime, Redding and his rival Smokey Joe Williams [147 SH ERA+] were considered the peers of their white counterparts, Walter Johnson [147 BR ERA+] and Grover “Pete” Alexander [135 BR ERA+]. By his Seamheads career statistics [129 SH OPS+], Redding would seem to be a slightly lesser pitcher than his direct peers. The Major League pitcher who probably best compares to Dick Redding was Rube Waddell [135 BR ERA+] of the previous generation. Like the great Waddell, Redding threw extremely hard but without pinpoint control; was celebrated for his durability; and often pitched both games of double-headers. And also like Waddell, Redding was the main character in a number of odd, humorous, or simply strange stories. Of course, Dick Redding was nowhere near as odd an individual as Rube Waddell. Very few people were.

In the Seamhead’s database, Dick Redding is assigned a Negro Leagues won-loss record of 109-80 [.577%] with an ERA+ of 129. But these stats include a 2-5 record in the winter Florida Hotel All-Star League. Dick Redding’s stats in just summer time Negro League play are 107-75 [.588]. These statistics, while not unimpressive, are also not over-whelming. But his statistics [like Grant Johnson’s stats above] are suffering from a statistical doppler’s effect. There are less statistics from his prime (the 1910s) than there should be and more stats from the years of his decline (the 1920s and 1930s). By decade, Dick Redding’s summer statistics are: the 1910s 62-27 [.697%] in 794.0 innings; the 1920s 44-46 [.489%] in 757.1 innings; and the 1930s 1-2 [.333%] in just 22.1 innings. The 109-80 compiled record understates Redding’s dominance. In his prime from 1914 to 1919, Dick Redding went 46-12 [.793] against the top Negro teams during the summer season. During this same time frame, Joe Williams went 45-15 [.750] against the best Black clubs. In other words, Dick Redding was possibly much greater at his peak than the Seamheads database 129 ERA+ indicates.

In the 1910s, Dick Redding, in the Major Leagues, would have probably been throwing up to 400 innings per year, maybe even more. But, by the 1920s, his incredible cannonball was clearly losing its thunder. Redding was still a good pitcher, and (absent discrimination) he would have continued to pitch in the Majors late into the 1920s and even into the 1930s . But his innings pitched per year would have plummeted. Of course, the 1920s lively ball offense, all by itself, reduced how many innings a top hurler could throw. It is probable that Redding himself would have been forced to limit his innings just to retain his viability as a Major League pitcher [i.e more quality innings by reducing quantity]. A comparison between Dick Redding and his contemporary Pete Alexander is interesting. Alexander was pitching 350 or so innings during the 1910s but was down to 250 innings or so in the 1920s. Of course, Alexander was still a dominant pitcher in the 1920s who compensated for the loss of his best fastball with uncanny control. But Redding simply continued to throw as hard as he could. In this way, Dick Redding was similar to Nolan Ryan, the greatest strikeout pitcher of all-time. All indications are that the bulk of Dick Redding’s career would have been in the 1910s.

In our opinion, Dick Redding belongs in a discussion with Walter Johnson, Joe Williams, and Grover Alexander as the best pitchers of the 1910s. Careerwise, Redding is probably inferior to these three pitchers. But his best seasons may have been another story. There is a very good chance that Redding, in one year or perhaps in multiple years, would have pitched an absolutely insane amount of innings like Jack Chesbro in 1904 [454 IP] or Ed Walsh in 1908 [464 IP]. Without discrimination, Dick Redding would have certainly won over 300 games just like his contemporaries. Of course, he would have probably lost well over 200 games also. Although he was almost surely not quite as good a pitcher as the trio of Alexander, Johnson, and Williams, Redding was probably a not too far distant fourth. This would still make Dick Redding one of the 100 greatest baseball players who have ever lived and a much more worthy candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame than dozens of other pitchers who have already been inducted. For this reason, we also strongly advocate that the great Dick Redding be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

4) John Donaldson [P-OF], b. 1891 [1916-1932], ERA+ 114 [SH], OPS+ 100 [SH]

John Donaldson, even far more than Dick Redding, shows the limitations of the current statistical database of Negro League players. The great majority of John Donaldson’s career was spent entirely outside of the Negro Leagues. This is documented extensively on the wonderful John Donaldson Network website [johndonaldson.bravehost.com]. This website has tons of information documenting the entirety of his career from 1908-1940. The stated mission of the website is to get John Donaldson elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. So the obvious questions are: 1) What does the statistical evidence, including the lack thereof, say about Donaldson; and 2) Does this evidence support John Donaldson’s candidacy for the Baseball Hall of Fame?

The Early Career of John Donaldson

Early in his career [1908-1915], John Donaldson played on the prairies of the Midwest, barnstorming against white semi-pro teams. He played primarily for J.L. Wilkinson’s novelty All Nations team (the team used it’s make-up of many different ethnicities, even women, to attract curious customers). Wilkinson, of course, would later be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame for being the long time owner of the Kansas City Monarch’s Negro Leagues franchise. By 1912, John Donaldson had reportedly developed into the best Negro pitcher in the country. Observers from 1912 to 1915 claimed that John Donaldson was a sure 30-game-winner in the Major Leagues. Blindingly fast with an incredible curve ball, Donaldson tore through the white semi-pro teams in the Midwest like a hurricane through a field of wheat. There is certainly evidence during this time that John Donaldson was an incredible pitcher. Just how incredible is uncertain.

After the 1915 summer season ended, the Seamheads database begins to document John Donaldson’s career against the best of the nation’s African-American players and teams. An analysis of what is available on Seamheads is fascinating. In the winter of 1915-1916, he played in the (so-called) Florida Hotel League. Basically, teams representing two hotels in Palm Beach, Florida, spent the winter playing a series against each other. At this time, these two teams were staffed with the absolute elite of Negro baseball. Playing for the Royal Poinciana Hotel, Donaldson went 0-4. He pitched 30 innings, giving up 31 hits, while walking 13 and striking out 24 with a 3.82 ERA. Three of these defeats were against Joe Williams, the greatest African-American pitcher of that generation. Late in 1916, John Donaldson pitched games against both the Chicago American Giants and the Indianapolis ABCs, the two best Negro Teams in the Midwest. Against these teams, Donaldson went 2-0, pitching 15 innings, giving up 12 hits, walking 6 and striking out 19. The question would be: “What do these staistics, a mere glimpse of Donaldson in his actual prime, or just after his prime, tell us?”

In the statistics from his prime (or near prime), John Donaldson went 2-4 in 45.2 innings, giving up 43 hits and 19 walks, while striking out 43 with a 3.74 ERA. At first glance, these stats do not seem to be very impressive. Just two wins against four losses? But, as stated, Donaldson was playing these games against only the very best Negro players and teams of this time. This was also Donaldson’s first exposure to entire line-ups made of Major League caliber hitters, and he probably needed to make some adjustments. But 43 strikeouts in just 45.2 innings against the very cream of that era’s best Negro hitters is incredibly impressive despite the small sample size. It is pretty obvious that Donaldson was a hard day’s night for even the best African-American hitters at that point. The evidence, properly evaluated, seems to indicate that John’s reputation was well deserved. On the other hand, it is just 45 and two/thirds innings, barely enough to make a reliable judgment. However, there is even more evidence that John Donaldson was a great pitcher

The Middle Career of John Donaldson

From 1917 to 1919 in the Seamheads database, John Donaldson went 15-15 over 259.1 innings while giving up 221 hits and also 74 walks. He struck out 140 batters and registered an ERA of 2.15. Once again, the won/loss record is not all that impressive. But again this is deceiving. Donaldson’s ERA+ from 1917 to 1919 was approximately 151. An ERA+ of 151 in 30 decisions should have resulted in a record of 21-9 or 20-10. His winning percentage says more about the caliber of his competition than it does about John Donaldson. But even this analysis understates just how good a pitcher Donaldson was at that point. Because of his fame, Donaldson was usually used as a feature pitcher from 1917 to 1919. In other words, he pitched in very well-publicized games versus the best pitchers from the best teams. In 1918, while pitching for the Brooklyn Royal Giants, John Donaldson once again matched up multiple times against Smokey Joe Williams. What this means is that he was actually a much greater pitcher than his 1917-1919 stats indicate. John Donaldson’s legend certainly is not being debunked by this additional evidence.

But the statistics from 1917 to 1919 also document the decline of Donaldson’s fastball. In 1917, Donaldson struck out 45 in 60.0 innings [6.75 strikeouts per nine innings]. In 1918, he struck out 57 in 114.1 innings [4.49]. Then, in 1919, Donaldson struck out just 38 in 85.0 innings [4.02]. Despite this decline, John Donaldson was still a formidable front line starting pitcher from 1917 to 1919. Then, in 1920, John Donaldson was no longer primarily a pitcher. Playing for the Kansas City Monarchs in their first year of existance, Donaldson’s primary position was center field. Donaldson played in 75 of the Monrach’s compiled 78 games. He started 63 in centerfield. As a pitcher, Donaldson compiled a 6-6 record in 95.1 innings with an ERA OF 3.78 [ERA+ of just 91]. His strikeout percentage did increase to 5.11 per 9 innings [54 SO]. But this increase in his strikeout rate is almost surely related to pitching less often. Pro-rated to a full season (at that time) of 154 games, John Donaldson’s innings pitched would have fallen from 319.1 in 1919 [85.0 IP in 41 games] to just 188.1 in 1920 [95.1 IP in 78 games]. In 1919, John Donaldson was an ace pitcher. In 1920, he was a fourth starter.

In 1921, John Donaldson’s arm apparently reached the end of the line. John Donaldson played in all 101 games compiled that season for the Kansas City Monarchs by the Seamheads database. He played in centerfield for 100 of those 101 games. He pitched in only 8 games, starting three. Donaldson’s 1921 pitching record was a poor 0-3 in 41.2 innings [pro-rated to 154 games, this works out to just 62.2 innings]. He finished the 1921 season with an ERA of 4.97 [ERA+ of just 74]. Early in the 1922 season, Donaldson continued as the Kansas City Monarchs’ centerfielder. He did not pitch any games at all in the Negro National League. His career as a pitcher seemed over. That same year, J.L. Wilkinson reformed his All Nations team as a farm team for his K.C. Monarchs. But there are also indications that J.L. Wilkinson reformed the All Nations hoping to capitalize on John Donaldson’s fame [shades of Satchel Paige in 1939]. From mid-1922 and through 1923, Donaldson was playing on this All Nations club, drawing good crowds while barnstorming all across the Midwest. By 1924, his actual Negro League career was effectively over.

The Later Career of John Donaldson

While playing on the All Nations team in 1922 and 1923, John Donaldson’s arm evidently recovered. By late 1922, Donaldson was once again a featured pitcher for the All Nations club. In both 1923 [9 games] and 1924 [2 games], Donaldson did make a few appearances for the Monarchs. But his primary team was the All Nations. After leaving the All Nations in 1924 until his career ended in 1940, John Donaldson would pitch primarily on either white semi-pro teams or for teams put together by himself throughout the Midwestern States. John Donaldson effectively spent the rest of the 1920s and the 1930s selling his arm to the highest bidder amongst the mid-western white semi-pros. If no bidder was available, he would then put togther his own team and barnstorm against the same teams. Every once and awhile, John Donaldson would still play a little with J.L. Wilkinson’s Monarchs.

John Donaldson’s decision to play out his career in this fashion was surely financial. He made more money, possibly much more, than he would have playing in the Negro Leagues. But, for this reason, there are virtually no stats covering this period of Donaldson’s career in the Seamheads Negro Leagues database. Of course, the question of how good John Donaldson was while pitching during the later 1920s and early 1930s is very important for a proper evaluation of his Baseball Hall of Fame case. In our opinion, after carefully considering the available evidence, it seems that John Donaldson was once again a Major League caliber pitcher during the 1920s and even into the 1930s. He was also probably once agan a potential Major League 20 game winner in the mid to late 1920s. But the evidence is slim. John Donaldson may have also just been a bulk innings-eating starter in the Majors Leagues until age ended his career as it does for all players. Or perhaps Donaldson would have finished out his career in the Minor Leagues. Probably the only true conclusion is that more evidence is needed.

John Donaldson in the Batting Box

Of course, this is just the pitching side of the ledger for John Donaldson. He was also, by reputation, a very good hitter and fine fielder. The Seamheads database lists his OPS+ as exactly 100 [an average Negro League hitter] over 1287 plate appearances. Almost all of these plate appearances are from the years 1920 to 1922 when Donaldson was 28 to 30 years old [928 PA]. From 1920 until early 1923, John Donaldson played centerfield for the Kansas City Monarchs. In 1920, his Seamheads OPS+ was 116 in 338 plate appearances. In 1921, it was 88 in 458 PA. In 1922, his OPS+ was 125 in 132 PA. In 1923, John Donaldson had a 112 OPS+ in just 45 plate appearances. Interestingly, the 1921 season sticks out. In that year, John Donaldson’s pitching career reached its nadir. His sore arm or shoulder certainly limited his pitching. But it also very likely affected his hitting, especially his power. In fact, the biggest difference between his 1920 and 1921 batting was very good power in 1920 and almost a complete lack of power for the 1921 season.

Because of this, John Donaldson’s Seamheads compiled batting statistics may unfairly represent his hitting skill. His 458 plate appearances during the 1921 season make up an unnaturely large chunk of his career batting statistics. In other words, his OPS+ for that year may be unnaturally depressing his career OPS+ quite a bit. Outside of his 1921 injury year, Donaldson appears to have been a fine centerfielder who hit 20 percent or so better in his prime than the average Negro League player at that time. This is a very fine player. Even if he had never pitched, John Donaldson would have almost surely had a long career in the Negro Leagues as a position player. Going all the way down the rabbit hole, Donaldson would have almost surely been an even better hitter if he had just concentrated on batting rather than pitching. If John Donaldson had not been the victim of discrimination (and the beneficiary of a lightning bolt of a left arm that made him more valuable as a pitcher), I believe that he could have played regularly as a centerfielder in the White Major Leagues.

John Donaldson Conclusion

By reputation and legend, John Donaldson was one of the greatest African-American pitchers of All-Time. A close examination of the evidence that is available does not contradict this assumption. In my view, Donaldson was exactly what has been presented. I believe that, from at least 1912 to 1916, John Donaldson was capable of winning well over 20 games (and possibly 30) a year in the Major Leagues (unless he wound up trapped on some horrible team such as the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics). Donaldson was still a fine Major League starting pitcher from 1917 to 1919 with his career having a crisis in 1920 and 1921. But Donaldson’s pitching arm came back in 1922. After 1923, I believe that Donaldson was once again a Major League caliber pitcher, perhaps even capable of winning 15 to 20 games a year in the Major Leagues. On top of this, John Donaldson was also capable of being a starting position player in the Major Leagues as a good hitting centerfielder. This is certainly a Hall of Fame player.

Going into this analysis of John Donaldson’s career, I did not believe that a close inspection of his career would quite match the legend. However, even taking it all still with a grain of salt, I believe it is apparent that the legend is more true that false. Even with a very steep discount, it would appear that John Donaldson would have had a career probably at least as good as Richard “Rube” Marquard, his direct contemporary [1908-1925]. Marquard is already in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Of course, there are many who would argue that Marquard does not deserve to be in the Hall. But this would be the floor for Donaldson. He was almost surely a much greater pitcher than Marquard. On the other hand, the most optimistic projections of his career would make John Donaldson the second greatest African-American pitcher of his era, behind only Joe Williams, and probably better than Cannonball Dick Redding. I firmly believe that John Donaldson is much closer to the second evaluation than the first. Because of this, we advocate that John Donaldson be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

5) John “Bud” Fowler [2B-P], b. 1858 [No Major/Negro League Service at all]

John “Bud” Fowler is an eclectic choice as a candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Bud Fowler was, for all intents and purposes, the first African-American professional baseball player. Beginning his career in 1876, Bud made a brief appearance in the 1878 International Association. This made Fowler the first African American to play in the minor leagues. From that point on, Fowler’s career path looks like it was planned by a completely crazy travel agent. Bud would stay in one place for just a year or two before moving on. Bud Fowler continued to play in the white minor leagues until 1895. No African-American player from the 19th Century can even remotely compete with the number of White teams who hired Fowler to play for them. Like some Baseball version of Johnny Appleseed, John “Bud” Fowler spread the news to every corner of the country that African Americans could excel at the National Pastime too.

As a player, Bud Fowler started as a pitcher in 1876. There is some evidence that Fowler was a good enough pitcher that he would have at least deserved a tryout in the National League (the only Major League at that time) in the 1870s. He pitched until his arm gave out in 1884. However, this did not end his career because he was also a Major League caliber second baseman. His playing career continued on until a rib injury in 1904 finally stopped it at the ripe old age of 46. Although Fowler surely would have played in the Major Leagues absent discrimination as a second baseman, there are no indications that Fowler would have forged a Hall of Fame career as a pitcher or player. Or as a manager. Or as an executive. Unlike Buck O’Neil, his fellow possible 2022 inductee, Bud Fowler does not combine all or even any of the current Baseball Hall of Fame categories to make a compelling case. Fowler is, one would say, pretty much in a category all his own.

In 1895, the same year as his last appearance in the white minor leagues, Bud Fowler was also one of the founders of the Page Fence Giants. This team was the first truly great Negro barnstorming team in the Midwest. From then until his death in 1911, Fowler organized and promoted his own African-American barnstorming teams. Virtually every year brought a new team, a new scheme, a new city or town. These teams and schemes got Negro baseball percolating in many different locations. Bud Fowler was an incredible character. If Fowler had been allowed to remain in White Baseball, he would have probably left an incredible minor league legend as a manager, promoter and possibly owner. Baseball historians of today would still be telling stories about him. Does all this add up to merit an induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame? As already stated, he does not fit under any current category. But the Baseball Hall of Fame used to have a category for “Pioneers” [now lumped together with the Executive cagetory]. Using a broad interpretation of pioneer, Fowler would seem to fit quite well under this forgotten category. Your mileage may vary, but we do not advocate or oppose John “Bud” Fowler’s enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

[Update 12/31/2021: Bud Fowler was elected and will be inducted with the 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame Class. Various sources have listed his election as being under the either the “Player” or “Pioneer” category. The Hall of Fame website itself lists Fowler under the “Executive” category.]

NEXT:

We will evaluate the remaining 5 candidates (6 through 10) potentially being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the year 2022 by the Early Baseball Era Committee.

The 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame Election, Part One

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever. Napoleon Bonaparte

November 19, 2021

For the Baseball Hall of Fame Election of 2022, the potential candidates for election are being chosen from three separate groups. The first group of candidates would be those players being voted on by the Baseball Writer’s Association of America [BBWAA]. The membership of this first group consists of all players recently retired (for at least 5 years) and also qualified (minimum of 10 years in the Major Leagues). These players then have ten years to be chosen by the BBWAA before being kicked off the ballot. Any player named on 75% of the BBWA ballots during this ten year period gets inducted into the Hall. Of course, in the imaginations of most Baseball fans, these candidates are what the Baseball Hall of Fame is all about. Recently retired stars vying for their chance at immortality. You could say that this first group of nominees are the equivalent of First Class on an airplane.

The second group of potential candidates for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022 consists of various players, executives, managers, and umpires who were active primarily from 1950 to 1969. They are being considered by the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Golden Days Era Committee. Why this time frame is assigned the qualifier “Golden Days” is just unexplained. In any event, this Committee consists of 16 members appointed by the Hall of Fame itself and any candidate receiving 12 votes (75%) from the Golden Days Era Committee will be inducted. The Golden Days Era Committee will get to vote on 10 pre-selected candidates. These ten pre-selected candidates were chosen by yet another Committee which was also appointed by the Baseball Hall of Fame. This second group of candidates could be considered the equivalent of Coach Class on an airplane.

The third group of potential candidates for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022 consists of the players, executives, managers, and umpires who were active primarily before 1950. In other words, this group consists of all the White players who played on the Caucasian side of the Color Line; and all the Black and Latin players who were discriminated against and had to play out their careers in the Negro Leagues and other Blackball related teams and leagues. This group is being considered by the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Early Baseball Era Committee. This Committee is structured exactly the same as the Golden Days Era Committee and will vote on the 10 candidates who have also been pre-selected by yet another Hall of Fame appointed Committee. This third group of candidates up for consideration could perhaps be equated with the Steerage Class of Passengers on the Titanic. A select few will be rescued from the Ocean… but most are going down with the ship.

The Reanimated Corpses of the Veterans Committee

The Early Baseball Era Committee (candidates before 1950) and the Golden Days Era Committe (1950 to 1969) are two of the four Committees that are allowed to elect new members to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The other two Committees, the Modern Day’s Era Committee (1970 to 1987) and the Today’s Game Era Committee (1988 to the present) are not voting this year. All four of these Committees were created in 2016 when the Hall of Fame once again restructured its voting procedures. But, basically, all four Committees are the dismembered corpse of the original and much maligned Veterans Committee. The Baseball Hall of Fame allows the Today’s Game Era and Modern Day’s Era Committees to elect new members four times each decade. The Golden Days Era Committee holds its election twice every ten years. The Early Baseball Era Committee, the misbegotten stepchild of these Committees, is allowed to hold its election just once every decade.

The Baseball Hall of Fame has limited the Early Baseball Era Committee to one election every decade to slow the inductions of players, executives, managers, and umpires active before 1950 to a slow trickle. An argument can certainly be made that restricting any and all inductions for anyone participating in the White Major Leagues before 1950 makes a lot of sense. This is a field that has been plowed over again and again. Every eligible player of the White Majors from this period, who is not already in the Hall of Fame, has already had many many chances to be elected. Of course, the Baseball Hall of Fame could have simply ruled that anyone active before 1950 is now no longer eligible to be elected. This was apparently too easy or perhaps just made too much sense. However, in the history of the Baseball Hall of Fame, it has never completely closed the door to anyone.

Ironically, Major League Baseball, which basically controls the Baseball Hall of Fame, decided in December 2020 to recognize seven major Negro Leagues as (apparently co-equal) Major Leagues. One year later in December 2021, the Early Baseball Era Committee got to hold its first election since its conception. Any inductee who is elected this year by the Committe will then be allowed to enter the Hall in 2022. After that induction, the Early Baseball Era Committee will not get to hold its next election until December of 2031. In other words, despite finally being considered Major Leaguers, the chance that many more Negro Leaguers will be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame is slim and none. And slim is on life support with no oxygen. Unlike their white contemporaries from before 1950, the Negro League Players from before the fall of the Color Line are not a field that has been completely plowed by the Baseball Hall of Fame. Now the Negro Leaguers have reached the promised land only to find the door to the Baseball Hall of Fame is a locked vault door which only opens once a decade.

Conclusion

Apparently, the members of the Early Baseball Era Committee (or whoever selects the 10 candidates for this Committee) seem to realize this paradox. Of the ten candidates selected for possible election in 2022, seven played their careers on the wrong side of the Color Line. Only three players are from the contemporary White Leagues. For all pratical purposes, the Early Baseball Era Committee has become the Negro Leagues Era Committee. We will see how this works out and then wait 10 years if a course correction is needed

NEXT:

In The 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame Election, Part Two, this blog will examine the credentials of the 10 candidates who are being considered for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Early Baseball Era Committee.

NOTE:

I have changed the name of my blog from the exceedingly unoriginal “My Baseball Blog” to “Endless Fields of Green” because my eldest daughter’s only comment upon seeing the blog was: “It’s green.” I am not sure yet whether I actually like this rebranding. But I do like the acronym for “Endless Fields of Green.” From now on, in honor of Rickey Henderson, I will probably switch from the first person to the third person and speak on my blog as EFOG.

[Update 12/31/2021: After trying out the third person, I have decided to return to first person singular. All respect to Rickey H….. because speaking in the third person is harder than it looks.]

Grant “Home Run” Johnson

“The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.” Bruce Lee [reportedly]

November 17, 2021

Some of the Baseball subjects that usually tumble around inside my brain, in no particular order, would be: 1) Baseball in the Nineteenth Century; 2) The History of the Home Run; 3) The Negro Leagues, or more precisely, Baseball before Integration; 4) Who are the Greatest Baseball Players of All-Time; and 5) The Baseball Hall of Fame. My mind is a strange place.

Considering the cascade of my thoughts, it is pretty easy to see why I am fascinated by the life of Grant (Home Run) Johnson. He was born September 23rd of 1872, deep in the 19th Century. Because he was African-American, Johnson was not allowed to play where he without a doubt belonged, in the Major Leagues. Despite this, in 1894, Grant Johnson began an extremely long professional baseball career. That year, he joined the original Cuban Giants. In 1895, Grant Johnson played for yet another legendary Black team, the Page Fence Giants. Johnson continued his career with stints on virtually every other great Negro team operating before the First World War: the Columbia Giants of Chicago, the Chicago Unions, the Cuban X Giants, the Philadelphia Giants, the Brooklyn Royal Giants, the Chicago Leland Giants, and then the New York Lincoln Giants. After finishing his playing career on the cream of the Negro teams with the Lincoln Giants in 1914, Grant Johnson continued on playing professional baseball with lesser teams until 1930. He finally retired at the geriatric baseball age of 58 years young. If sheer durability is any indication of greatness, Johnson would have to have been one of the greatest Baseball Players of All-Time.

In the year 1908, when Sol White (who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007) published his seminal “History of Colored Baseball” book, he picked the greatest African-American pitcher of that time, Andrew (Rube) Foster, to write an essay on pitching for his book. Of course, Rube Foster is also in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Then Sol White also picked the greatest African-American hitter of that time to write an essay on hitting. This hitter, of course, was the the one and only Grant (Home Run) Johnson. How good a hitter was Johnson? He played on teams with both John Henry Lloyd and Pete Hill, each of whom has also been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. There is plenty of evidence that Johnson was every bit as good a hitter as either Lloyd or Hill. In fact, especially considering their respective ages when they played together, it would appear that Grant Johnson was quite possibly a even greater hitter at his peak than either Lloyd or Hill. Grant Johnson was also more than just a great hitter without any defensive value. In his prime, Johnson played shortstop for his teams, converting to second base late in his 30s, before finally ending his career as a first baseman in his 40s and 50s. Johnson, who was a church going man with exemplary personal habits, passed away in 1963 at the advanced age of 90 years.

At his peak, Grant Johnson was compared very favorably to yet another Hall of Famer, Napoleon Lajoie. It was stated that any team owner could not go wrong picking either the African American Johnson or the Caucasian and quite French Lajoie. Whether Grant Johnson was as great or an even greater player than Napoleon Lajoie is a question that currently cannot be answered with complete certainty. But I firmly believe that Johnson was every bit as great as Lajoie. For one thing, Grant Johnson did not share Napoleon Lajoie’s one great weakness: the inability to accept his fair share of bases on balls. Home Run Johnson may have even been comparable as a hitter to his other direct contemporary, the great Honus Wagner. If this was true, it would be indisputable that Grant (Home Run) Johnson was one of the 100 greatest baseball players of all-time. This Baseball Blog is dedicated to the memory of the great Grant Johnson and will undertake to expand the readily available knowledge about this mostly forgotten and overlooked Ballplayer.

NEXT:

The future content of my baseball blog will contain posts exploring: Baseball Demographics, Current Events in Baseball, Who should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Baseball in the 19th Century, the Negro Leagues, the History of the Home Run, the 100 (or perhaps 200 or 300) Greatest Players of All-time, and any other topics that catch my attention at the moment. Hopefully, I will even be able to relate some of these topics to exactly how the game of Baseball is currently being played.

My Baseball Blog

I had a friend was a big baseball player, back in high school. He could throw that speedball by you, make you look like a fool. Bruce Springsteen (song “Glory Days”)

November 15, 2021

Welcome to my blog.  You may wonder: “Why have I decided to write a blog about Baseball?”  The answer is that I have spent a good part of my life first playing and then thinking and dreaming about baseball.  At one time, I even briefly fantasized about trying to make a living researching and writing about baseball.  But marriage, children, work and other commitments pretty much killed that idea in its sad crib.  I settled for simply being an amateur baseball writer and sometime researcher.  Now, as retirement beckons, I would like to spend more of my time writing about baseball… just for the good old fun of it. Like every writer, I hope my thoughts and ramblings about baseball entertain somebody, somewhere. But mostly, I just want to amuse myself.

I was born in Boston, Massachusetts, long ago.  Growing up, the boys in my neighborhood and the surrounding areas played every game known to man.  Over on the school blacktops, we played basketball and street hockey.  In the backyards, we played football and capture the flag (which we strangely called manhunt).  But, more than any other sport, we played baseball, in all its many variations. There was softball and stickball. There were many games with just a rotating pitcher and hitter (occasionally a catcher and outfielder too). And there were neighborhood games that featured sometimes 5 to 11 players per team. Eventually, we were organized by the adults into Little League clubs or played on the school teams in Junior High and High School. I remember it all now with the hazy glow of childhood nostalgia.

Growing up in New England, my favorite team was the Boston Red Sox of the American League.  When I was quite young, the 1967 Red Sox team had their “Impossible Dream” season.  My father, who cared about Baseball not one bit, took me and some of my friends to a couple of games at Fenway Park during that glorious year.  My favorite player was Tony Conigliaro.  Like me, “Tony C” was a right-handed hitter. When up at bat, I mimicked his solid stance. My best friend idolized Carl Yastrzemski and copied his much odder stance with the bat held high. We both wanted to have cool and interesting last names like Conigliaro and Yastrzemski. We were too young to understand that the names were simply of Italian and Polish origin. In my imagination, I dreamed of myself as a modern day Babe Ruth, both a power hitting outfielder and a hard throwing strikeout pitcher. Almost anything seems possible when you are young. 

The unforgettable 1967 season made me a Baseball (and Boston Red Sox) fan for the rest of my life. But it also introduced me to heartbreak, sadness and loss. The “Impossible Dream” Red Sox eventually went down to defeat in the season’s penultimate game. In the World Series, the BoSox simply could not overcome Bob Gibson, the African American ace of the St. Louis Cardinals. He defeated the Red Sox in the first, fourth, and seventh game of the Series. My hero, Tony Conigliaro, didn’t even play in the World Series. His season, and eventually his career, had already been horribly ended by a pitch that hit him right in the eye. I loved Baseball but had no idea of the bigger picture. Babe Ruth was just a myth to me. The stories about him seemed like tall tales told on the TV. I had no idea about Jackie Robinson or the integration of Baseball. I saw Mickey Mantle playing out his career on his ruined knees. I had no idea who he had been. I did not even dislike the Yankees which seems like a right of passage for all good Red Sox fans. At that time, the Yanks were just a sad and pitiful last place team.

But I soon began buying packs of baseball cards. I would then destroy them by attaching them to the spokes of my chopper bike. I was fascinated by the player statistics on the backs of these cards. Through baseball card statistics, I finally connected with the fading glories of Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. Eventually, I went to the library and began reading about the game. In 1972, to my everlasting shame, I checked out two books from my local library and then never bothered to return either one (and I still have them). One of the books was the 1969 edition of the “MacMillan Baseball Encyclopedia.” This book was the first real attempt at a complete statistical encyclopedia of the game of Baseball. The second book was Robert Peterson’s “Only the Ball was White.” This book was the first history of the long forgotten players from the Negro Leagues. These two books are still the touchstones of basically all my Baseball obsessions. Like almost everyone else, except for those gifted few, my dreams of actual Major League stardom ended on the baseball fields of my High School. But the residue of those hopes and dreams has enriched my life endlessly.

In my next post (or posts), I will continue on by:

1. Dedicating my blog to Grant “Home Run” Johnson; and
2. Talk briefly about the topics that I am interested in writing about.