The Veterans Committee is going to vote on twenty players for induction into the Hall of Fame. There are ten players pre-1943 and ten post-1943. Here is how I would weigh in if I had a vote.
Pre-1943
Bill Dahlen – 1500+ Runs should put him in, but not much else. Accumulator. Pass
Wes Ferrell – Under 200 Wins. Six 20 Win Seasons. Rotten ERA. Not joing his brother Rick. Pass
Joe Gordon – Seriously. Only if he were Frankie Frisch’s teammate Pass
Sherry Magee – Profiled him. Great Hitter for his Era. Gets my Vote.
Carl Mays – 200 Wins, Great Winning %. Five 20 Win Seasons. Gets my Vote.
Allie Reynolds – Under 200 Wins, One 20 Win Season, Not a great Adjusted ERA. Great Winning % and 6 WS Rings, but not quite enough. Pass.
Vern Stephens – Made a lot of All-Star games (8). Nothing jumps out though. Pass.
Mickey Vernon – Just passed away. Accumulator. Good not Great. Pass.
Bucky Walters – Under 200 Wins. Three 20 Win seasons, Not a great Adjusted ERA. Pass.
Deacon White – Great average. Not much else. Pass
Post-1943
Joe Torre – As a Player – No. As a Manager – Yes. Gets my Vote.
Ron Santo – Profiled him. Great with the Glove. Great with the Stick. Gets my Vote.
Gil Hodges – Profiled him. Masher and a Winner. 8-time All-Star. Gets my Vote.
Dick Allen – 351 HRs, 1119 RBI, 7-time All-Star. Not enough. Pass.
Jim Kaat – We profiled him. 283 Wins and 16 Gold Gloves. Gets my Vote.
Luis Tiant – 229 Wins, Three 20 Win seasons, Not a great Adjusted ERA. Pass.
Tony Oliva – We profiled him. 3 Batting titles. Only injuries kept him from BWAA induction. Gets my vote.
Al Oliver – We profiled him. Great hitter. Hall of Fame worthy hitter. Gets my Vote.
Vada Pinson – We profiled him. An accumulator. Good, not great. Pass.
Maury Wills – We profiled him. Tons of steals. Not much else statistically. Pass.
We’ll find out who the VC let in on December 8th at the Winter Meetings.