My MLB Players Hall of Fame II

My idea behind this is to create my own MLB Hall of Fame if I started from scratch, with the number of players I want, and which players would I pick. For this exercise, I’m not doing managers, executives nor negro league players.

I believe that 1 out of a hundred players should be hall of famers. Actually, the hall of fame is real close on that they have a total of 235 MLB players in the hall of fame according to one site I found. Baseball Reference says there have been 19,902 players who have played major league baseball. That is 1.181 percent. I am going to do 200 as it is a round number and only one over. That is 1.005 percent. I would just feel strange doing 199 players and leaving some players out.

So, I picked 200 players in the previous article. However, I redid the formula which changed some of the standings. I also added 30 Negro League players (as well as 6 Negro League pioneers) so that put me up to 230. In my original formula I put everyone with 200 or more points into my Hall of Fame. I took everyone with 750 points or more. However, in my new formula there are more points, so the total now is 825. Last time I had 181 players over the required points, this time there were 183 players.

The only rule is they had to have 600 points. This time the minimum is 650 points. There are 234 players between 650 points and 825 points. These are the players that I wouldn’t mind being elected to the Hall of Fame but there has to be something special to get them in. Last time I picked 19 players to get to 200. This time I won’t add any, but I will have more than 200 players on this list not including the 30 new Negro League players. This is due to new players getting into my top 183 and I won’t kick anyone out of my Hall of Fame.

One of the many things I forgotten was I gave Kevin Brown a steroid penalty when I learned and researched that he probably used steroids. This dropped him out of making my limit before and dropped the number of Hall of Famers to 199 that I had without the 30 Negro League players and 6 Negro League executives. So the first player added will be number 200.

Here are the catchers:

1	Johnny Bench
2	Yogi Berra
3	Carlton Fisk
4	Ivan Rodriguez	Up 1
5	Gary Carter	Down 1
6	Bill Dickey
7	Mike Piazza
8	Gabby Harnett	Up 1
9	Joe Torre	Down 1
10	Roy Campanella	Up 3
11	Ted Simmons	Down 1
12	Mickey Cochrane
13	Joey Mauer	Down 2
14	Yadier Molina	Up 1
15	Bill Freehan	Down 1
16	Buster Posey	Up 1

There were 16 both times. The up and down shows how they rank compared to the first time. Roy Campanella moved from 13^th to 10^th place while Joey Mauer went from 11^th to 13^th place. For most of these lists you won’t see a lot of big changes.

However, there is someone knew on the list. Buster Posey made it onto the list due his playing another year and having a high win loss percentage in WAR. That means someone fell off the list and that was Jorge Posada. He gets to stay in my Hall of Fame which adds one to the list. He is now the 17^th catcher and missed 825 by only 8 points. That sounds like a Hall of Famer to me.

Thurman Munson was one of the 19 players I added to my Hall of Fame. He was the 20^th ranked catcher and is still 20^th ranked. So, we went from 17 catchers to 18. So, Buster Posey is the 200th member of this part of the Hall of Fame.

Now on to first base:

1	Lou Gehrig
2	Albert Pujols
3	Jimmy Foxx
4	Willie McCovey	Up 1
5	Miguel Cabrera	Up 1
6	Eddie Murray	Down 2
7	Johnny Mize
8	Frank Thomas
9	Jeff Bagwell
10	Harmon Killebrew
11	Dick Allen
12	Hank Greenberg
13	Jim Thome
14	Joey Votto	Up 8
15	Will Clark	Down 1
16	Rafael Palmeiro	Down 1
17	Keith Hernandez	Up 4
18	Tony Perez	Down 2
19	Mark McGwire	Down 2
20	Fred McGriff
21	Dan Brouthers	Up 2
22	David Ortiz	Up 6
23	Cap Anson	Down 4
24	Roger Connor	Down 6

There was more movement at first base. Before there were 23 players who qualified now there are 24. However, the one player that was added to the list was David Ortiz who was one of my 19. The other 23 players are the same. So, the number of Hall of Fame first basemen remained the same.

Now onto second base:

1	Rogers Hornsby	Up 2
2	Eddie Collins	Down 1
3	Joe Morgan	Down 1
4	Nap Lajoie
5	Jackie Robinson
6	Craig Biggio
7	Rod Carew
8	Charlie Gehringer
9	Roberto Alomar
10	Ryne Sandberg
11	Frankie Frisch
12	Lou Whitaker
13	Bobby Grich
14	Chase Utley	Up 1
15	Robinson Cano	Down 1

The list is basically the same although there is one less player on the list. It is Willie Randolph. He faded to 17^th place, but he stays in my Hall of Fame. I also put in Joe Gordon as one of my 19 extra into the Hall of Fame. He stayed in 20^th place at second base. So, the number of second basemen stayed at 17.

I noticed and you might have, the four players I have in the Hall of Fame not in the top 183 have strong Yankee connections. I don’t think that continues, but it is interesting.

We will now do third base:

1	Mike Schmidt
2	Eddie Mathews
3	George Brett
4	Wade Boggs
5	Chipper Jones
6	Brooks Robinson	Up 1
7	Adrian Beltre	Down 1
8	Paul Molitor
9	Ron Santo
10	Darrell Evans
11	Graig Nettles
12	Scott Rolen	Up 1
13	Home Run Baker	Down 1

It is tough for third basemen to make my Hall of Fame also. There are more third basemen in my Hall of Fame. These 13 stayed the same. Edgar Martinez was my extra third baseman. He moved up from 17^th to 15^th and doesn’t have a Yankee connection. That leaves third base with the same number of players. So far with four positions only one new player Buster Posey.

Now we will do shortstops:

1	Honus Wagner
2	Cal Ripken Jr.	Plus 1
3	Alex Rodriguez	Minus 1
4	Robin Yount
5	Derek Jeter
6	Arky Vaughan	Plus 1
7	Luke Appling	Minus 1
8	Ozzie Smith	Plus 1
9	Pee Wee Reese	Plus 1
10	Barry Larkin	Minus 2
11	Ernie Banks
12	George Davis
13	Joe Cronin	Plus 1
14	Alan Trammell	Plus 1
15	Bill Dahlen	Minus 2
16	Lou Boudreau

We added one new player Lou Boudreau into the Hall of Fame. I’m glad I was disappointed he didn’t make it the first time. So, Boudreau is my 201st player in this part of the Hall of Fame. He rated 16^th both times. Rabbit Maranville was my additional Hall of Fame shortstop. He moved from 32^nd best shortstop to 26^th.

Now it is Left Field which is a little more interesting:

1	Barry Bonds
2	Ted Williams
3	Stan Musial
4	Rickey Henderson
5	Carl Yasztrzemski	Up 1
6	Pete Rose	Down 1
7	Tim Raines
8	Willie Stargell	Up 1
9	Billy Williams	Down 1
10	Al Simmons
11	Manny Ramirez
12	Minnie Minoso	Up 2
13	Goose Goslin	Up 4
14	Zack Wheat	Down 1
15	Fred Clarke	Down 3
16	Jesse Burkett	Down 1
17	Ed Delahanty	Down 1

There were two players who didn’t make it in left field who had made it before. Lou Brock, who actually moved from 19^th to 18^th in left field. That is because Sherry McGee really fell from 18^th to 20^th. McGee is now only 197^th on the overall list. I wasn’t that thrilled to have in the Hall of Fame in the first place, but he remains. I think he is better rated now. He fell a lot with the new formula. Lou Brock by a little over a point and finished in 184^th place the first to miss. So, the number of left fielders stayed the same.

Ralph Kiner moved from 23^rd in left field to 22^nd. He was my extra left fielder.

Now on to the land of center fielders:

1	Willie Mays
2	Ty Cobb
3	Mickey Mantle
4	Tris Speaker
5	Joe DiMaggio
6	Mike Trout	Up 1
7	Ken Griffey Jr.	Down 1
8	Duke Snider
9	Larry Doby	Up 1
10	Carlos Beltran	Down 1
11	Richie Ashburn
12	Jimmy Wynn

The number of center fielders stayed the same. Still not enough. Jim Edmonds missed by 11 points. Andrew McCutchen moved up to 14^th and is still playing. He is 14 points away, but is not having a good season so far this year. Kirby Puckett moved from 25^th to 24^th on my list of Center Fielders.

We will do right field next:

1	Babe Ruth
2	Hank Aaron
3	Frank Robinson
4	Mel Ott
5	Roberto Clemente
6	Al Kaline
7	Reggie Jackson
8	Paul Waner
9	Tony Gwynn
10	Sam Crawford
11	Enos Slaughter	Up 1
12	Dave Winfield	Down 1
13	Gary Sheffield
14	Dwight Evans
15	Reggie Smith	Up 4
16	Ichiro Suzuki	Up 4
17	Bobby Abreu	Down 1
18	Harry Heilmann	Down 3
19	Vladimir Guerrero	Down 1
20	Andre Dawson	Down 3
21	Larry Walker	Up 3

One thing I forgotten is I added in Vladimir Guerrero when I determined that in my opinion he didn’t use steroids. That increased Right Fielders from 20 to 21. So that makes 202 players. Guerrero made it again here. One player made the list, Larry Walker (now 203 players) and one went off Rusty Staub. Staub went down to 196 which puts him one ahead of Sherry McGee. At least both are in the top 200. Staub played in the majors 23 years which is a long time for a player of his quality. He started when he was 19 and retired at age 41. I didn’t add an additional right fielder.

Now for the difficult one starting pitchers:

1	Walter Johnson
2	Greg Maddux
3	Tom Seaver
4	Randy Johnson	Up 1
5	Cy Young	Down 1
6	Pete Alexander
7	Lefty Grove	Up 3
8	Warren Spahn
9	Roger Clemens	Down 2
10	Bob Gibson	Up 2
11	Pedro Martinez	Up 6
12	Gaylord Perry	Down 1
13	Steve Carlton	Down 4
14	Christy Mathewson	Down 1
15	Bob Feller	Up 5
16	Robin Roberts	Up 3
17	Nolan Ryan	Down 2
18	Phil Niekro	Down 4
19	Bert Blyleven	Down 3
20	Ferguson Jenkins	Down 1
21	Clayton Kershaw	Up 11
22	Sandy Koufax	Up 11
23	Jim Palmer	Down 2
24	Carl Hubbell	Up 14
25	Don Sutton	Down 2
26	Justin Verlander	Down 2
27	Tom Glavine	Down 5
28	Curt Schilling
29	Kid Nichols	Up 7
30	Mike Mussina	Down 5
31	Juan Marichal	Down 4
32	John Smoltz	Down 6
33	Early Wynn	Down 4
34	Whitey Ford	Up 7
35	Hal Newhouser	Down 1
36	Roy Halladay	Up 1
37	Dazzy Vance	Up 22
38	Jim Bunning	Down 7
39	Zack Greinke	Up 4
40	Tommy John	Down 5
41	Don Drysdale	Down 2
42	Max Scherzer	Up 16
43	Luis Tiant	Down 3
44	Eddie Plank	Down 14

Since there are so many players let us start this easily. The number of players went from 42 to 44. The surprising thing was none of the pitchers went below the new Hall of Fame magic number of 825 who had been on my list before. Although Eddie Plank barely scraped bottom with 827 points after being comfortably over before. He did have a long career.

So, two players made it over Dazzy Vance and Max Scherzer. Vance was the biggest beneficiary of my changing formulas. However, he was already in the Hall of Fame as one of my 12 extra starting pitchers. The other player Max Scherzer made it already by his pitching in the last two seasons. He is now the 204^th member of this portion of the Hall of Fame. I didn’t add as many players as I thought I was going to. That is alright as I want to keep this as an honor, not to let a whole bunch of players in. This is still close to the 1 percent goal I set.

Now for the other 11 pitchers I added to the team. The first 3 were the next 3 on my list so I was smart to select them before:

45	Billy Pierce	Up 8
46	Ed Walsh	Up 2
47	Rick Reuschel

Billy Pierce really benefited from my new formula.

Red Ruffing went from 45^th best pitcher to the 51^st best pitcher. That was a little disappointing, but he was still the best pitcher on the greatest dynasty (1936 to 1939 New York Yankees) so I have no problem with him being on the list.

Don Newcome went from 54^th to 55^th so not much change and no change on my opinion.

Three Finger Brown went from 57^th to 65^th which is a big amount. However, he was so unique and won some big games, so I am still happy with him in the hall.

Dave Steib went from 69^th to 63^rd which is further proof he is qualified as a hall of famer.

Orel Hershiser went from 71^st to 74^th however, he got a lot of points from me for his dominance at the end of 1989 and helping the Dodgers to the World Series title.

Jack Morris went from 85^th to 86^th which is about the same.

Dwight Gooden went way up. He was ranked one behind Morris at 86^th and ended up at 67^th, which is a lot better ranking form him. He ended up one ahead of Johan Santana who moved up 21 spaces. Baseball Reference WAR really gives pitchers with dominate years a lot of credit, my formula emphasis that to an extent and this caused some pitchers to go up quite a few spaces. I think Win Shares tempers that to an extent and that makes my formula work. At least for me.

Hoss Radbourn went was down from 88^th to 107^th. He barely made the 650 he needed to qualify. I am tough on the 19^th century players, especially pitchers. I put Radbourn in my Hall of Fame mainly for one season and he was a decent pitcher otherwise. I’m still good with him being in my Hall of Fame, even though he is the worse player in there.

We finish with relief pitchers: