{"id":195,"date":"2008-01-25T13:57:49","date_gmt":"2008-01-25T20:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/25\/more-strange-hof-voting\/"},"modified":"2008-01-25T13:58:12","modified_gmt":"2008-01-25T20:58:12","slug":"more-strange-hof-voting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/25\/more-strange-hof-voting\/","title":{"rendered":"More Strange HOF Voting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maury Wills came onto the BBWAA ballot in 1978. <\/span>In that first year, he got 115 votes (30%). <\/span>Luis Aparicio, another shortstop, joined him on the ballot in 1979. <\/span>Wills got 38% of the vote in 1979 compared to 28% for Aparicio. <\/span>In 1980, Wills got more votes than Aparicio again \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 38% to 32%. <\/span>In 1981, Wills bested Aparicio again \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 41% to 12%<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p>So, for the first three years that Luis was on the ballot, Maury did better than he did. <\/span>Note that Aparicio fell from 32% in 1980 to only 12% in 1981. <\/span>That would seem to imply that he was losing support and was in a downward spiral. <\/span>Or so it would seem to the average fan looking on. <\/span>But the weird voting patterns of the writers was about to kick in again. <\/span>In 1982, Aparicio suddenly jumped to 42% (from 12%). <\/span>What happened? <\/span>Had he suddenly become a better shortstop? <\/span>I hardly think so.<\/span> <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p>But wait \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it gets better. <\/span>In the next two votes, Aparicio got 67% in 1983 and 85% in 1984 when he was elected to the Hall of Fame. <\/span>In other words, having gotten just 12% of the vote in 1981, Luis Aparicio was in the Hall just three years later. <\/span>And what happened to Maury Wills? <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p>When Wills got 41% of the vote in 1981, that was more than three times as many votes as fellow shortstop Aparicio got. <\/span>Yet, Aparicio was in the Hall just three years later and Wills\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 41% in 1981 was the best he ever did. <\/span>He remained on the ballot through 1992 but never got 40% of the vote again.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p>Is there any explanation for such strange voting patterns \u00e2\u20ac\u201c especially for two solid players at the same shortstop position? <\/span>Bill James, in his book The Politics of Glory<\/em>, <\/strong>seems to suggest that some articles written around this time may have had some impact on the voting. <\/span>Leonard Koppett, writing in the Sporting News<\/em><\/strong> in February of 1979 suggested that Aparicio, PeeWee Reese and Phil Rizzuto were outstanding defensive shortstops who deserved to be in the Hall. <\/span>And he suggested that Aparicio was the best of the group. <\/span>And in March of 1982, Dave Anderson wrote an article in the New York Times<\/em><\/strong> entitled \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Five Forgotten Shortstops.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/span>In it, he argued that Aparicio, Reese, Rizzuto, Marty Marion and Maury Wills should all be in the Hall.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p>These articles (and others) do seem to have had some impact. <\/span>But, if anything, that would just illustrate how capricious the voting for the Hall of Fame really is \u00e2\u20ac\u201c if so many of the voters can be influenced so easily.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p>The NEWS monitor shows that neither Luis Aparicio or Maury Wills has HOF<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> numbers. <\/span>In fact, neither player really comes close. <\/span>But, Maury Wills\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 numbers were slightly better.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Player<\/strong><\/font><\/td>\nCWS<\/strong><\/font><\/td>\nCV<\/strong><\/font><\/td>\nNEWS<\/strong><\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Maury Wills <\/font><\/td>\n253<\/font><\/font><\/td>\n218<\/font><\/font><\/td>\n227<\/font><\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Luis Aparicio<\/font><\/font>
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		293<\/font><\/font>
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		193<\/font><\/font>
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		218<\/font><\/font>
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

It does seem to be a shame that more of the people who vote in the Hall of Fame elections do not take this privilege more seriously.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/strong>For more info on the NEWS HOF Gauge, see BASEBALL\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S BEST: The TRUE Hall of Famers<\/a> <\/strong>on this site.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maury Wills came onto the BBWAA ballot in 1978. In that first year, he got 115 votes (30%). Luis Aparicio, another shortstop, joined him on the ballot in 1979. Wills got 38% of the vote in 1979 compared to 28% for Aparicio. In 1980, Wills got more votes than Aparicio again \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 38% to 32%. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prof-hobans-hall-of-fame-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t