The Ten Best Players from Each Decade
Who Are Not in the Hall of Fame Take 2
OK, I messed up a few things on these lists earlier in the day, so let me try it again. While I am at it I’ll explain how these lists were defined.
They’re based on Win Shares. In the initial run I figured each player’s Win Shares in each decade, and then found the harmonic mean between THAT number and the player’s career Win Share total. The harmonic mean is like the Power/Speed Number; if the two numbers are 100 and 200, the harmonic mean is 133.33. If the two numbers are 200 and 300 the harmonic mean is 240. If the two numbers are 100 and 300 the harmonic mean is 150.
This method "counts" or "includes" everything the player does in his career, but it does give an advantage to a player whose career aligns well with the limits of a particular decade, as opposed to a player whose career sprawls over two different decades. Rocky Colavito, for example; two of his best seasons are in the 1950s, and three are in the 1960s. This gives him a lower score than if his career was all in one decade. Bucky Walters is another example. Bucky had an MVP season in 1939, but otherwise was much better in the 1940s than in the 1930s.
I changed the process in this way. First, I figured each player’s Win Share total for every decade (1950-1959, 1951-1960, 1952-1961, 1953-1962, 1954-1963, etc.) and registered the player’s maximum total for any decade. Then I found the harmonic mean between THAT number and the player’s career Win Shares, and multiplied that product by the player’s total in a "defined" decade (1950s, 1960s, 1970s, etc.)
This method still gives some advantage to the player whose career fits neatly into one decade, but less advantage than the earlier method. It gives better scores to guys like Rocky Colavito, Bucky Walters and Bobby Murcer, whose careers don’t fit neatly in a decade. It has a second advantage, which is that it gives a better score to a player who has a strong ten-year period, as opposed to a player who hangs around longer, piling up a few points a year. Jack Quinn, for example, won 18 games in 1910, had his best year in the Federal League in 1914, winning 26 games, won 18 games in 1920 and won 18 games again in 1928—and was still in the majors five years after that, at age 49. He was around a long time, picking up a few Win Shares a year, but he had a lot of nothing years in there. That kind of career moves down the list, with this adjustment, in comparison with guys like Wilbur Cooper and Carl Mays, who had a run of outstanding seasons and a higher peak.
Also I tried to have at least two pitchers on the list from each decade, and no more than five. But sometimes it just isn’t reasonable to move a pitcher on the list just to get two from the decade, so I didn’t.
So anyway, these are the revised lists:
1876-1889
1. Jim McCormick, p
2. Tony Mullane, p
3. Bob Caruthers, p-of
4. Jim Whitney, p
5. Guy Hecker, p-of
6. Paul Hines, cf
7. Harry Stovey, of
8. George Gore, cf
9. Hardy Richardson, 2b
10. Jack Glasscock, ss
(List is the same as it was except that Richardson has moved ahead of Glasscock.)
1890s
1. Jack Stivetts, p
2. George Van Haltren, p-of
3. Bill Dahlen, ss
4. Cupid Childs, 2b
5. Kid Gleason, p-inf
6. Herman Long, 2b
7. Bill Hutchison, p
8. Jimmy Ryan, of
9. Mike Tiernan, of
10. Ted Breitenstein, p
(List is the same ten players as it was except that Ted Breitenstein has replaced Elmer Smith. Some players have moved up on the list and others down, including Stivetts passing Van Haltren as the #1 man.)
1900s
1. Jimmy Sheckard, of
2. Roy Thomas, of
3. Fielder Jones, of
4. Tommy Leach, of-3b
5. Cy Seymour, of-p
6. Topsy Harstel, of
7. Jack Powell, p
8. Ginger Beaumont, of
9. Doc White, p
10. Harry Davis, 1b
(List is the same ten players as it was, but some positions have changed on the list.)
1910s
1. Joe Jackson, of
2. Sherry Magee, of
3. Larry Doyle, 2b
4. Clyde Milan, cf
5. George Burns, lf
6. Ed Konetchy, 1b
7. Heinie Groh, 3b
8. Larry Gardner, 3b
9. Eddie Cicotte, p
10. Hippo Vaughn, p
(Joe Jackson and Eddie Cicotte have replaced Babe Adams and Slim Sallee, although Babe Adams is one of my favorite players. Jackson and Cicotte had been accidentally eliminated from the list because they are not eligible for the Hall of Fame, which was not my intention. The order of the list is essentially the same; Burns and Heine Groh have edged up relative to the people around them.)
1920s
1. Dolf Luque, p
2. Urban Shocker, p
3. Joe Judge, 1b
4. Ken Williams, of
5. Wilbur Cooper, p
6. Eddie Rommel, p
7. George Uhle, p
8. Carl Mays, p
9. Jacques Fournier, 1b
10. Cy Williams, of
(Luque and Shocker have moved ahead of Judge. Wilbur Cooper has jumped onto the list and all the way up to fifth and Carl Mays has also joined the list, pushing out Jack Quinn and Jimmie Dykes. This is probably a more accurate list.)
1930s
1. Wally Berger, cf
2. Wes Ferrell, p
3. Ben Chapman, of
4. Buddy Myer, 2b
5. Mel Harder, p
6. Indian Bob Johnson, of
7. Dick Bartell, ss
8. Babe Herman, of
9. Lon Warneke, p
10. Larry French, p
(Babe Herman has replaced Tommy Bridges on the list. Indian Bob Johnson has moved ahead of Dick Bartell and Lon Warneke ahead of Larry French. But basically the same list.)
1940s
1. Bob Elliott, 3b-rf
2. Dixie Walker, racist
3. Vern Stephens, ss
4. Stan Hack, 3b
5. Bill Nicholson, of
6. Charlie Keller, rf
7. Bucky Walters, p
8. Dizzy Trout, p
9. Jeff Heath, of
10. Phil Cavaretta, 1b
(Bucky Walters has moved ahead of Dizzy Trout and Phil Cavaretta. Jeff Heath has moved onto the list, replacing Dutch Leonard. Top six are the same as they were.)
1950s
1. Minnie Minoso, of
2. Gil Hodges, 1b
3. Eddie Yost, 3b
4. Billy Pierce, p
5. Al Dark, ss
6. Mickey Vernon, 1b
7. Gil McDougald, inf
8. Al Rosen, 3b
9. Gene Woodling, lf
10. Don Newcombe, p
(Al Rosen has replaced Ted Kluszewski. Some minor position shuffling from spots 5 down; top four are the same as they were.)
1960s
1. Frank Howard, of
2. Norm Cash, 1b
3. Vada Pinson, of
4. Dick Allen, 3b-of
5. Maury Wills, ss
6. Johnny Callison, rf
7. Rocky Colavito, rf
8. Larry Jackson, p
9. Ken Boyer, 3b
10. Jim Kaat, p
(Frank Howard has moved ahead of Cash and Pinson. Rocky Colavito has replaced Willie Davis.
Comparing Larry Jackson to Jim Kaat; both men are similar pitchers. Both were inning-eaters; Jackson went 18-13 and 24-11 in 1960/1964, Kaat went 18-14 and 25-13 in 1962/1966.
Kaat won 283 games in his career, Jackson only 194, so we expect Kaat to be ahead of Jackson. But the difference between them is not as large as the difference in Wins. Kaat has only 268 Win Shares—less than his wins—and Jackson has 225 Win Shares—more than his wins. (In WAR, Jackson actually has more than Kaat, 52.7 to 45.4).
In Win Shares Kaat has more, but Jackson has (a) more Win Shares in the 1960s (158 to 139) and (b) more Win Shares in his best ten-year run (182 to 160). So Jackson ranks higher.
1970s
1. Pete Rose, gambler
2. Bobby Bonds, of
3. Ken Singleton, of
4. Bobby Murcer, of
5. Reggie Smith, of
6. Amos Otis, cf
7. Ted Simmons, c
8. Rusty Staub, of
9. Graig Nettles
10. Luis Tiant, p
11. Vida Blue, p
(Had un-intentionally eliminated Pete Rose from the list. Ken Singleton has moved up. Graig Nettles is way down. Stretched the list to 11, and Vida Blue has moved ahead of Tommie John and Jerry Koosman to claim the last spot.)
1980s
1. Dale Murphy, of
2. Dwight Evans, rf
3. Keith Hernandez, 1b
4. Lou Whitaker, 2b
5. Jack Clark, of
6. Pedro Guerrero, of
7. Darrell Evans, 3b
8. Willie Randolph, 2b
9. Don Mattingly, 1b
10. Dave Stieb, p
(A substantially different list. The problem was that I was/am using an old, old file to calculate the lists. The file had marked guys like Murphy and Mattingly as not yet eligible for the Hall of Fame, and had thus unintentionally excluded them from the list.)
1990s
1. Barry Bonds, of
2. Roger Clemens, p
3. Rafael Palmeiro, 1b
4. Gary Sheffield, rf
5. Mark McGwire, 1b
6. Fred McGriff, 1b
7. Will Clark, 1b
8. Larry Walker, rf
9. Albert Belle, slightly deranged
10. Edgar Martinez, dh