Eli Cash w/ contributions by Jill Bames (w/ maybe some help from her cousin Bill James)
Long overdue but as promised, here is the new way Jill Bames and I will be monitoring and testing the validity of a players Hall of Fame worth. Ms Bames and I hope that one day the longball fans will open their eyes in their voting for the Hall.
The Systems
The Monitor by Jill Bames
By the monitor, 100 means that players stands a possibility of making the Hall while scoring a 130+ is a virtual clinch. The monitor takes into account each of players season, their overall career, position played, and awards over the course of their career. Among the 18 hitters in the Hall, only 4 of them play a position other than 1B/LF/RF. That's 77% of our Hall made up of 3 positions. Not an awful thing, but surely we can expand on that a bit. In Cobbfather's competition's Hall of Fame, those same three positions only make up 40% of the hitters in their Hall of Fame.
Examples where their players rank, you might recognize a few names:
Top Name - Stan Musial ranks at the top with a 452.
~400: Babe Ruth (411) and Alex Rodriguez (390).
~300: Micky Mantle (301) and Tony Gwynn (279)
~200: Mike Piazza (207) and Roberto Alomar (194).
~150: Jeff Bagwell (150) and Larry Walker (148).
~130: Robin Yount (132) and Sam Rice (127).
It's harder to find HoFers down at the 100 level, but there you have Pee Wee Reese (100) and Jim Bottomley (99). A few names who have missed out include: Albert Belle (135), Don Mattingly (134), Juan Gonzalez (123), Shoeless Joe Jackson (121), Andres Galarraga (114). There are a lot of names below Senior Galarraga that are too many to list. As mentioned above, the virtual clinch sits at the 130 mark.
The Test by Jill Bames
The Test scores players 0-100, the average Hall of Famer should fall around the 50 mark. This system uses the quality of a player's career numbers. One downside to this system, it does now rate relief pitchers very well and as much as they are underrated in our Hall, they will be excluded from the Test. For a few comparisons in Cobbfather's competitor's Hall:
Top Name - Babe Ruth tops the chart at 79, with Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, and Alex Rodriguez shortly behind with a score of 77.
~70: Loy Gehrig, Chipper Jones, Manny Ramirez, and Derek Jeter.
~60: Ken Griffey Jr, Frank Thomas, Jeff Bagwell, and Joe DiMaggio.
~50: Roberto Clemente, Edgar Martinez, Yogi Berra, and Carlton Fisk.
~40: John McGraw, Enos Slaughter, Joe Torre, Alan Trammell, and Kirby Puckett.
Some notable names not in the Hall that scored above average include: Gary Sheffield (61), Todd Helton (59), Rafael Palmeiro (57), Pete Rose (55), and Bobby Abreu (54). The notable names that fell just short of the 50 include: Luis Gonzalez (48), Johnny Damon (45), Lance Berkman (44), Carlos Delgado (44), and Kenny Loften (43). A score of 50 is definitely score where it's debatable if they belong. At 60 points, they appear to be a sure thing.
The Cash System by Eli Cash
Eli covered The Cash System that is used by numerous fantasy websites in order to provide their users with a ranking system and was covered in depth during his initial Hall of Fame coverage. It averages the total points a player created over the number of seasons played. This system has to be weighed with the number of seasons played, but is a good outlook on what effect they had those seasons compared to their peers.
For hitters they need to score 430 to be considered and 500 to clinch. Starting pitchers need 390 to be considered and 420 to clinch. Hard to gauge Relievers because we only have 1 in the Hall currently, but for comparison I'd say 200 to be considered and 250 to clinch. (Relievers number may change with more data).
The Future Famers of (Cobb)Father?
Let's take a look at those retired Cobbfather players who received votes in last year's voting to see where they stand. Bold scores denotes secure things according to similar players.
By these measures it appears Edinson Hernandez scores the only sure thing according to all systems. I see easy arguments to include Ernie McEnerney, Don Sparks, and Wandy Guillen. The debatable players include Haywood Swann and Rubby Javier. With a 'Thanks for playing' to Dorssys Tatis and Alving Palmeiro.
Armando Merced tops all three categories as the only pitcher to do so and should be a sure bet to make the Hall. Braeden Abercrombie barely misses the clinch in two systems while clearing the third. Very easy argument to have him included in the Hall. Tavarez, Leonard, and Gonzalez all hover around the debatable mark, with Tavarez and Gonzalez meeting the Test system requirements. Far behind is Ryan Fisher, though he might have similar stats to Leonard his Monitor score shows he's a step behind him.
This one is a little harder to gauge, but I tip my hat to Yeico Miranda as a clinch for the Hall with Balentien very close by behind and an easy argument to be included.
Of those who received votes last year, Edinson Hernandez, Armando Merced, and Yeico Miranda should all be included on the majority of ballets. As we move into the Cobbfather playoffs, best of luck to those teams still in the playoffs and to those players with a chance at the Hall of Fame next year. Remember: Vote early, vote often!