The Ultimate Quest for Candidates: Round 1 – The 1970’s (part 1)

[Freakshow]

Welcome to the Ultimate Quest for Candidates (http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=68815)! This thread will have the tenth poll in the first round, choosing the best candidates for the Hall of Fame from the MLB stars of the early 1970’s. You will be asked to vote for your top FIVE (5) players (out of 15); another thread with a companion poll will be posted for the stars of the late 1970's (http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=74817), where you will be asked to vote for your top SIX (6) players (out of 18). This decade has more candidates (33) than earlier decades because of expansion, as well as their recent vintage. None of these candidates were eligible for the HOF Veterans Committee before it was reformed in 2001; there’s still a lot of work to do. The polls will close five weeks after they open.

I’m asking voters not to peek at the results of the voting until after they’ve cast their ballot. I would hope that voters are capable of independently assessing the candidates without worrying about whom the consensus is favoring.

The threads in this project will always be posted a few days before the poll is added. This is done in order to encourage research and discussion of the candidates. I believe (paraphrasing Socrates) that the unexamined ballot is not worth casting. This also gives you a little time to make the case for a candidate not listed who you think deserves to be on the ballot (although you should sign up as a consultant if you really want to be involved in this aspect of the project).

If someone wants to open a separate thread to focus on one of these candidates, go for it; we already see that a lot on this forum. All of these players are worthy of discussion, because the worst candidates here are on a par with the worst players in the Hall.

I expect that everyone is familiar with Baseball-Reference.com and Baseballprospectus.com. These are essential sites for researching a player’s statistical record. I’ve also inserted links to each player’s bio at the SABR Bioproject or Wikipedia.

We will be judging players by the same criteria that the Hall of Fame uses:

“voting shall be based upon the individual's record, ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contribution to the game.”

So everything counts, their lifetime achievements on and off the field, along with their character and other intangibles.

Below are the players we think are the top 40 candidates whose careers centered in the 1970’s. We will need to decide which seven of these to drop for the polls. Basic data are shown for each:
Pos BJ Player Name Win Shares WARP3 Car WS Adj Other
7/m #54 Dusty Baker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusty_Baker) (253: 24-24-23) (73.4: 8.4-7.9-6.6) +8 Mgr 14 yrs/1,162 wins,.527
5 #11 Sal Bando (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sal_Bando) (285: 36-31-29) (83.5: 9.2-9.1-8.5) +2
7/d #40 Don Baylor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Baylor) (268: 29-24-23) (74.6: 8.9-7.3-6.0) +6 Mgr 8.5 yrs/627 wins,.476
9 #15 Bobby Bonds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Bonds) (305: 32-32-31) (95.9: 10.8-10.0-9.9) +3
6 #25 Bert Campaneris (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Campaneris) (282: 29-26-22) (102.4: 11.1-10.4-9.1) +2
8 #21 Cesar Cedeno (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesar_Cedeno) (303: 35-30-30) (87.6: 11.2-10.1-8.3) +7
5 #16 Ron Cey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Cey) (287: 27-27-25) (101.3: 10.8-10.0-9.7) +7
6 #26 Dave Concepcion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Concepcion) (278: 29-25-25) (107.6: 10.4-10.4-9.7) +9
5/3 #10 Darrell Evans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Evans) (371: 31-28-28) (122.8: 12.5-10.8-9.0) +8
7 #34 George Foster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Foster_%28baseball%29) (279: 34-32-30) (88.5: 12.0-9.3-9.0) +10
3 #31 Steve Garvey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Garvey) (286: 27-26-25) (80.4: 8.9-8.7-7.9) +7
4 #12 Bobby Grich (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Grich) (339: 32-31-30) (122.1: 12.3-11.4-9.9) +10
3/m #45 Mike Hargrove (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Hargrove)(220: 25-25-24) (73.1: 9.3-7.9-7.9) +8 Mgr 15 yrs/1,188 wins,.503
5/6 #32 Toby Harrah (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toby_Harrah) (297: 32-28-27) (89.7: 10.8-9.0-8.6) +10
4/m #46 Davey Johnson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davey_Johnson) (172: 23-23-21) (57.6: 7.9-7.5-7.4) +1 Mgr 13 yrs/1,148 wins,.564
7 #35 Greg Luzinski (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Luzinski)(255: 30-28-27) (62.6: 7.6-7.3-6.8) +8
8 #17 Fred Lynn (http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=1320&pid=8554) (284: 34-33-27) (84.6: 10.9-9.7-7.3) +4
2 #14 Thurman Munson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurman_Munson) (207: 26-25-24) (72.7: 9.6-9.6-8.0) +1
9/8 #17 Bobby Murcer (http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=831&pid=10146) (281: 38-38-27) (65.6: 10.4-8.7-7.0) +4 broadcaster
5 #13 Graig Nettles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graig_Nettles) (327: 28-27-26) (107.9: 11.2-10.8-8.7) +6
8/3 #31 Al Oliver (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Oliver) (313: 26-26-24) (86.0: 8.4-7.8-7.0) +8
8 #22 Amos Otis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Otis) (293: 29-29-27) (77.5: 9.0-8.3-7.8) +7
9 #14 Dave Parker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Parker) (331: 37-33-31) (86.3: 10.4-9.1-8.5) +4
2 #18 Darrell Porter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Porter) (227: 31-23-19) (77.0: 11.2-7.8-7.6) +5
2 #10 Ted Simmons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Simmons) (321: 30-28-28) (96.3: 9.0-8.4-8.3) +6
9 #18 Ken Singleton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Singleton) (310: 36-33-32) (87.8: 10.4-9.8-8.8) +8
9/8 #20 Reggie Smith (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggie_Smith) (326: 29-29-27) (89.8: 9.4-9.1-7.2) +1
9 #24 Rusty Staub (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusty_Staub) (361: 32-30-28) (100.2: 10.5-9.2-7.4) +3
2/3 #23 Gene Tenace (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Tenace) (236: 32-26-25) (71.8: 10.3-8.4-8.1) +5
7 #25 Roy White (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_White) (264: 34-29-29) (88.1: 10.3-10.0-9.8) +1
1 #86 Vida Blue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vida_Blue) (206: 30-25-22) (78.3: 11.4-9.8-8.0) +4
1 #39 Bert Blyleven (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Blyleven)(346: 29-23-23) (146.7: 13.2-10.5-10.4) +7
1 #63 Tommy John (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_John) (295: 23-19-19) (113.1: 8.7-7.7-7.1) +6
1 --- Jerry Koosman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Koosman) (244: 25-23-23) (92.3: 9.9-8.4-7.5) +4
1 #72 Mickey Lolich (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Lolich) (225: 29-27-20) (82.5: 10.2-9.0-7.7) +1
1 --- Sparky Lyle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparky_Lyle) (164: 20-19-16) (60.5: 7.4-6.5-5.8) +3
1 --- Mike Marshall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Marshall_%28baseball_pitcher%29)(148: 23-23-23) (64.3: 11.0-9.7-9.4) +2
1 #81 Rick Reuschel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Reuschel)(244: 26-20-20) (102.4: 12.1-9.3-7.9) +4
1 #52 Luis Tiant (http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=645&pid=14207) (258: 29-28-22) (100.4: 10.6-10.6-8.7) +2
1 --- Wilbur Wood (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbur_Wood) (192: 33-31-23) (80.7: 14.7-11.8-10.1) +2
Pos – primary position(s)
BJ – rank at his position in the New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (2001)
Win Shares – shown are career total and best 3 years
WARP3 – from Baseball Prospectus; shown are career total and best 3 years (numbers in bold are increased for extra credit)
Other – Baker, Hargrove and Johnson were successful managers; Baylor not so much. Piniella I consider his primary HOF case to be as a manager and have not included him in this list.
I am thinking now that Fred Lynn should be placed in the 1980's. His WARP and win shares values both center in 1980, PA in 1982. However, his two monster years are in the 70's; 3 of his top 5 WARP3 and 4 of his top 5 WS are in the 70's. Opinions?

Some other things to be aware of:
1) Bill James’ rankings emphasize players’ peak years; this results in long steady careers being rated lower than what may seem right.
2) Win shares in strike seasons 1972 and 1981 are increased to adjust them to a 162-game season. In addition, 1981 has been gently normalized for surrounding seasons.
3) You are free to credit players with minor league or foreign league play. Smith and Johnson both had play in Japan.

[leecemark]

--Lynn's claim to greatness is based on his play in the 70s (well 82 was a HoF caliber season too). I'd put him with the late 70s players.

[Paul Wendt]

cut six? Blue, Koosman, and Wood make a good start. If the sabrmetricians are right about Koosman and Lolich, that leaves ML hanging by his superb Octobers. All four, plus Sparky Lyle at least, were bigger names than several of the regulars, perhaps foremost Harrah and Tenace.

Baylor may be the first regular I would cut. Export Lynn to the 80s. Isn't that consistent with others all along, including Rice at the moment. (Bill James wrote that Rice put himself in the Hall of Fame in the 1970s.)

Kinesiologist Dr. Mike Marshall has a scientific kicker. He continues to research baseball pitching mechanics. As I recall, the abstract or promotion(?) for his presentation at a recent SABR convention was roughly "Why there should never be another pitching injury." Judgment is premature.
(? First I wrote abstract but it may have been a blurb by the SABR office.)

Bobby Murcer is the object of some disagreement between Win Shares and WARP. What's that all about?

[jjpm74]

Vida Blue is one of the strongest pitchers outside of Cooperstown and one of only a handful to win an MVP award as a pitcher. He is also a 6 time all star and has a HOF monitor of 114 and 3 of his most similars are in the HOF. He's also likely one of the 6 I'd vote for. ;)

Wilbur Wood, Jerry Koosman, Mike Hargrove (unless we're crediting him for managerial work) and Gene Tenace have the weakest cases out of all of those players, IMO. Darrel Porter minus 1982 did not have much of an impact, either.

Edit: Toby Harrah is also a weak candidate.

[Freakshow]

Export Lynn to the 80s. Isn't that consistent with others all along, including Rice at the moment. (Bill James wrote that Rice put himself in the Hall of Fame in the 1970s.)

It's easier to see that Rice is a 1980's guy. His win shares and WARP3 value both center in 1981. He had two big years in the 80's, Lynn had none.

Also:
Mike Hargrove (unless we're crediting him for managerial work)

Yes, we are crediting him for managing. For Hargrove and the others their value as managers should be added with their playing value in an assessment of their HOF worthiness. As we've always done in this project.

[jjpm74]

Yes, we are crediting him for managing. For Hargrove and the others their value as managers should be added with their playing value in an assessment of their HOF worthiness. As we've always done in this project.

That definitely makes his case for Cooperstown much stronger.

[Freakshow]

Vida Blue is one of the strongest pitchers outside of Cooperstown and one of only a handful to win an MVP award as a pitcher. He is also a 6 time all star and has a HOF monitor of 114 and 3 of his most similars are in the HOF. He's also likely one of the 6 I'd vote for.
He is likely to fall into the early 1970's poll where we will vote for 5 players. Other top candidates likely headed there are Bonds, Tiant, Staub and Smith.

[baseballPAP]

Say good bye to:
Hargrove...if he makes it, it should have nothing to do with his playing career
Blue...a couple of big seasons and a bunch of fluff
Davey Johnson...see Hargrove comments
Munson...fourth best catcher in this group
Harrah...mostly non-descript career, belongs inthe Hall of Pretty Good
Baylor...loses out to Roy White because White at least knew what the leather thing was for

[jjpm74]

He is likely to fall into the early 1970's poll where we will vote for 5 players. Other top candidates likely headed there are Bonds, Tiant, Staub and Smith.


I had about 4 lines in my previous post that I guess got cutoff somehow when I posted regarding Blue's negatives which far outweigh his positives. As that post looks, I worded it horribly, so let me clarify. I support Blue as one of the six to be dropped. He's not one of the guys I would vote for to advance to the next round.

[jjpm74]

Say good bye to:

Munson...fourth best catcher in this group


Munson has some supporters for the BBFHOF and HOF and was also selected as a starter in the suburbs of cooperstown thread.

[leecemark]

--Baylor, Harrah, Hargrove, Johnson and Luzinski would be my cuts. Johnson was a better manager than a player. Hargrove is nor close either way or even with both addded together (but then I think he was a terrible manager).

[leecemark]

Munson has some supporters for the BBFHOF and HOF and was also selected as a starter in the suburbs of cooperstown thread.

--Munson will be closer to making my ballot than he is to making my drop list. Don't know if he will quite make it - it is a deep crop and will take some time to review.

[Freakshow]

--Baylor, Harrah, Hargrove, Johnson and Luzinski would be my cuts. Johnson was a better manager than a player. Hargrove is nor close either way or even with both addded together (but then I think he was a terrible manager).
Thanks, Mark. Do you have one more? We're looking to drop 6 guys.

So you think all 9 pitchers listed should be on the ballots? The 1970's pitchers are already pretty well represented in the HOF.

[Freakshow]

I'll also remind folks how deep this decade is in candidates. Some of those I looked at and cut from the field of 39: Bill Madlock, Sparky Lyle, Davey Lopes, Gary Matthews, Hal McRae, Steve Rogers, Mike Cuellar, Rick Monday, Tug McGraw and Bob Watson.

[Paul Wendt]

Quoting myself from this morning:
cut six? Blue, Koosman, and Wood make a good start. If the sabrmetricians are right about Koosman and Lolich, that leaves ML hanging by his superb Octobers. All four, plus Sparky Lyle at least, were bigger names than several of the regulars, perhaps foremost Harrah and Tenace.

Baylor may be the first regular I would cut. Export Lynn to the 80s. Isn't that consistent with others all along, including Rice at the moment. (Bill James wrote that Rice put himself in the Hall of Fame in the 1970s.)

I didn't mention Lopes but he and Lyle both now look better to me than some on the list. Does everyone agree? :rolleyes:

export to 1980s: Lynn
on the bubble, pitchers: Blue, Koosman, Wood, Lolich
on the bubble, other: Luzinski, Baylor, Harrah, Tenace

That leaves 30 of 39 securely on this ballot.

add to bubble: Lopes, Lyle

It's tough to go against the Favorite of Sabrmetricians, Fiore Gino Tenacci, but at the moment I favor Lopes, Lyle, Lolich.

Anyway, don't cut Munson or Porter.

[dgarza]

Cut Mike Hargrove and Dusty Baker, their managerial days do not take them out of the hole.
Cut Roy White, Don Baylor, Wilbur Wood, & Bobby Murcer.
A 7th would be Rick Reuschel.

Davey Johnson is spared by his managing.

[jjpm74]

As far as relievers go, I'd be in favor of adding Sparky Lyle to this ballot. He is slightly better than Mike Marshall, IMO who was very good but can be cut to make room for Lyle if necessary (assuming you want at least 1 reliever).

[leecemark]

--I agree Lyle is a better candidate than some on the ballot. I also agree Dusty Baker is next in line for cutting after the 5 I previously mentioned. As for the pitchers, there are several I wouldn't support (maybe none) but I think they are all at least in the discussion. I may be biased though - these are the stars of my childhood.

[leecemark]

--Three guys in this group I support without reservation; Blyleven, Grich and Simmons. Nine more who I'm on the fence on; Bando, Bonds, Cedeno, Lynn (starting for me in the Suburbs of Cooperstown project) , Munson, Nettles (on my BBFHoF ballot), Parker (voted for when he made the BBFHoF, John and Tiant. It is certainly possible I could be convinced on others, although I don't think I've ever supported any of the rest at any point.

[dgarza]

As far as relievers go, I'd be in favor of adding Sparky Lyle to this ballot. He is slightly better than Mike Marshall, IMO who was very good but can be cut to make room for Lyle if necessary (assuming you want at least 1 reliever).
I think if you add Lyle, he'd be the 2nd best pitcher (after Blyleven) of the lot.
A very worthy addition, much stronger than Marshall.

[Freakshow]

A very worthy addition, much stronger than Marshall.
Lyle was pretty consistent and compiled higher career totals than Marshall in most stats. The uberstats (win shares, WARP3) give Lyle a slight edge in career value. Marshall's big edge is his in-season durability. Compare their top 8 years in RelIP:

MM SL
208 137
179 114
141 112
116 108
111 104
109 103
099 095
099 095

Consequently, win shares likes Marshall's peak much more than Lyle's. Top 5 seasons in AWS:

MM SL
23 20
23 19
23 16
21 14
14 14

[Freakshow]

I'm still looking for input in our little straw poll regarding who will be left off the ballots. So far, Baylor is the overwhelming choice to be ousted. The three player-manager hybrids (Baker, Hargrove, Johnson) are also favorites for dropping, along with Blue, Wood and Harrah.

I'll probably swap in Lyle for Marshall. And I'm still not sure what I'll do with Lynn (keep him here or send him to the 80's).

[Erik Bedard]

Baylor for sure to be dropped. Johnson, unlike Hargrove and Baker, was actually a good manager. I'd leave him on and drop the other two. Luzinski would be my fourth cut. Harrah makes five, and for a pitcher, I'd say Koosman or Blue.

[Paul Wendt]

I'll probably swap in Lyle for Marshall.

If the managers go, keep 'em both and add John Hiller too.

By the way, for lots of reading on Marshall's science and instruction, search for
mike marshall kinesiology
.
Someone knows how to get a webpage up among google priorities.
The first listed title is now MIKE MARSHALL IS A CHARLATAN.

[leecemark]

--Johnson I think is more a manager who gets a boost to his candidacy by having been a good player than a player who gets a boost by also having been a good manager. IMO you have to be almost there in one category or the other for the combination to work. Johnson is not one of the 20 best 2B's outside Cooperstown. He probably is one of the 10 best best managers outside.
--Baker I don't see as close in either role. If he wins anything with the Reds he does turn himself into a viable manager candidate. Hargrove is not close either way. Ditto for Baylor.

[Freakshow]

If the managers go, keep 'em both and add John Hiller too.
Well, Tug McGraw is in the same class as those three. The uberstats hate relievers; there's no way I'm gonna list four (or three; or two) of them. HOF voters gave the most love to Lyle, by far. Marshall has always been a controversial figure so it's hard to give him extra credit for anything.

[leecemark]

--If you are going to limit the poll to one reliever then I'd go with Lyle. He is closest to my consideration set, although none of them are actually in it.

[dgarza]

-- Ditto for Baylor.Although Baylor is one of the Top 10 DHs not in the Hall. Whoopie:rolleyes:

[Brad Harris]

I suggest dropping Baker, Blue, Hargrove, Harrah and Wood and swapping Lyle for Marshall. Johnson's managerial career is this close to being Hall worthy on its own. His combined playing-managing career makes him a serious candidate for this; the same can't be said for the other player/manager guys here.

As for my ballot choices, I've got Blyleven, Grich and Simmons down for sure. I'm trying to sort through Evans, Munson, Lyle, Nettles, Tiant and some outfielders for the final spots.

Any thoughts on ranking Bonds, Murcer, Parker, Smith and White?

EDIT: Considering how many players at other positions I think merit consideration, I can't really justify the third best OF (or worse) on this list making my short list, so Smith, Murcer and White are gone. That leaves my consideration set as follows:
Sure things: Blyleven, Grich, Simmons
Who do I cut? Bonds, Evans, Munson, Lyle, Nettles, Parker, Tiant

BTW...this is definitely the most thought-provoking decade yet! :D

I suppose it all depends on how these guys are divided (into early and late 70's)?

[dgarza]

Any thoughts on ranking Bonds, Murcer, Parker, Smith and White?
Bonds, Parker, and Smith come up now and again as players with strong (although not solid) HOF cases.
I have never heard Mucer nor White's names come up in such discussions.
And I agree with both trends.

[Freakshow]

You will note that Wilbur Wood kicks Koufax's butt in WARP.

[leecemark]

--I know Darrell Evans is a sabermetric favorite and all, but I really can't see how he is a better candidate than Graig Nettles. DWS (and perhaps other defensives metrics, I don't know) likes Evans, but he was not a highly regarded defender in his own time. In fact he shifted to first base at age 29, although he shifted back and forth for a few years. Nettles on the other hand was a GREAT defender. Nettles did much better in All Star and MVP voting -and should have. Evans WAS underrated while active, but he is overrated now. Not even close to a Hall of Famer in my book.

[leecemark]

--Parker and Bonds are at least borderliners. Parker would be a Hall of Famer for sure if he hadn't wasted several years in mid-career due to his drug problems. Bonds would probably be there if he had been allowed to play CF more (which he should have except the Giants made a Jeter/A-rod type decision with he and Mays), or if he'd been able to stick with a club (preferably a wiinning one) to form a constituency. or if he hadn't faded so fast. Give him any 2 of those 3 over and he is in - maybe even one.
--Reggie Smith had enough in-season durability issues that he never really put up the huge seasons you like to see. Still he had alot of very good seasons. Like Bonds his career suffers from being split up with three (main) teams. It doesn't help that he is probably best remembered as a Dodger - and had shifted from CF to RF by then. Murcer had a few seasons as a Hall of Famer caliber Cfer, but; a) couldn't sustain it long enough and b) couldn't stick in CF - not to mention c) he was a Yankee when they weren't winning. Roy White? I'd rather have Jim Rice:cap:. Or Amos Otis from this ballot.

[jjpm74]

If there's a way of swinging it, it'd be nice to include 2 relievers here in Marshall and Lyle. If not, I'm in favor of Lyle over Marshall.

[leecemark]

--I've got Simmons, Grich and Blyleven as the no brainers from list ballot. The other contenders;
C: Munson
1B: Garvey (the numbers say no, but when he was active...)
3B: Nettles, Bando
SS: Conception
OF: Oh my, Parker, Bonds, Lynn, Cedeno and Oliver with Smith, Staub and Murcer not that far off.
SP: Tiant and John...and I'd like to say Lolich - but I can't
RP: Lyle

[Brad Harris]

--Lynn's claim to greatness is based on his play in the 70s (well 82 was a HoF caliber season too). I'd put him with the late 70s players.

I concur with this assessment.

[Freakshow]

Is there anyone on this list who's made a mark as a broadcaster? How about a long-time coach?

Usually, I'm looking for a few years as a national voice or more than a decade as a local "media guy". It's a small kicker, but it could be part of a future project of hybrid career/lifetime service candidates.

[jjpm74]

Is there anyone on this list who's made a mark as a broadcaster? How about a long-time coach?

Usually, I'm looking for a few years as a national voice or more than a decade as a local "media guy". It's a small kicker, but it could be part of a future project of hybrid career/lifetime service candidates.

Bobby Murcer has been involved with the Yankees as a broadcaster for 23 seasons.

[Freakshow]

The poll for the 15 early 1970's candidates (accrued most of their value before 1976, in general) has been added to this thread. It will be open for a month.

Seven players were cut from the list above, based on the opinions in our straw poll. Baylor and Harrah were found to be deficient candidates; Baker and Hargrove were not saved by their mediocre managing careers; Blue was most often tabbed as the worst starting pitcher here; I'm persuaded that Johnson is a manager-first candidate; Marshall loses out to Lyle in the RP competition. I was also persuaded to keep Lynn in the decade where his case for the Hall resides.

Momentarily, I'll post the thread with the poll for the late 1970's.

The Round 2 thread for the 1890s/1900s poll is due up soon.

[Brad Harris]

Bonds
Lyle
Munson
Smith
Tiant

I don't give John "extra credit" for the surgery. He pitched well for a fairly long time. Not being a "career" guy, that doesn't shout "Hall of Fame" to me.

[dgarza]

Lyle
Bonds
Smith
John
Munson

[Los Bravos]

Bonds, John, Otis, Smith and El Tiante. Only AO is not a leading choice.

I may have to change my custom user name...

[Paul Wendt]

So the Hall of Merit takes none from column A and five from column B (late '70s).
The BBF HOF takes none from column A and four from column B.
Bill James assigns 300 win shares to three from column A and eight from column B.

Here they are by fielding position.
LF CF RF
White Otis Staub
Smith* Bonds
Murcer*

3B SS 2B 1B
Bando Campy -- --

P
John
Tiant
Koosman
Lolich
Wood
Lyle

C
Munson
Smith and Murcer both played a little more in right than in center, much as did Andre Dawson in a longer career.

[Cougar]

Voted Campy, John, Sparky, Tiant, Munson.

Nearest miss was Lolich.

[Freakshow]

With four more days until the poll closes, we're hoping to improve on the low turnout to this point. Yes, it's not a brilliant slate of candidates, but we've seen that before in this project, too.:lookitup

[Freakshow]

This poll has now closed. With 18 voters weighing in, there are five players assured of being on the ballot in Round 2, the best Hall of Fame Candidates from the early 1970's:

Bobby Bonds
Tommy John
Thurman Munson
Reggie Smith
Luis Tiant

These five will be combined with the top six from the late 1970's poll, plus three at-large spots.

These four players have earned consideration for an at-large spot on the ballot in Round 2:

Sal Bando
Bert Campaneris
Sparky Lyle
Rusty Staub

Here are the official results of the early 1970's poll:

Advances to Round 2 Ballots Points Percent
Bobby Bonds 15 15 83.3%
Tommy John 13 13 72.2%
Luis Tiant 12 12 66.7%
Thurman Munson 11 11 61.1%
Reggie Smith 11 11 61.1%
At-large Candidates
Sal Bando 9 9 50.0%
Sparky Lyle 7 7 38.9%
Rusty Staub 6 6 33.3%
Bert Campaneris 3 3 16.7%
Also-Ran
Bobby Murcer 1 1 5.6%
Amos Otis 1 1 5.6%
Wilbur Wood 1 1 5.6%
Jerry Koosman 0 0 0.0%
Mickey Lolich 0 0 0.0%
Roy White 0 0 0.0%