Tommy Leach

[Fuzzy Bear]

Tommy Leach's name has come up in the thread on Jesse Tannehill, and this is linked to the recent discussions here regarding Tannehill, Deacon Phillippe, and Sam Leever, the Pirate starters of the 1st decade of the 20th century.

The case for Leach is that the 1901-03 Pirates were the NL's first dynasty, and they won on defense. Of course, Honus Wagner was a good part of that, but Leach was the regular third baseman on those teams. The game was different then; Bill James has stated that third base was to the right of second base on the defensive spectrum prior to 1935, and this was especially true in the deadball era.

The 1901-03 Pirates aren't bereft of HOFers, they have three (3) enshrined. Two of them (Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke) are bonafide selections, with Wagner belonging in the innermost circles of the HOF. The third selection was Jack Chesbro, a pitcher, but he was selected moreso for his 41-win season with the Highlanders than anything he did with the Pirates. (Indeed, if he had not won 41 games in 1904, Chesbro would have endured the same fate as Tannehill, Phillippe, and Leever, IMO.)

It's clear that the HOF electors honored the wrong 3rd man (Chesbro). I also don't see where any one of the pitchers stands out well ahead of any of the others. If that's the case, and you believe that it's not unreasonable for a dynastic team to produce 3 HOFers, then Leach is the next candidate from that team to look at.

I'm predisposed to vote "no" on Leach. His skills seem common. He had some OBP ability, but didn't hit for a particularly high average, even for the dead ball era. He had good range, but he made a lot of errors; his fielding percentage was below league for his entire time at third (although his best defensive years were 1901-02).

In his 1984 Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James listed Leach among "multi-position stars", along with Harmon Killebrew, Dick Allen, and Pete Rose. In naming a comparable recent player, James stated that the most comparable player to Leach was "Bill Almon, although Leach was much better". How much better than Bill Almon do you have to be in order to be a HOFer?

[jalbright]

Bill James pulled a rock when he made the Almon comparison. Leach rates as an A+ fielder at both 3B and OF (CF), which enabled the Pirates to platoon two other guys who played those spots, moving Leach to cover the other guy's spot.

Here's AG2004's Keltner List discussion to chew on:

Leach has a problem similar to Tony Perez, who had Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, and Pete Rose as teammates on the Big Red Machine. When I made a Keltner List for Perez, and considered his record as much as I could without reference to his teammates, Perez looked worthy of a place in my queue.

The 140-game seasons of 1900 to 1903 also hurt Leach when we compare him to players who had their best years in 154-game seasons. (This factor didn't hurt Wallace as much; his 25-win-share seasons in 1898 and 1899 both came during 154-game seasons, and he had more than 25 win shares per 154 scheduled games only once during the 1900-1903 period.) We have to adjust for that as well.

When I cleared out the obscuring factors, it turned out that Leach had 30 win shares per 154 games in two different seasons, and 29 win shares in a third. I also discovered that Leach led NL players at his position (either 3B or CF, depending on the season) in win shares seven times. In the end, I had to conclude that Leach meets my standards for BBFHOF membership.

Case to Consider: LEACH, Tommy

1. Was he ever regarded as the best player in baseball? Did anybody, while he was active, ever suggest that he was the best player in baseball?

No.

2. Was he the best player on his team?

No. That would have been Honus Wagner. Leach also played in Fred Clarke’s shadow. Leach was second among Pirates position players in win shares in 1907, and first in 1914.

3. Was he the best player in baseball at his position? Was he the best player in the league at his position?

He led all MLB third basemen in win shares in 1902. He led all NL 3B in win shares in 1902, 1903, and 1904, and led all NL CF in win shares in 1907, 1909, 1913, and 1914. Oddly enough, he did not lead NL 3B in win shares in 1908, his best season; he finished second, but would have finished first among AL 3B that year.

Baseball Magazine started to name All-American teams in 1908. During the second half of his career, he was named to the National League’s team three times.

4. Did he have an impact on a number of pennant races?

He had 26 win shares in 1909, when the Pirates won the pennant by 6.5 games, so there’s some impact there. He had 31 win shares in 1908, but the Pirates lost the pennant to the Cubs by just one game. He batted .310/.349/.517 with four triples in 58 World Series AB.

5. Was he good enough that he could play regularly after passing his prime?

Yes. He was a regular through the age of 37.

6. Is he the very best baseball player in history who is not in the Hall of Fame?

No.

7. Are most players who have comparable statistics in the Hall of Fame?

By similarity scores: Jimmy Sheckard, Tom Brown, Brett Butler, Harry Hooper, Dummy Hoy, Willie Wilson, Bid McPhee, Pee Wee Reese, George Burns, and John Ward. Four are in Cooperstown, and three are in the BBFHOF (but Ward is in as a contributor).

Since Leach’s best two seasons came as a third baseman, I’ll compare him to other 3B.

Career win shares, 3B: Brooks Robinson 355, LEACH 329, Ron Santo 322, Graig Nettles 322, Stan Hack 318, Home Run Baker 301. This is BBFHOF territory.

Leach earned 27 win shares in 1902, which was a 140-game season; we’ll adjust that to 30 win shares over 154 games for the peak category.

Top three seasons: Sal Bando 96, Heinie Groh 95, Bobby Bonilla 91, LEACH 90, Ken Caminiti 89, John McGraw 89, Paul Molitor 89, Darrell Evans 87, Howard Johnson 87, Ken Boyer 86, Brooks Robinson 85. This is good territory, as most of the players here are either members of the BBFHOF or regular vote-getters.

Top five seasons: Art Devlin 130, Jimmy Collins 129, Ron Cey 126, Bob Elliott 124, Ken Caminiti 124, Bill Bradley 124, Eddie Yost 123, LEACH 122, Graig Nettles 121, Pie Traynor 119, Whitey Kurowski 119, Toby Harrah 118, Red Rolfe 118, Darrell Evans 117, Freddy Lindstrom 116. Except for Traynor, this is outside of BBFHOF territory; however, Evans has picked up some votes.

8. Do the player's numbers meet Hall of Fame standards?

Leach has a black ink score of 11 (204th) and a gray ink total of 114 (176th). That’s very good for a pre-1920 third baseman, but low for a center fielder. His HOF Standards score of 25.7 (406th) is very low in any case.

There were no Gold Gloves in Leach’s time. However, he won two Win Shares Gold Gloves at third base, and four Win Shares Gold Gloves in the outfield.

Leach is in neither Cooperstown nor the Hall of Merit. However, he is in the BBF Timeline Hall of Fame.

9. Is there any evidence to suggest that the player was significantly better or worse than is suggested by his statistics?

Leach played during the deadball era.

10. Is he the best player at his position who is eligible for the Hall of Fame?

I would rate Sal Bando ahead of him.

11. How many MVP-type seasons did he have? Did he ever win an MVP award? If not, how many times was he close?

There was no MVP award during Leach’s best years. However, he had two seasons with 30+ win shares (counting 1902, when we adjust to a 154-game season), and came up just short in 1907, with 29 win shares.

12. How many All-Star-type seasons did he have? How many All-Star games did he play in? Did most of the players who played in this many All-Star games go into the Hall of Fame?

The All-Star game came after Leach’s time. However, he had eight seasons with 20+ win shares. That’s around the cutoff point. (He came close to having nine such seasons, but he finished with just 19 win shares in 1906).

13. If this man were the best player on his team, would it be likely that the team could win the pennant?

Perhaps. Leach would have a couple of good years, followed by some average years, then return to having good years. His good years came in three clusters; during the first two, the team would contend for a pennant.

14. What impact did the player have on baseball history? Was he responsible for any rule changes? Did he introduce any new equipment? Did he change the game in any way?

He was the first player to record a hit in the World Series, and was the first player to score a run in a World Series game as well. He still holds the record for most triples in a single World Series. His 49 career inside-the-park home runs still stands as the National League record.

15. Did the player uphold the standards of sportsmanship and character that the Hall of Fame, in its written guidelines, instructs us to consider?

As far as I’ve been able to tell. Fan favorites usually uphold these standards.

CONCLUSION: Leach had over 300 career win shares, and was the best player in his league at a key defensive position seven times. Both are very good points in his favor. If he had been able to bunch his best seasons together, he would have made my ballot earlier. But he had enough good seasons to push him on my ballot [as of the time the original post was made].

[Paul Wendt]

In the New BJHBA (2001), Bill James ranked Tommy Leach #20 at thirdbase and fourth before the 1930s, which he considers the old version of the fielding position.

5. Frank Baker
15. Pie Traynor
17. Jimmy Collins
20. Tommy Leach

(BJ's perspective on the past favors later players over earlier. Of course that cuts both ways, and in favor of these four in comparison with their predecessors. Continuing down to #40 the old guys in the ranks of 3Bmen are 21 Heinie Groh, 26 John McGraw, 29 Larry Gardner, 33 Lave Cross.)


In Win Shares (2002) Bill James gives Leach A+ grades at both 3B and CF. For early 3Bmen A+ isn't rare as for recent ones, but it isn't common (5 out of 60? with 5000 innings); A+ isn't common even at CF.


By career average OPS+, Tommy Leach outbat Billy Almon 109 to 83. He earned 114 points grey ink (Almon 3 points). He was a long hitter in the day when a homerun was usually a fortunate triple by a good baserunner.

Tommy Leach, NL rank 1901-1909
-1367-63- : triples
-12---662 : homeruns

-58---456 : total bases


What is a dynasty? Wagner was a super player for the Pirates 13 years 1900-1912. Clarke was the regular LF for all but the last (still the manager) and Leach was the regular 3B or CF all but the first (on the bench) and last (traded mid-season). Here is how they finished, carried through 1913 to the end for the "Mathewson Giants" and the verge of the Federal League.

2 1 1 1 4 2 3 2 2 1 3 3 2 4 : Pittsburgh, NL rank 1900-1913
6 6 5 3 2 3 1 1 1 2 1 2 3 3 : Chicago
8 7 8 2 1 1 2 4 2 3 2 1 1 1 : New York

Leever and Phillippe were regular starting pitchers thru 1908 and 1907; secondary members of the staff through 1910 and 1911. Other pitchers were in and out with quicker turnover and so many Pirate pitchers "look good" that it seems clear the fielders earned much of the credit.

By the way, the Phillies did not suffer many bad years, finishing 3rd in 1899 plus this record 1900 to 1917, Alexander's last season.
3 2 7 7 8 4 4 3 4 5 4 4 5 2 6 1 2 2 : Philly, NL rank 1900-1917


In the 1960s Tommy Leach was the oldest player interviewed by Larry Ritter for The Glory of Their Times. You should either give him extra credit for that, or read it!