BBF VC Progressive HoF Contributors Election: 1956

[Ace Venom]

Below is our master ballot of contributors. Please feel free to suggest new candidates to consider as I'm only caretaker of this end of the project and could have easily overlooked someone:

Contributors Ballot:

Cap Anson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap_Anson)
Frank Bancroft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Bancroft)
Ed Bolden (http://www.theforgottenleagues.com/ed_bolden_pp.htm)
John T. Brush (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_T._Brush)
Morgan Bulkeley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Bulkeley)
O.P. Caylor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._P._Caylor)
Frank Chance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Chance)
Happy Chandler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Chandler)
Fred Clarke (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Clarke)
Charles Conlon (http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/conlon/conlon.html)
Tom Connolly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Connolly)
Joe Cronin (http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/cronijo01.shtml)
Candy Cummings (http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=1276&pid=3130)
Barney Dreyfuss (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_Dreyfuss)
Jack Dunn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Dunn)
Leo Durocher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Durocher)
Charles Ebbets (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ebbets)
Bob Ferguson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Ferguson_(infielder))
Frankie Frisch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Frisch)
Clark Griffith (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Griffith)
Hughie Jennings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughie_Jennings)
Ring Lardner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Lardner)
Tommy McCarthy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_McCarthy)
Bill McKechnie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_McKechnie)
Tim Murnane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Murnane)
Jim Mutrie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Mutrie)
Harry Clay Pulliam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Clay_Pulliam)
Henry Grantland Rice (http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=R031)
Wilbert Robinson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbert_Robinson)
Jacob Ruppert (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Ruppert)
Ben Shibe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Shibe)
Billy Southworth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Southworth)
Alfred H. Spink (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_H._Spink)
J.G. Taylor Spink (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._G._Taylor_Spink)
Charles Stoneham (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Stoneham)
C.I. Taylor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._I._Taylor)
Chris Von der Ahe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_von_der_Ahe)
John Ward (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Montgomery_Ward)
Sol White (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_White)
J.L. Wilkinson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.L._Wilkinson)
George Wright (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wright_(sportsman))
Phillip Wrigley (http://www.aagpbl.org/league/history.cfm)
William Wrigley, Jr. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wrigley_Jr.)

*I tried to provide links for these contributors so
participants could get a better sense of who they were.
Some links just have a mention of the perosn and some
clue as to their contribution. If someone knows of a more
informative link for any of these players, please speak up
and I will edit this list to add that information.

The following participants ballots will be counted though anyone is free to post a ballot, nominate a player or add to the discussion whether or not they are a member of the committee:

Leecemark
Jalbright
JJPM74
Ace Venom
dgarza
Paul Wendt
AG2004
cowtipper
PVNick
SavoyBG
Brad Harris
Domenic

Since this is the seventh election, participants may list as few as 0 or as many as 15 contributors, though if a blank ballot is cast here, there should be a justification for it.

Voting will commence immediately and conclude when the regular 1951 election concludes which is Wednesday August 5 at 12:14 PM EST. Any contributor appearing on a minimum of 9 ballots is elected. No tallying will be done until time has expired and I ask that participants please refrain from posting comments about who the front runners are. Participants are encouraged to post ballots early and may edit as many times as they wish up to the voting deadline. They do not need to contact me if they make a change.

HALL OF FAME CONTRIBUTORS

Contributor Year Elected
Doc Adams (http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=639&pid=16943) 1925
Ed Barrow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Barrow) 1941
Alex Cartwright (http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blbaseball.htm) 1925
Henry Chadwick (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Chadwick_(writer)) 1925
Charlie Comiskey (http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/blacksox/comiskeybio.html)1925
Jim Creighton (http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&bid=770&pid=0) 1925
Rube Foster (http://www.nlbpa.com/foster__andrew_-_rube.html) 1930
Miller Huggins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_Huggins) 1941
William Hulbert (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hulbert) 1925
Ned Hanlon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Hanlon_(baseball)) 1936
Ban Johnson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban_Johnson) 1936
Bill Klem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Klem) 1941
Kenesaw Landis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenesaw_Mountain_Landis) 1951
Connie Mack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_Mack_(baseball)) 1930
Joe McCarthy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_McCarthy_(baseball)) 1951
John McGraw (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McGraw_(baseball)) 1936
Al Reach (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Reach) 1946
Francis Richter (http://www.uga.edu/juro/2003/shaw.htm) 1941
Branch Rickey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branch_Rickey) 1946
Frank Selee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Selee) 1936
AG Spalding (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Spalding) 1930
Harry Wright (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Wright) 1925

Members of the Progressive HOF elected as Contributors:

1925: Doc Adams, Alex Cartwright, Henry Chadwick, Harry Wright, William Hulbert, Charlie Comiskey, Jim Creighton
1930: Rube Foster, Connie Mack, AG Spalding
1936: Ned Hanlon, Ban Johnson, John McGraw, Frank Selee
1941: Miller Huggins, Bill Klem, Francis Richter Ed Barrow
1946: Al Reach, Branch Rickey
1951: Kenesaw Landis, Joe McCarthy

Previous VC Contributors Threads:

1920 (http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=83852)
1925 (http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=84578)
1930 (http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=85051)
1936 (http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=86598)
1941 (http://baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=87881)
1946 (http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=89916)
1951 (http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?p=1541767)

Note: Additional contributors and pioneers can be added if a participant or outsider suggests them to the master ballot. The person suggesting a contributor does not need to be a participant in the project but does need to give a brief explanation at to who the contributor is and why (s)he is worthy of discussion. Any person who is who has contributed to the game of baseball is eligible. The contributor's ballot is not limited to contributions to MLB.

[Ace Venom]

These contributors were dropped from the master list, but could be added back in by nomination:

Franklin Pierce Adams (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball's_Sad_Lexicon)
John T. Brush (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_T._Brush)
Charlie H. Byrne (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Byrne_(baseball))
Bill Dinneen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Dinneen)
Abner Doubleday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abner_Doubleday)
Al Munro Elias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elias_Sports_Bureau)
John B. Foster (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E05EED9123BEE32A25756C1A9649D94 6896D6CF)
Hugh Fullerton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Fullerton)
Kid Gleason (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kid_Gleason)
Willie Harridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Harridge)
Gary Herrmann (http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2163057717/)
Paul Krichell (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Paul_Krichell_1882)
Charles Wellford Leavitt Jr. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wellford_Leavitt)
Arthur Meyerhoff (http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1119565/index.htm)
Abraham G. Mills (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Mills)
Pat Moran (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Moran)
Jack Norworth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Me_Out_to_the_Ball_Game)
Frank Osborn (http://www.baseball-fever.com/showpost.php?p=1515971&postcount=32)
Henry Grantland Rice (http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=R031)
Wilbert Robinson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbert_Robinson)
Jacob Ruppert (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Ruppert)
Arthur Soden (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Soden)
Charlie Somers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Somers)
George Stallings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stallings)
Gabby Street (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabby_Street)
Ernest Thayer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Thayer)
Frank Warfield (http://coe.ksu.edu/nlbemuseum/history/players/warfield.html)
Horace Wilson (http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/History_of_baseball_in_Japan)
Charles Zaldo (http://www.library.fordham.edu/cubanbaseball/Zaldo.html)
Henry Zaldo (http://www.library.fordham.edu/cubanbaseball/Zaldo.html)
Frederick Zaldo (http://www.library.fordham.edu/cubanbaseball/Zaldo.html)

[PVNICK]

Bulkeley
Caylor
Connolly
Dunn
Ferguson
Griffith
McCarthy
Murnane
Alfred Spink
von der Ahe
Wilkinson

[Ace Venom]

Bulkeley
Caylor
Connolly
Dunn
Ferguson
Griffith
McCarthy
Murnane
Alfred Spink
von der Ahe
Wilkinson

Tommy McCarthy? I left Joe McCarthy on the ballot by mistake.

[Ace Venom]

My ballot, which is subject to change:

Cap Anson
Frank Chance
Happy Chandler
Tom Connolly
Candy Cummings
Charles Ebbets
Clark Griffith
Bob Ferguson
Bill McKechnie
Harry Clay Pulliam
Alfred Spink
Sol White
J.L. Wilkinson
Philip Wrigley
William Wrigley, Jr.

[PVNICK]

Tommy McCarthy? I left Joe McCarthy on the ballot by mistake.

Bulkeley
Caylor
Connolly
Dunn
Ferguson
Griffith
Murnane
Alfred Spink
von der Ahe
Wilkinson

I thought it was Joe. Thanks for the catch.

[Domenic]

Frank Chance
Tom Connolly
Candy Cummings
Jack Dunn
Charles Ebbets
Clark Griffith
Ben Shibe
Alfred Spink
J.G. Taylor Spink
C.I. Taylor
Sol White
J.L. Wilkinson
William Wrigley, Jr.

[leecemark]

Ed Bolden
Barney Dreyfuss
Jack Dunn
K.M. Landis
Joe McCarthy
Ben Shibe

[Ace Venom]

K.M. Landis
Joe McCarthy

Their presence on the ballot was a mistake on my part as we elected them last year.

[dgarza]

Cap Anson
Morgan Bulkeley
Frank Chance
Charles Conlon
Tom Connolly
Candy Cummings
Clark Griffith
Hughie Jennings
Ring Lardner
A.G. Mills
Henry Grantland Rice
Alfred H. Spink
C.I. Taylor
John Ward
Sol White

[jalbright]

Bolden
Conlon
Connolly
Dunn
McKechnie
Southworth
J G Taylor Spink
C I Taylor
Wilkinson

[jjpm74]

Ballot:

Ed Bolden
O.P. Caylor
Happy Chandler
Fred Clarke
Charles Conlon
Tom Connolly
Candy Cummings
Jack Dunn
Leo Durocher
Bob Ferguson
Clark Griffith
Billy Southworth
C.I. Taylor
Sol White
J.L. Wilkinson

[Cowtipper]

Frank Bancroft
Ed Bolden
O. P. Caylor
Tom Connelly
Candy Cummings
Barney Dreyfuss
Tommy McCarthy
Harry Clay Pulliam
Henry Grantland Rice
Ben Shibe
Alfred H. Spink
J. G. Taylor Spink
Sol White
George Wright

[Paul Wendt]

These contributors were dropped from the master list, but could be added back in by nomination:
...
George Wright
...
Wright is also named on the ballot.

--
William Wrigley, Jr.

He is the founder of the gum company. According to Wikipedia his great grandson is William Wrigley, Jr. II.

--
Griffith
Dreyfuss
Dunn
Ebbets
Shibe
Wrigley

why vote for any of them? (I will, I will)

For Griffith there is an easy answer in terms of his early career, long before he was primary owner of a ballclub. He was an active players association official and a successful manager; first pioneer for the American League in New York, second pioneer in Chicago, and one important recruiter for the league in general. As an owner he is best known for hiring players from Latin America and leading baseball's public support for the war.

There is a good case for Griffith as a Hall of Fame player (less than a clear case). We have elected him and that may make a reason not to elect him again as a contributor.

[Ace Venom]

There is a good case for Griffith as a Hall of Fame player (less than a clear case). We have elected him and that may make a reason not to elect him again as a contributor.

You're not counted twice (see Al Spalding), but your contributions are also recognized.

[Ace Venom]

He is the founder of the gum company. According to Wikipedia his great grandson is William Wrigley, Jr. II.

Cubs owner and also owned the Los Angeles Angels of the PCL. He has two ballparks named after him. Speaking of owners, I'm a bit surprised that Ruppert hasn't gotten any support.

[Ace Venom]

I bumped this thread to get some attention to it again.

[Ace Venom]

So far, PVNICk, Ace Venom, Domenic, leecemark, dgarza, jalbright, jjpm74, Cowtipper and Paul Wendt (not sure if that's his ballot) have voted. AG2004, Brad Harris and SavoyBG have yet to vote. I will be sending out PMs later to remind people to vote.

[SavoyBG]

MY BALLOT:

Fred Clarke
Charles Conlon
Tom Connolly
Barney Dreyfuss
Jack Dunn
Al Munro Elias - NOMINATION
Bob Ferguson
Clark Griffith
Ring Lardner
Tommy McCarthy
Grantland Rice - NOMINATION
Wilbert Robinson
Chris von der Ahe
John Ward
Philip Wrigley

[SavoyBG]

Hopefully we get Connolly elected this time. Klem is getting tired of working all of the hall of fame games by himself. Tommy is 86 years old now and I think we need to elect him while he is still around.

Connolly picked up a lot of support after I posted about him in the last election here, and he came close.

[Brad Harris]

Ed Bolden
Happy Chandler
Tom Connolly
Jack Dunn
Leo Durocher
Bob Ferguson
John B. Foster - NOMINATION
John A. Heydler - NOMINATION
Bill McKechnie
Tim Murnane
Jacob Ruppert
Billy Southworth
J.G. Taylor Spink
C.I. Taylor
J.L. Wilkinson

[SavoyBG]

Cap Anson
Ed Bolden
Frank Chance
Happy Chandler
Fred Clarke
Tom Connolly
Jack Dunn
Leo Durocher
Al Munro Elias - NOMINATION
Bob Ferguson
John B. Foster - NOMINATION
John A. Heydler - NOMINATION
Ring Lardner
Bill McKechnie
Tim Murnane
Grantland Rice
Jacob Ruppert
Billy Southworth
Alfred H. Spink
J.G. Taylor Spink
C.I. Taylor
John Ward
J.L. Wilkinson
George Wright

Is there anybody that you DIDN'T vote for?

You're gonna need to trim this ballot down, the most you can vote for is 15 people.

[Paul Wendt]

Bill McKechnie and J.L. Wilkinson are also with us, about 70 and 80 years old.

Frank Bancroft
Ed Bolden
O.P. Caylor
Tom Connolly
Candy Cummings
Bob Ferguson
Clark Griffith
Bill McKechnie
Tim Murnane
Alfred H. Spink
J.G. Taylor Spink
C.I. Taylor
John Ward
Sol White
J.L. Wilkinson

[Paul Wendt]

Suggestion: Cum Posey
or have i overlooked him?


This was not a completed ballot:

Griffith
Dreyfuss
Dunn
Ebbets
Shibe
Wrigley

why vote for any of them? (I will, I will)

For Griffith there is an easy answer in terms of his early career, long before he was primary owner of a ballclub. He was an active players association official and a successful manager; first pioneer for the American League in New York, second pioneer in Chicago, and one important recruiter for the league in general. As an owner he is best known for hiring players from Latin America and leading baseball's public support for the war.

There is a good case for Griffith as a Hall of Fame player (less than a clear case). We have elected him and that may make a reason not to elect him again as a contributor.

Now I am voting for Griffith only.


There is a theme to Mark's short ballot (corrected).
Ed Bolden
Barney Dreyfuss
Jack Dunn
Ben Shibe

Mark,
club and league officers rather than pioneer players, field managers, umpires, or journalists. Why that theme?

Why that particular quartet?

[Ace Venom]

Cap Anson
Ed Bolden
Frank Chance
Happy Chandler
Fred Clarke
Tom Connolly
Jack Dunn
Leo Durocher
Al Munro Elias - NOMINATION
Bob Ferguson
John B. Foster - NOMINATION
John A. Heydler - NOMINATION
Ring Lardner
Bill McKechnie
Tim Murnane
Grantland Rice
Jacob Ruppert
Billy Southworth
Alfred H. Spink
J.G. Taylor Spink
C.I. Taylor
John Ward
J.L. Wilkinson
George Wright

You need to trim this list down to 15. You have 23 here.

[Brad Harris]

Ballot fixed.

[Ace Venom]

Final Results
1) Tom Connolly: 10 Votes (Elected)
t2) Jack Dunn: 7 Votes
t2) Clark Griffith: 7 Votes
t2) J.L. Wilkinson: 7 Votes
t5) Ed Bolden: 6 Votes
t5) Candy Cummings: 6 Votes
t5) Bob Ferguson: 6 Votes
t5) Alfred Spink: 6 Votes
t5) C.I. Taylor: 6 Votes
t5) Sol White: 6 Votes
11) J.G. Taylor Spink: 5 Votes
t12) O.P. Caylor: 4 Votes
t12) Charles Conlon: 4 Votes
t12) Bill McKechnie: 4 Votes
t15) Frank Chance: 3 Votes
t15) Happy Chandler: 3 Votes
t15) Barney Dreyfuss: 3 Votes
t15) Tim Murnane: 3 Votes
t15) Henry Grantland Rice: 3 Votes
t15) Ben Shibe: 3 Votes
t15) Billy Southworth: 3 Votes
t22) Cap Anson: 2 Votes
t22) Frank Bancroft: 2 Votes
t22) Morgan Bulkeley: 2 Votes
t22) Fred Clarke: 2 Votes
t22) Leo Durocher: 2 Votes
t22) Charles Ebbets: 2 Votes
t22) Ring Lardner: 2 Votes
t22) Tommy McCarthy: 2 Votes
t22) Harry Clay Pulliam: 2 Votes
t22) Chris von der Ahe: 2 Votes
t22) John Ward: 2 Votes
t22) Philip Wrigley: 2 Votes
t22) William Wrigley, Jr.: 2 Votes
t35) Al Munro Elias: 1 Vote
t35) John B. Foster: 1 Vote
t35) John A. Heydler: 1 Vote
t35) Hughie Jennings: 1 Vote
t35) A.G. Mills: 1 Vote
t35) Wilbert Robinson: 1 Vote
t35) Jacob Ruppert: 1 Vote
t35) George Wright: 1 Vote

We've elected Tom Connolly with ten votes.

[SavoyBG]

We've elected Tom Connolly with ten votes.

Okay, just one inductee, but the right guy. Looks like nobody else was that close this time. I'd like to push for Ferguson, who was very significant for many reasons:


Robert Vavasour Ferguson (January 31, 1845 – May 3, 1894) was an American infielder, league official, manager and umpire in the early days of baseball, playing both before and after baseball became a professional sport.[1] In addition to playing and managing, he served as president of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players from 1872 through 1875, the sport's first entirely professional league. His character and unquestioned honesty were highly regarded during a period in baseball history where the game's reputation was badly damaged by gamblers and rowdy behavior by players and fans.[2] However, his bad temper and stubbornness were traits that created trouble for him at times during his career, and caused him to be disliked by many.[2] His nickname, "Death to Flying Things",[3] was derived from his greatness as a defensive player.[4]

A native of Brooklyn, Ferguson played for two of New York's earliest semi-professional clubs in the late 1860s and early 1870s, the Atlantics and Mutuals.[4] On June 14 1870, Ferguson provided the hit that created the tying run and he later scored the winning run in a match against the famous Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first team that was comprised entirely of professional players. This win brought to an end the Red Stockings' 81 consecutive game winning streak.[2] He is credited with being the first player to bat from both sides of home plate, known as switch-hitting, but the practice was not popular at first.[5] Among the explanations for this, it is claimed that, due to his personality, players did not want to emulate him.[5] Managers, however, recognized the practice's importance soon after, and began to play their players according to the opposing pitcher that day, known today as platooning, and the advantages that switch-hitting posed would later become accepted strategic baseball philosophy, and many players began to experiment with the idea.[5]

In 1871, Ferguson took over the Mutual team as the player-manager. In 33 games, he batted .241, while the team finished with a 16-17 record, which put them in fifth place at the season's end.[1] As manager, Ferguson insisted upon implicit obedience from his men, but was forced to leave following the season due to heavy rumors of gambling surrounding the team.[2] For the 1872 season, Ferguson re-joined his Atlantics team, which was now a member of the National Association as well, and he would stay there through the 1874 season.[1] In 1872, he was elected by the players to be the president of the National Association, an office he held through the 1875 season, the last season of the Association.[4]

On September 1, 1872, Ferguson arranged a benefit game for Al Thake, a 22-year-old left fielder for the Atlantics, who drowned during a fishing trip off Fort Hamilton, in New York Harbor. The old Brooklyn Atlantics and Members of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings played against each other in the benefit game.[2]

While serving as a substitute umpire during a game between the Baltimore Canaries and Mutuals on July 24, 1873, Ferguson received continuous, loud, verbal abuse from Mutuals catcher Nat Hicks.[2] Ferguson and Hicks got into an altercation at the conclusion of the game, which Ferguson ended by hitting Hicks in the left arm with a bat, breaking his arm in two places. Ferguson required a police escort to leave the playing field, and Hicks refused to press charges and the two reconciled afterwards.[2] During the final season of the Association, he played and managed the Hartford Dark Blues.[1]

When the Association dissolved, his Hartford team was accepted into the National League for its inaugural season in 1876,[1] and Ferguson became a League Director.[2] As a league official, he was involved in a landmark decision that season. The case involved Jim Devlin, pitcher for the Louisville Grays. Devlin wanted to be released from his contract, claiming that Louisville had failed to fulfill the terms of his contract.[2] Surrounding Devlin were rumors that he took money from gamblers to throw games, known in the day as "hippodroming." Ferguson, along with fellow league directors, ruled in favor of the Grays' Vice-President Charles Chase, and Devlin was ordered to remain with the Grays. The following season, Devlin and three other teammates, SS/2B Bill Craver, OF George Hall and 3B Al Nichols would receive life suspensions for throwing games. Devlin attempted to gain reinstatement for a number of years, but this was never granted.[2]

The Dark Blues had turned to Ferguson to play for and manage the team because of his reputation as the most authoritarian captain in the game. He was an honest and upstanding citizen in a time when not many ballplayers could say the same. However, he was also a domineering, dictatorial captain with a violent streak.[6] Team discipline did improve in his first season, but his overbearing ways proved divisive, causing the team to bicker amongst themselves. Ferguson's temper would flare up often, even when the team was winning.[6] The Chicago Tribune reported that if anyone on the Hartford nine committed an error, “Ferguson [would] swear until everything looks blue.”[6] He was particularly rough on second baseman Jack Burdock, who on more than one occasion heard his captain publicly threaten “to ram his fist down Burdock’s throat.”[6] Some players tolerated his behavior; others, however, refused to comply. Shortstop Tom Carey and center fielder Jack Remsen did not hesitate to yell back, while Burdock and pitcher Candy Cummings, on the other hand, often sulked.[6] The situation in Hartford came to a head after a tough loss to the Red Stockings, a game in which Ferguson had committed several errors. Hartford's main pitcher, Tommy Bond, suggested that Ferguson was "crooked". Ferguson denied the charge, and Bond quickly retracted his statement, claiming that he said it in anger.[6] Bond then requested that he be able to leave the team because he could not play for Ferguson, a request that was granted by league president Morgan Bulkeley, a former owner of the Dark Blues.[6]

Hartford finished third in both of its two seasons in the National League[1], and when the team folded, Ferguson became the new Chicago White Stockings player-manager. It would be his only season in Chicago.[1] Al Spalding had hired Ferguson to captain his Chicago team because of his reputation, openly saying that he admired Ferguson's style and leadership that made the Hartford teams successful.[2] Ferguson personally had his most successful season as a player that season, as he batted .351, which was third in the league, led the league in on base percentage, tied for fourth in runs batted in, and ranked fourth in hits.[2] Unfortunately, the White Stockings finished at .500, and in Spalding's memoirs he called Ferguson "tactless" and hopelessly lacking any knowledge "of the subtle science of handling men by strategy rather than by force."[2] Cap Anson would eventually take over that role in 1879.[7]

Ferguson again moved on, this time accepting the player-manager role with the new Troy Trojans team who began their time in the National League in 1879, and would stay in that role until the team folded after the 1882 season.[1] In 1883, he became the first manager in the history of the Philadelphia Phillies franchise, which was known at the time as the Quakers, but was relieved of command when the team won only four of its first 17 games.[1] On August 21 of that season, his Quakers traveled to Providence, Rhode Island to play the Grays. To increase ticket sales, he gave the day's pitching duty to Rhode Island native Art Hagan in hopes that Hagan's appearance would attract more locals to come watch the game.[2] The strategy worked, but Hagen surrendered 28 runs and the Quakers made 20 errors behind him and did not score a run. Financially sound decision as it was, a bad decision for public relations as Ferguson was labeled a sadist for not relieving Hagen.[2]


[edit] American Association
Ferguson's last two managerial positions were in the American Association. He was player-manager for the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, who later became the Pittsburgh Pirates, in 1884 and later took over the managerial role for parts of two seasons with the New York Metropolitans.[1] Overall, as manager, his teams won 417 games and lost 516, for a winning percentage of .447, and never finished higher than the third place finishes his Trojans achieved. The totals reflect his time in the National Association as well as the National League and American Association.[1]


[edit] Umpiring career
Ferguson had, on numerous occasions during his playing and managerial career, served as a substitute umpire, but did not start doing it full time until after his departure from Philadelphia. In 1888, he became a full-time professional umpire, working in the American Association, and later in the Players' League in 1890.[1] By the end of the 1890 season he had passed Kick Kelly to take over the record for career games as an umpire with 650; John Gaffney surpassed his final total of 786 in 1893. Ferguson officially umpired 804 games if his National Association games are taken into account, and his career came to a close after the 1891 season.[1] On his umpiring philosophy, he once stated "Umpiring always came as easy to me", he said, "as sleeping on a featherbed. Never change a decision, never stop to talk to a man. Make 'em play ball and keep their mouths shut, and never fear but the people will be on your side and you'll be called the king of umpires."[8]


[edit] Post-career
Ferguson died in Brooklyn of apoplexy at the age of 49.[4] Initially buried in the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn, he was later reinterred in Cypress Hills Cemetery, also in the borough of Brooklyn.[1] Despite his career that was filled with incidents of turmoil between him and his players and other baseball people, his funeral, which was held at his home, was quickly crowded, as was the front stoop. Eventually, they had to turn people away.[9]

[Paul Wendt]

Suggestion: Cum Posey
or have i overlooked him?

1959:
Posey has not been elected. He is on the Negro Leagues players ballot, where he enjoyed some support in 1956. I don't believe there is a good case for him as a player (maybe a basketball player) but there is a good case for him as a contributor.