Yesterday, I wanted to link to an article I saw via David Pinto on Baseball Past & Present. Only, I couldn't link to it because apparently Rob Neyer already had—and the server went down (the server was aneyerated?). The article is simply called The 50 best players not in the Hall of Fame. And gosh do I love articles like this.
Here's the process author Graham Womack used:
Rather than base this on my opinion or some all-powerful stat, I decided to go a different direction– I sought votes from fellow baseball writers, researchers, and anyone else interested. I created a 300-player super ballot and began sending it out on November 22. In all, 63 people voted between the 22nd and December 4, including yours truly. The only rules were to vote for 50 players and to not pick anyone who’d played in the last five years. There wasn’t any ranking system required. Total number of votes received determined a player’s place on the list.
Instead of simply linking, though, I want to dissect the list a bit—particularly, by position. Then, let's compare the list to the highest career rWAR by position. I don't know about you, but to me that sounds like a blast. So, here we go.
With Graham's List, I'll include the placement each player had in the Top 50. In the rWAR List, I'll include the career rWAR. I'll also limit the rWAR List to the same number of players as on Graham's List.
Starting Pitchers
| Graham's List | rWAR List |
|---|---|
| 1. Bert Blyleven 17-Tie. Luis Tiant 25-Tie. Tommy John 28-Tie. Jim Kaat 31-Tie. Ron Guidry 36-Tie. Jack Morris 38-Tie. Kevin Brown 43. Orel Hershiser 49-Tie. David Cone |
90.1 Bert Blyleven 66.3 Rick Reuschel 65.1 Tony Mullane 64.8 Kevin Brown 64.7 Jim McCormick 60.1 Luis Tiant 59.0 Tommy John 58.8 Jerry Koosman 57.5 David Cone |
Blyleven, Tiant, John, Brown, and Cone appear on both lists.
Relief Pitchers
| Graham's List | rWAR List |
|---|---|
| 36-Tie. Lee Smith (26) 38-Tie. Dan Quisenberry (25) |
30.3 Lee Smith 28.2 John Hiller |
Quiz wasn't far behind, but Hiller is extremely underrated.
Catchers
| Graham's List | rWAR List |
|---|---|
| 13. Ted Simmons (44) 20-Tie. Joe Torre (36) 47. Thurman Munson 48. Bill Freehan |
55.6 Joe Torre 50.4 Ted Simmons 48.7 Gene Tenace 43.8 Wally Schang |
Schang is followed by Munson and Freehan.
First Basemen
| Graham's List | rWAR List |
|---|---|
| 5-Tie. Jeff Bagwell (53) 10. Pete Rose (47) 11. Dick Allen (46) 16. Fred McGriff (38) 17-Tie. Will Clark (37) 20-Tie. Mark McGwire (36) 22-Tie. Keith Hernandez (34) 24. Gil Hodges (33) 27. Don Mattingly (31) 28-Tie. Rafael Palmeiro (30) 34. Steve Garvey (28) 44-Tie. Buck O’Neil |
79.9 Jeff Bagwell 75.3 Pete Rose 66.0 Rafael Palmeiro 63.1 Mark McGwire 61.2 Dick Allen 61.0 Keith Hernandez 57.6 Will Clark 56.8 John Olerud 52.9 Norm Cash 50.5 Fred McGriff 47.1 Mark Grace 44.9 Ed Konetchy |
There were a LOT of first basemen here. If you're wonder why Rose is here, that's because I used the position the player appeared at the most. Obviously (and unfortuntately), O'Neil didn't get a chance to get any rWAR.
Second Basemen
| Graham's List | rWAR List |
|---|---|
| 2-Tie. Roberto Alomar (55) 14. Lou Whitaker (43) 22-Tie. Bobby Grich (34) |
69.7 Lou Whitaker 67.6 Bobby Grich 63.5 Roberto Alomar |
Perfect match, player-wise but not ranking-wise.
Third Basemen
| Graham's List | rWAR List |
|---|---|
| 2-Tie. Ron Santo (55) 35. Ken Boyer (27) 40-Tie. Darrell Evans 44-Tie. Graig Nettles |
66.4 Ron Santo 61.6 Graig Nettles 60.8 Buddy Bell 60.6 Sal Bando |
Boyer and Evans are right behind Bando.
Shortstop
| Graham's List | rWAR List |
|---|---|
| 4. Alan Trammell (54) 8. Barry Larkin (49) 40-Tie. Bill Dahlen 49-Tie. Dave Concepcion |
75.9 Bill Dahlen 68.9 Barry Larkin 66.9 Alan Trammell 58.7 Jack Glasscock |
Concepcion is way behind at 33.6.
Left Field
| Graham's List | rWAR List |
|---|---|
| 5-Tie. Joe Jackson (53) 7. Tim Raines (50) 31-Tie. Albert Belle (29) 31-Tie. Minnie Minoso (29) |
64.6 Tim Raines 62.9 Joe Jackson 59.1 Sherry Magee 53.2 Bob Johnson |
Minoso finished right after Johnson. Belle's total is just 37.4.
Center Field
| Graham's List | rWAR List |
|---|---|
| 17-Tie. Dale Murphy (37) 44-Tie. Jimmy Wynn |
59.8 Jimmy Wynn 57.2 Willie Davis |
Murphy ranks at just 44.2 WAR.
Right Field
| Graham's List | rWAR List |
|---|---|
| 12. Dwight Evans (45) 15. Larry Walker (42) 25-Tie. Tony Oliva (32) 28-Tie. Dave Parker (30) 40-Tie. Roger Maris |
67.3 Larry Walker 63.4 Reggie Smith 61.8 Dwight Evans 57.0 Bobby Bonds 55.0 Jack Clark |
Oliva (42.4), Maris (39.8), and Parker (37.8) are more Jim Rice-like. Smith, Bonds, and Clark are quite underrated.
Designated Hitter
| Graham's List | rWAR List |
|---|---|
| 9. Edgar Martinez (48) | 67.2 Edgar Martinez |
If you were wondering, #2 on the DH list for non-Hall of Famers retired five or more years? Jose Canseco.
Personally, I think Graham's List leans a little heavily towards recent players. Granted, the career rWAR list tends to do the same. Personally, I think that has more to do with longer player careers (from better medical care) more than anything. But it's amazing to see guys like Dahlen rate so highly by rWAR but are buried on this list a bit.
Graham's article lists every player who received a vote—plus it's a great read. You should really check it out.