Number selected: 1
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 0.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 25.00%
Percentage by Grade: 0.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 18.18%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 100.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (375.76 WS avg)? 100.00%

Number selected: 2
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 50.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 8.33%
Percentage by Grade: 50.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 7.69%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 50.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (375.76 WS avg)? 50.00%

Typical election by the Old Timers: They pick the best candidate and then the 24th best. Nichols was another 1894 Oriole, so maybe it was just a coincidence that he was the Win Share leader.

Number selected: 0
Percentage by Top Win Shares: N/A
Percentage based on bypassed: N/A
Percentage by Grade: N/A
Percentage by Grade bypassed: N/A
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? N/A
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (376.42 WS avg)? N/A (Ott, Foxx, Waner, and Wheat qualified and Simmons was close.)

Typical election for the writers: no one was selected out a group of qualified candidates.

Number selected: 2
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 100.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 100.00%
Percentage by Grade: 100.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 100.00%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 100.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (376.42 WS avg)? 100.00% (three others qualified)

Well, that's a little better. The top two got in and a number of the better candidates crept towards the 75% threshold. So what changed? Bill James says that at this time a subtle change was made to the procedures that made a big difference. A copy of the previous year's results accompanied the ballot that was sent to each voter. This may seem minor but it ushered in a brief golden age of Hall voting. That is, until it was discontinue in 1956—you see, it made way too much sense.

James also mentions that briefly players in uniform, that is, as a manager or coach, were barred from the vote. He said that this lasted a couple of years. I have not excluded any players who would have been thusly barred for two reasons: First, I'm too lazy and second, it was such a short-lived and arbitrary rule (what about GMs and scouts) that I would rather evaluate each ballot by the players that should have been available. (Note: Appling was the manager of the Memphis Chicks in the Southern Assoc., which may explain his lack of support. Red Ruffing was also managing in the minors at the time.)

Number selected: 2
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 50.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 33.33%
Percentage by Grade: 100.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 38.46%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 100.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (380.89 WS avg)? 50.00% (two others qualified)

Number selected: 2
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 0.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 1.70%
Percentage by Grade: 50.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 2.27%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 50.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (381.24 WS avg)? 0.00% (Only DiMaggio qualified)

Well, maybe "Golden Age" is a bit strong. Simmons was a good choice, but Dean was a poor one. He was a great pitcher but was washed up by 27 and only had six full seasons in the majors. The Hall would later rightfully elect Sandy Koufax under similar circumstance. However, Koufax had a better peak. Being a broadcaster and one of the "Gas House Gang" didn't hurt him. Dean's election pushed the envelope for peak-based players, but at least they didn't pick his brother.

Number selected: 2
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 0.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 2.63%
Percentage by Grade: 0.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 2.91%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 50.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (381.24 WS avg)? 0.00% (Eight qualified)

The Old Timers committee had been laying low since the 1949. Actually, so low that many were six feet underground. A new committee infamously named the Veterans Committee replaced ye Old Timers. In 1953 they inducted six men, including four non-players.

The two players they selected in 1953 might have been out of a hat. Bender was borderline at best. Wallace was a fine choice, but there were so many better. And it would get worse.

Number selected: 3
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 0.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 9.68%
Percentage by Grade: 66.67%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 10.00%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 66.67%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (373.83 WS avg)? 0.00% (Three qualified)

Not bad choices (Terry again had too brief a peak but a .400 season does help), but there were so many as good or better. If you think Ryne Sandberg is being raked over the coals, check out Joe DiMaggio's non-support. (By the way, DiMaggio was grandfathered in when they expanded the waiting period from eligibility from the previous one to five years.)

Number selected: 4
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 25.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 7.69%
Percentage by Grade: 75.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 10.14%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 75.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (369.77 WS avg)? 25.00% (Two others qualified)

Well, they finally deigned to admit DiMaggio, but Vance wasn't a very inspired choice. I guess, "we'll Dizzy 'em in '53; we'll Dazzy them in '55"…or words to that effect.

Number selected: 2
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 0.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 1.79%
Percentage by Grade: 0.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 1.92%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 50.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (369.77 WS avg)? 0.00% (Seven qualified)

Another poor job by the Veterans. Baker is an OK selection today. Then, he was the 22nd best candidate, and Schalk, many say, got in because he was one of the non-Black Sox.

Number selected: 2
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 0.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 6.45%
Percentage by Grade: 50.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 6.67%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 50.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (362.32 WS avg)? 50.00% (Two qualified)

Cronin and Greenberg, that seems like a pretty good class or at least an innocuous one. It would end up being the straw that broke the Veterans Committee's back or stirred their drink or did some other cliché to the vets. They saw Greenberg as a terrible selection. Even though his greatness doesn’t translate into Win Shares well because of his five seasons lost to the war and his early retirement (at 36 with an adjusted OPS 32% better than the league average—this is a decent average for a Hall of Famer over his entire career), I feel that he was a better selection than most of what the vets were offered since reforming. The Hall was not pleased ostensibly by the spate of mostly worthy candidates that the writers were selecting—15 in six elections!?! Shocking.

The Hall decided that they would alternate elections between the veterans and the writers. Failing to learn from the poor decisions made by the writers in 1939, they were destined to repeat them. They also stopped sending the previous year's results out with the blank ballots. Now, can you guess what happened next?

Number selected: 1
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 100.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 100.00%
Percentage by Grade: 100.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 100.00%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 100.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (360.38 WS avg)? 100.00% (Ten qualified)

At least Veterans got the right guy this time around. It's too bad they didn't do more.

Number selected: 0
Percentage by Top Win Shares: N/A
Percentage based on bypassed: N/A
Percentage by Grade: N/A
Percentage by Grade bypassed: N/A
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? N/A
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (361.69 WS avg)? N/A (Only Appling qualified)

And there we are, right back in the soup. The writers had many qualified candidates, but again couldn’t focus on any.

Number selected: 1
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 0.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 12.50%
Percentage by Grade: 0.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 10.53%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 100.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (361.69 WS avg)? 100.00% (Eight others qualified)

Again, a good choice by the veterans, and again why just one when there were so many that demanded selection?

To be continued…