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 (361.97 WS avg)? N/A (Only Appling qualified)

More quagmire.

Number selected: 2
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 0.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 13.33%
Percentage by Grade: 0.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 8.51%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 100.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (361.97 WS avg)? 0.00% (Eight qualified)

Again, two good choice by the veterans. Carey had gotten a lot of support from the writers in his year of eligibility and it probably carried over. At this point there were still so many older players to pick from, any form of notoriety (carryover support from the writers' election, broadcasting, illness, death, dating Madonna, etc.) was all it took to get someone in. At least they were picking qualified candidates if possible not all of the qualified candidates.

Number selected: 2
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 0.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 6.06%
Percentage by Grade: 0.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 4.65%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 0.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (361.44 WS avg)? 0.00% (Only Appling qualified)

Thus started the first-ballot phenomena that still persists today. The white noise of many qualified candidates can best be broken by throwing a new player, who was active relatively recently.

Number selected: 1
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 0.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 4.76%
Percentage by Grade: 0.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 4.08%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 100.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (361.44 WS avg)? 0.00% (Eight qualified)

Again the pendulum swung back to having more players enshrined in Cooperstown. The first step was to allow the Veterans to vote every year and then next was allowing them to select more than two players per election in 1963. Note that the veterans were limited to two selections a year. This came on the heels of the latest binge in 1953. The writers’ elections too would become annual and a run off election was imposed to guard against no one garnering the necessary votes.

Number selected: 4
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 0.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 13.33%
Percentage by Grade: 25.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 12.73%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 75.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (358.32 WS avg)? 25.00% (Eight qualified)

Four decent choices. They were perhaps not the best available but they were also not the worst.

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 (356.93 WS avg)? 100.00% (Appling was the only candidate above this figure though Vaughn was just fractions away.)

The re-imposed run off proved successful as the writers picked the best candidate according to Win Shares.

Number selected: 5
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 40.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 13.89%
Percentage by Grade: 40.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 15.52%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 40.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (356.93 WS avg)? 40.00% (Seven qualified.)

Very mixed. There are two great selections and three marginal ones. It could be worse (and soon be).

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 (355.96 WS avg)? 100.00% (Five qualified.)

The veterans committee was finally taking care of business in this period.

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 (356.54 WS avg)? 100.00% (Vaughn also was within a half of a Win Share of qualifying.)

Even the logjammed writers couldn’t fail to pick Ted Williams without a run off.

Number selected: 1
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 0.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 25.00%
Percentage by Grade: 100.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 25.00%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 100.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (358.93 WS avg)? 0.00% (None qualified.)

Ruffing is a decent choice from a decent group of candidates. Again, the run off does its job.

Number selected: 1
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 0.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 1.32%
Percentage by Grade: 0.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 1.06%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 0.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (358.93 WS avg)? 0.00% (four qualified.)

Little Poison? So what happened? Well, James explains that Frankie Frisch was named to the committee in 1967 and quickly became its central figure. And the committee was back to the old schtick like Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance being selected en masse. Big Poison/Little Poison plays in Peoria just like an episode of “Big John, Little John”.

Number selected: 1
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 0.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 14.29%
Percentage by Grade: 100.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 14.29%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 100.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (357.15 WS avg)? 0.00% (None qualified.)

Number selected: 2
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 0.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 7.41%
Percentage by Grade: 50.00%
Percentage by Grade bypassed: 6.38%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 50.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (357.15 WS avg)? 0.00% (Four qualified.)

Number selected: 2
Percentage by Top Win Shares: 50.00%
Percentage based on bypassed: 4.65%
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 (355.88 WS avg)? 50.00% (Musial alone qualified.)

Campanella looks bad on paper but had a great peak for a catcher and of course had an abbreviated career, because of segregation at the start and his career-ending injury at the end. Musial is a no-brainer.

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: 2.13%
Percentage elected over 300 Win Shares? 0.00%
Percentage better than the established standards for the Hall (355.88 WS avg)? 0.00% (Five qualified.)

Not inspired, but these choices would look Solomon-like soon.

To be continued…