The Baseball Hall of Fame: The Forgotten Five

Image via Wikipedia

Many baseball fans know that when the Hall of Fame opened in 1936, the first five inductees were Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner.  What many baseball fans do not know is that the original premise was to have ten initial inductees.  The five members that were selected were all post 1900 players.  The committee wanted there to also be five players who played prior to 1900.  An Old Timers Committee was placed with the selection process but failed to agree on the five best baseball players of that era in time for the Hall of Fame induction.  So the Hall of Fame opened with only the five modern day players as the original inductees.

Not much has been written about who the five selections prior to 1900 would have been in 1936.  Of course, if the committee could have agreed on the greatest five of that era, there wouldn’t be a need for speculation.

A bit of research into baseball’s history can help us to determine many of the players that had been considered.  For one, taking a look at who from that era was selected to the Hall of Fame in the few years after 1936 can give us a good indication of the caliber player that would have been considered.  Player statistics, media coverage of the time and contemporary viewpoints of a player’s worth can also play a major role in surmising the five that would, or could have made the Hall of Fame in 1936.

Without ever knowing who those five players would have been, here is a list of five possible pre 1900 baseball heroes that may have had great consideration.

Cy Young (Inducted 1937)

Picture source: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/07/07/15246_1.jpg

Every baseball fan knows the namesake.  Many fans even know what 511 signifies.  It’s the number of wins for this famed pitching legend.  While his career spanned from 1890 to 1911, many believe that he was left out of the Hall of Fame in 1936 because the voters for the “modern” era assumed that the Old Timers Committee would surely consider him for a pre-1900 selection.  Either way, he certainly belongs as one of the early inductees.  Cy Young was the original pitching workhorse.  He amassed over 400 innings pitched in four consecutive seasons (1891 to 1894) and ranks #1 all time in Wins, Innings Pitched, Games Started and Complete Games.  His most impressive season was in 1892 where he completed 48 of 49 starts, amassed a record of 36 wins and 12 losses with 9 shutouts and an ERA of 1.92.

Buck Ewing (Inducted 1939)

Picture source: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/07/07/ewingbu01_1.jpg

It wasn’t the statistics that made Buck Ewing considerably the best catcher in late 1800 professional baseball.  It was what his contemporaries felt about his versatile skills.  In his 18 seasons from 1880 to 1897, Ewing, primarily a catcher, would play every position on the field.  He was known for his great throwing arm that was chiefly on display when he was behind the plate.  Ewing would purposely fumble the pitch and let it trickle away so that the unsuspecting base runner would attempt to take a base.  But Ewing would throw the runner out with ease.  His offensive skills were not comparable to the best hitters in baseball, but were still very respectable.  He won a homerun title in 1883 and led the league in triples the following year.  His career batting average is .303.  But if you were to ask anyone who saw Ewing play, they would rank him among the best ever.  Consider this.  In the first voting for the Hall of Fame by the Old Timers Committee, he received the highest number of votes tied with Cap Anson.

Adrian “Cap” Anson (Inducted 1939)

Picture source: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/07/07/capansonpicture5_1.jpg

Adrian “Cap” Anson was professional baseball’s first superstar.  His career began in 1871 playing in the National Association League.  He was recruited in 1876 by the Chicago White Stockings, a team early in their existence in a National League that was just beginning to establish itself.  (The Chicago White Stockings would later be known as the Chicago Cubs.)  Adrian was soon named the team Captain in 1879, which gave him the nickname “Cap”, short for Captain.  With Cap at the helm, the Chicago White Stockings won five pennants from 1880 to 1886.  Statistically, Cap Anson was a great offensive player.  He had 20 straight seasons hitting over .300 and led the league in RBIs eight times.  He amassed 3,418 hits in his career placing him seventh on the all-time list.  In the annals of early professional baseball, Adrian “Cap” Anson was its founding superstar.

Willie Keeler (Inducted 1939)

Picture source: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/07/07/drawsm_1.jpg

Although Willie Keeler is known as an original New York Yankee (Then known as the New York Highlanders formed in 1903), his best years as a professional baseball player had already been played.  He started his career in 1892 and quickly became one of the best singles hitters in professional baseball.  In a six year span from 1894 to 1899, Willie Keeler would bat for an average of .387, leading the league twice in that span including a .424 average in 1897.  He led the Baltimore Orioles to the National League Championship in 1894, 1895 and 1896.  His career .341 average places him 14th all time.  Willie Keeler perfected the infield hit with his ability to chop or bunt a ball and speed his way to first base before being thrown out.  Prior to Willie Keeler, a two-strike bunt attempt that went foul was considered a routine foul and not a third strike.  It was because of Willie Keeler that the rule was changed to a foul bunt attempt with two strikes being considered a strike out.  At the time of his retirement in 1910, Willie Keeler was second all time in hits behind Cap Anson.

Ed Delahanty (Inducted 1945)

Picture source: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/07/07/delahed01_1.jpg

Ed Delahanty started his career with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1888 and quickly became professional baseball’s first feared power hitter.  His best season came in 1893 when he hit for 19 home runs (A great total in those days), 146 RBIs and a .368 batting average.  The following two years, Delahanty would bat .407 and .404 respectively and drive in a total of 237 runs.  In 1899 he hit .410 to become the first player to hit over .400 three times and only one of three in baseball history to accomplish that feat.  (Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby would follow.)  His career .346 average ranks 5th all time.  In his 16 seasons of professional baseball, Delahanty led the league in home runs twice, in slugging percentage 5 times, in doubles 5 times and won 1 batting title.  Despite these great numbers, Ed Delahanty is mostly remembered by the untimely end of his career.  His fatal fall from a moving train in 1903 has been surrounded in mystery and talk of baseball lore for more than a century.  But there is no doubt that during his career, Ed Delahanty was the most feared batter of his time.