The SDMB Hall of Fame Project: Left Fielders

The Game Room
#1

Welcome back to the SDMB Baseball Hall of Fame Project. In this round, we will be voting on Left Fielders.
*Gee, its lonesome in the outfield.
It’s hard to keep awake with nothing to do.

The players on the ballot below are only some suggestions, other than players already in the hall, anyone who played a single at bat at left field in any Major League or the Negro Leagues is eligible, including active players. Outfielders tend to be more fluid in their assignments, so a player you might identify as a left fielder may have been voted in under some other position. If you happen to see any of these on another player’s ballot, let them know so they may select an additional player. The intent of this thread is to elect ten additional left fielders to the SDMB Hall. Every elector should strive to include ten eligible players on their ballot.
Here is a list of some suggested players. Again, you are not limited to players on this list, only by positional eligibility and by players not already in the Hall.
Carl Yastrzemski
Pete Rose
Stan Musial
Ed Delahanty
Al Simmons
Tim Raines
Goose Goslin
Manny Ramirez
Buttercup Dickerson
Billy Williams
Fred Clarke
Jesse Burkett
Sherry Magee
Willie Stargell
Joe Medwick
Zack Wheat
Bob Johnson
Ralph Kiner
Lance Berkman
Jose Cruz
Minnie Minoso
Joe Kelley
Luis Gonzalez
Bobby Veach
Ryan Braun
Roy White
Jim Rice
Jimmy Sheckard
Charlie Keller
George Foster
Heinie Manush
Brian Downing
Ken Williams
Matt Holliday
Lou Brock
Monte Irvin
Harry Stovey
Albert Belle
Jim O’Rourke
Augie Galan
Joe Jackson
George Burns
Sid Gordon
Carl Crawford
Lonnie Smith
Moises Alou

#2

Didn’t Shoeless Joe Jackson play left field? He did in Field of Dreams!

#3

He sure did did.

#4

Ok. Seems like he ought to be on the list of suggested players.
Anyway, here’s my ballot.

Carl Yastrzemski
Manny Ramirez
Pete Rose
Al Simmons
Tim Raines
Willie Stargell
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Ed Delahanty
Billy Williams
Ralph Kiner

Kiner edges out Goslin, Wheat and several others for that last spot. This should be a tightly contested vote.

#5

Carl Yastrzemski
Pete Rose
Ed Delahanty
Al Simmons
Tim Raines
Manny Ramirez
Billy Williams
Willie Stargell
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Goose Goslin

I knew fairly little about most of the older players. Delahanty died by falling into (or jumping into) Niagara Falls?

Goslin got my #10 spot, but I dithered a lot between him, Clarke, and Burkett.

#6

Carl Yastrzemski
Pete Rose
Ed Delahanty
Al Simmons
Tim Raines
Goose Goslin
Willie Stargell
Jim Rice
Lou Brock
Shoeless Joe Jackson

#7

Apparently after being thrown off a train for being drunk and disorderly.

#8

I’m reminded of comedian Ron White, who talks about being thrown out of a bar, then being arrested for being “drunk in public.”

#9

I’m torn on where to put Pete Rose. Left Field is the one position where he was a plus defender, but he only spent 19% of his career there. He is the champ of multi-position players with over 500 games at five postions. As usual, no votes for the nineteenth century slow-pitch league:

Tim Raines
Carl Yastrzemski
Al Simmons
Willie Stargell
Manny Ramirez
Billy Williams
Roy White
Ralph Kiner
Jim Rice
Joe Medwick

#10

I definitely agree, hopefully RickJay can add him, although his lack of being on the ballot (nor Kennesaw Mountain Landis) doesn’t change his eligibility. Feel free to come up with the ballot for Center Fielders if you’re concerned I’ll just list Tris Speaker, Larry Doby and Kenny Lofton; I’d be happy to use it.

#11

Carl Yastrzemski
Stan Musial
Tim Raines
Manny Ramirez
Willie Stargell
Goose Goslin
Jim Rice
Lou Brock
Joe Jackson
Bobby Veach
In retrospect, I shouldn’t have followed BBREF’s listing of Pete Rose as a left fielder. If anyone should be put on in the multipositional ballot, it’s him: Not having a defensive position, yet not being a DH, is one of the defining things about Pete. Along with the whole hitting and gambling bits.

#12

Carl Yastrzemski
Ed Delahanty
Al Simmons
Tim Raines
Goose Goslin
Jesse Burkett
Joe Medwick
Ken Williams
Matt Holliday
Lou Brock

Last cut was Pete Rose, who will get another shot when the multi-position ballot is posted if he isn’t already in by then.

#13

Or just link to BBREF’s list of players by JAWS at each position.

And I see you voted for Stan Musial. I thought he must have been on the 1B ballot, went and checked, and RickJay said:

Crap! I totally missed him. He’ll for sure have to be on the multi-position ballot because he’s a no-brainer.

#14

Wait… Stan Musial wasn’t Inner Circle?

ETA: Just checked and he was. Whew.

#15

Carl Yastrzemski
Pete Rose
Al Simmons
Tim Raines
Goose Goslin
Billy Williams
Willie Stargell
Jim Rice
Lou Brock
Monte Irvin

#16

Added Shoeless Joe to OP ballot, since I was asked to.

#17

With 4 LF’ers already in, those last few spots will probably be pretty competitive (tho I could be wrong as I begin my analysis)…Petey is destined for the multiposition ballot…
Carl Yastrzemski
Tim Raines
Manny Ramirez
Billy Williams
Al Simmons
Goose Goslin
Willie Stargell
Ed Delahanty
And now, those last 2 spots are tough, probably the toughest choices I’ve made so far…got a bunch of turn of the century guys, whom I might timeline down, but their latter day competition is pretty meager.

For 9th place, decided to go with
Ralph Kiner
Mainly because of his peak (pennants fly forever even if he wasn’t around for the 1959 miracle). 10th, damn…
Minnie Minoso
I think he probably deserves some color barrier credit, even if his exact birth year remains uncertain (Wikipedia has it as 1923, Baseball Reference as 1925). It was either him or Lance Berkman (nice OBP), but Minoso got on base too, and was better with the glove. At worst he was 25 when he got his first full season shot; give him 2-3 years of credit and he gets the clear edge over the old timers (Fred Clarke, Jesse Burkett, Zach Wheat, Sherry Magee, and Ducky Medwick).
Surprised that I have Raines as 2nd (6th)-but his competition either dates back to before WWII, or includes people like Manny or Billy Williams, who have their own, deeper flaws.

#18

I feel like having a list that can be quoted and then struck off is probably useful for some people, particularly mobile users who don’t want to try to convince their phone that Yastrzemski is a word. Obviously, RickJay considers his lists a lot more than I do (although I bet he wouldn’t have added Buttercup Dickson in) and is in general much better for doing these things than me. But he’s already balancing his Mod duties with his extra-Dope responsibilities, and I tend to have an hour at work in the morning where I would otherwise would be walking down to the coffee machine for a third time.

I saw the same note Barkis saw on the first base ballot, and didn’t think to actually check the Inner Circle. My amended ballot follows:

Carl Yastrzemski
Tim Raines
Manny Ramirez
Willie Stargell
Goose Goslin
Jim Rice
Lou Brock
Joe Jackson
Bobby Veach
Matt Holliday

I don’t believe anyone followed me down that rabbit hole, but if anyone else in the future does, it’s a little more helpful to me if you can post a full ballot than just adding a player. I can figure it out either way, though.

#19

I wonder why Shoeless Joe doesn’t show up in the BBREF left fielder list?

#20

Hmm, this is a tough one. In the previous positions I’ve had little trouble except at the very margins: deciding if the #10 shortstop was Concepcion or Tulowitzki, which two of Mauer, Cochrane, or Dickey would squeeze in at the bottom of my catcher ballot, that kind of thing. But this list has a bunch of good players I just don’t know much about. At first glance it looks like a lot of folks might well be deserving. Looks like more research may be needed here…