EWB Sports Hall of Fame Ballot 2 Results

[sahyder1]

Thanks to the 33 people who voted on this second ballot. That number is a disappointment considering we had 31 vote on our first ballot. Lets turn this around for the upcoming 3rd ballot. This is a work in progress. I will be going back and editing these bios in the future. The idea to me is to spark discussion. These results threads should be used to discuss the careers and more importantly providing critique as far as whether these inductees should already have been inducted on a previous ballot or whether this is way too early for them to be inducted. This ballot was pretty wide open. The first place inductee in this class got less total votes then the 4th place guy on the first ballot. All criticism and suggestions are welcome in this thread. . Feel free to do that here. I have created a separate thread for the 3rd ballot. The next class will be inducted on April 1st. Once again all ideas are welcomed. What would you like to see changed? Did I miss something?

So without any further delay here are our inductees.....

Pele

Full Name: Edison Arantes do Nascimento

Nickname: "The King of Football"

Date of Birth: 10/23/1940

Total Votes: 12

Points: 70

First Place Votes: 4

In a career that included 4 World Cup appearances and 3 World Cup titles, Pele put together one of if not the greatest soccer careers of all time. His career was in its infancy in the 1958 World Cup when he put himself on the map worldwide scoring a hat-trick in the semis and then going on to score two more goals in the final. He pretty much never looked back after that. He went on to score 77 international goals (placing him 3rd on the all time list) with 12 (4th all time) of them coming in the World Cup. In 1994 when FIFA announced its all time World Cup, Pele was one of the 3 forwards named to the team. His 1,283 first class goals are recognized by FIFA as the most ever by anyone in the world. He first retired in 1972 before making a brief comeback in the start up North American Soccer League.

Career Achievement:

Spoiler: Click here to view

* FIFA World Cup Golden Ball (Best Player):

o Winner (1): 1970

* Athlete of the Century, elected by world wide journalists, poll by French daily L'Equipe: 1981

* Athlete of the Century, elected by International Olympic Committee: 1999

* Athlete of the Century, by Reuters News Agency: 1999

* UNICEF Football Player of the Century: 1999

* FIFA Player of the Century : 2000

In December 2000, Pelé and Maradona shared the prize of FIFA Player of the Century by FIFA. The award was originally intended to be based upon votes in a web poll, but after it became apparent that it favoured Diego Maradona, many observers complained that the Internet nature of the poll would have meant a skewed demographic of younger fans who would have seen Maradona play, but not Pelé. FIFA then appointed a "Family of Football" committee of FIFA members to decide the winner of the award. The committee chose Pelé. Since Maradona was winning the Internet poll, however, it was decided he and Pelé should share the award.

* Football Player of the Century, elected by France Football's Golden Ball Winners : 1999

* Football Player of the Century, by IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics: 1999

* South America Football Player of the Century, by IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics: 1999

* Laureus World Sports Awards Lifetime Achievement Award from South African President Nelson Mandela: 2000

A consensus of media and expert polls rank Pelé as the greatest footballer of all time.[31]

* BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality:

o Winner (1): 1970

* BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award:

o Winner (1): 2005

Voting Summary:

Pele appeared on 12 of the 33 ballots cast. His 70 points easily make him the top inductee on this second ballot. Pele was one of two men to receive 4 first place votes on this 2nd ballot. He received the same amount of votes as Wayne Gretzky but was beat out on points.

Babe Ruth

Full Name: George Herman Ruth Jr.

Nickname: "Babe", "The Bambino", and "The Sultan of Swat"

Date of Birth: 2/6/1895

Total Votes: 8

Points: 49

First Place Votes: 4

Babe Ruth dominated his sport like few had before him. A lot of people aren't aware that he was a pretty good pitcher before he became the most feared hitter in the sport. In 1921 he his 162nd Home Run....which at the time made him the all time Home Run leader. He would go on to hit 714, a mark which stood until Hank Aaron broke it in 1974. While his power hitting numbers are astonishing his career batting average is equally remarkable at .342 a mark that is really tough for power hitters to touch. He played in a stadium catered for a swing like his with a short porch in right field that was perfect for a left handed power hitter. He is an athlete who came across at just the right time. He lived a lifestyle which in today's media world probably would have brought a lot of negative attention to the team and maybe even serve as a distraction.

He was inducted inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936

His presence in baseball goes well beyond his great hitting numbers. Nothing has fueled the greatest rivalry in sports like the "Curse of the Bambino." It is alleged that his sale from the Red Sox to the Yankees created a curse on the team that wouldn't come off for 86 years. The Red Sox won a championship in 1918 but would not give Ruth a pay raise. He orchestrated a sale to the New York Yankees for $100,000 in a move that is safe to say was the worst transactions in sports if not all of business. While Ruth went on to win 4 more World Series titles the Red Sox would not win their next title until 2004. Even though the talk of curse didn't hit mainstream until 1986 its origins some would argue have been there for a long time.

Brief history:

Spoiler: Click here to view

* In 1946, the Red Sox appeared in their first World Series since the sale of Babe Ruth, and were favored to beat the St. Louis Cardinals. The series went to a seventh game at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. In the bottom of the eighth inning, with the score tied at 3-3, the Cardinals had Enos Slaughter on first base and Harry Walker at the plate. On a hit and run, Walker hit a double to very short left-center field. Slaughter ran through the third base coach's stop sign and beat Boston shortstop Johnny Pesky's relay throw to home plate. Some say Pesky hesitated on the throw, allowing Slaughter to score, but Pesky has always denied this charge. Film footage is inconclusive, except that it shows Pesky in bright sunlight and Slaughter in shadow. Boston star Ted Williams, playing with an injury, was largely ineffective at bat in the Series.

* In 1948, the Red Sox finished the regular season tied for first place, only to lose the pennant to the Cleveland Indians in the major leagues' first-ever one-game playoff.

* In 1949, the Red Sox needed to win just one of the last two games of the season to win the pennant, but lost both games to the Yankees, who would go on to win a record five consecutive World Series from 1949 to 1953.

* In 1967, the Red Sox surprisingly reversed the awful results of the 1966 season by winning the American League pennant on the last weekend of the season. In the World Series, they once again faced the Cardinals, and just as in 1946, the Series went to a seventh game. St. Louis won the deciding contest 7-2 behind their best pitcher Bob Gibson; Gibson defeated Boston ace Jim Lonborg, who was pitching on short rest and was ineffective. Gibson even hit a home run off Lonborg in the game.

* In 1972, the Red Sox lost the division title to the Detroit Tigers by a half-game. The season began with a 13-day strike that resulted in some teams playing up to nine fewer games that season. Additionally, the Red Sox lost a game when it was rained out and the decision was made not to replay it. In the second-to-last game of the season, they lost to the Tigers, 3-1, after a potential run was lost when Luis Aparicio slipped rounding third.

* In 1975, the Red Sox won the pennant and met the dynastic Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. The Red Sox won Game 6 on a famous walk-off home run by catcher Carlton Fisk, setting the stage for the deciding Game 7. Boston took a quick 3-0 lead, but the Reds tied the game. In the top of the ninth, the Reds brought in the go-ahead run on a Joe Morgan single that scored Ken Griffey, Sr., winning what is regarded as one of the greatest World Series ever played.

* In 1978, the Red Sox held a 14-game lead in the American League East over the Yankees on July 18. However, the Yankees subsequently caught fire, eventually tying Boston atop the standings on September 10 after sweeping a four-game series at Fenway Park, an event known to Red Sox fans as the "Boston Massacre." Six days later, the Yankees held a 3½ game lead over the Red Sox, but the Sox won 12 of their next 14 games to overcome that deficit and force a one-game playoff on October 2 at Fenway Park. The memorable moment of the game came when light-hitting Yankee shortstop Bucky Dent cracked a three-run home run in the seventh inning that hit the top of the left field wall (the Green Monster) and skipped out of the park, giving New York a 3-2 lead. The Yankees held on to win the playoff game 5-4, then defeated the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS and won their second straight World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

* In Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, Boston (leading the series three games to two) took a 5-3 lead in the top of the 10th inning. In the bottom half of the frame, Red Sox reliever Calvin Schiraldi quickly retired the first two batters, putting the team within one out of winning the World Series. However, the New York Mets scored three unanswered runs, tying the game on a wild pitch from Bob Stanley and winning it when Boston first baseman Bill Buckner allowed a ground ball to roll through his legs, hit by the Mets' Mookie Wilson, scoring Ray Knight from second base. In the seventh game, the Red Sox took an early 3-0 lead, only to blow it and lose 8-5. The collapses in the last two games prompted Vecsey's articles. As it has turned out, this would be the most recent time that the Red Sox lost even a World Series game.

* In 1988 and 1990, the Red Sox advanced to the American League Championship Series, only to suffer four-game sweeps both times at the hands of the Oakland Athletics. They were also swept by the Cleveland Indians in the 1995 and 1998 AL Division Series, and were defeated by the Yankees four games to one in the 1999 ALCS.

* In 2003, the Red Sox were playing the Yankees in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. Boston held a 5-2 lead in the eighth inning, and manager Grady Little opted to stay with starting pitcher Pedro Martínez rather than go to the bullpen. New York rallied off the tired Martínez, scoring three runs off a single and three doubles to tie the game. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Aaron Boone launched a solo home run off knuckleballing Boston starter Tim Wakefield (pitching in relief) to win the game and the pennant for the Yankees.

While some are obvious stretches, combined with events happening over the course of 86 years they do tend to get lumped in.

Career achievements:

Spoiler: Click here to view

# 2x All-Star selection (1933, 1934)

# 7x World Series champion (1915, 1916, 1918, 1923, 1927, 1928, 1932)

# 1923 AL MVP

# First player to hit 30, 40, 50 and 60 home runs in a season

All-time ranks:

Spoiler: Click here to view

* 3rd on all-time home run list with 714

* 10th on all-time batting average list with .342

* 2nd on all-time RBI list with 2,217

* 1st on all-time slugging % with 0.690

* 2nd on all-time on-base % list with .474

* 1st on all-time OPS with 1.164

* 4th on all-time runs list with 2,174

* 6th on all-time total bases list with 5,793

* 3rd on all-time bases on balls list with 2,062

Voting Summary:

Ruth received 4 first place votes. He finished 5th on the original ballot.

Jackie Robinson

Full Name: Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson

Nickname:

Date of Birth: 1/31/1919

Total Votes: 5

Points: 40

First Place Votes: 3

A great player whose off the field achievements shine even brighter then his on the field ones. At the age of 28, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier as the first African-American in MLB history.

Despite the thousands of death threats that he received his career started in the perfect manner winning the Rookie of the Year in 1947 and finishing 5th in MVP voting. While his career was not long because of the obvious late starts he did make 6 World Series appearances in his 10 years playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson scored more than 100 runs in six of his ten seasons and had a .311 career batting average, a .409 career on-base percentage, and substantially more walks (740) than strikeouts (291).

He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot and in 1997 to mark the 50th anniversary of his debut his #42 was retired throughout the MLB. It was the first time a major North American sports league had taken such an action.

Career Highlights:

Spoiler: Click here to view

Career highlights and awards

* Negro League All-Star selection (1945)[1]

* 6x All-Star selection (1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954)

* World Series champion (1955)

* 1947 NL Rookie of the Year

* 1949 NL MVP

Voting Summary:

Jackie Robinson received 3 first place votes. He finished 3rd on this ballot securing a spot into the EWB Sports HOF despite finishing 14th on the first ballot.

Round 2 Voting Thread. Round 3 can be found here. Once again thanks to all who voted. Lets get more voters this time around.

EWB_Sports_Hall_of_Fame_Votes___Second_Ballot.htm

Edited March 2, 2009 by sahyder1

[gunnar hendershow]

No surprises for the first 2. A bit surprised to see Jackie Robinson in, I can think of quite a few other athletes I would have predicted to go in before him... not that he doesn't belong though.

[sahyder1]

I definitely wasn't expecting Jackie Robinson to be elected this early in the process.