[Big Six]

Baseball Magazine, August 1936

THREE MEN FOR COOPERSTOWN
Hall of Famer Urges Voters to Remember Three Stars of the Past

by PAT O'FARRELL

Six years ago, I was fortunate enough to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. That afternoon will always be one of the most memorable events in my life, and membership in the Hall of Fame will always rank among the most cherished honors I have received for my accomplishments in baseball. It is flattering to be enshrined there with the greatest players in the history of our National Pastime.

I believe that, on the whole, the voters who each year choose new members for the Hall have done a splendid job. As more and more time goes by, however, I am afraid that the credentials of several "old timers" may be overlooked by voters who might not have been fortunate enough to see them play when they were in their prime. I would like, therefore, to mention the names of a few players whom I believe to be worthy of election to the Hall of Fame.

Simon Nicholls was a fine shortstop who starred for the Athletics and Senators from 1903 until 1923. Simon was not a flashy player, and he was sometimes overshadowed by teammates like Joe Jackson and Eddie Murphy. He hit nearly .300 in his career, however, and recorded nearly 2700 hits. While Simon's home run totals don't look very impressive when compared to the totals accumulated by the batsmen of today, he was considered quite a slugger in his time. He finished among the top five home run hitters in the American League five times, and was the runner-up twice.

The physical demands placed on a catcher might exceed those faced by any other player, and even the most robust backstops need regular breaks in order to remain effective. This makes it difficult for catchers to pile up eye-catching statistical totals.

There have been few catchers in baseball history who were as productive at the bat as Ted Easterly was during his career with the Indians and Giants. Ted hit .321 lifetime, and would have been the American League batting champion twice if he had recorded enough at bats to qualify for the title. In 1911, when George Moriarty led the league at .368, Ted hit .373 in 397 trips to the plate. The following year, his .385 performance in 379 at bats would have topped Tris Speaker's league-leading mark of .372. Before years and years of squatting behind the plate took their toll on his knees, Ted was a fast runner who stole 20 or 30 bases a year.

For years, George Mullin of the Detroit Tigers was one of the most feared pitchers in the American League. When I broke in to the big leagues in 1907, George was the ace of the Detroit staff. He won at least 20 games five times for the powerful Tigers squads of that era. George's career total of 277 wins and his lifetime ERA of 3.18 compare favorably to the records of several Hall of Fame pitchers.

Recently, the Hall of Fame announced that it is limiting the number of years a player may remain on the ballot to twelve. If he does not receive 75% of the vote in a Hall of Fame election within that period, he will be dropped from the ballot, and unless the Hall changes its policy to allow for a re-examination of his credentials, his chances for membership are gone.

Nicholls, Easterly, and Mullin are among the fine ballplayers whose names will be erased from the ballot if they are not elected to the Hall in 1937. I would be honored to welcome each of these men as fellow members of the Hall of Fame, and I hope that the voters seriously consider them for election.