The Dearth of Early Twentieth Century Phillies Hall of Famers
But then you think about the early Twentieth Century, from 1901 through 1928 (when Chuck Klein joined the team). Yes, there is Grover Cleveland Alexander and Eppa Rixey. But both spent a considerable amount of time pitching for other teams. There is Dave Bancroft. But his numbers for his time in Philadelphia aren't impressive at all. He made the Hall of Fame due to the strength of his time with the New York Giants. Really, there aren't any great Phillies hitters from this time period in the Hall of Fame.
Why is that? There is no question that the Phillies lost a good number of offensively talented players upon the creation of the American League in 1901. Colonel Rogers was reportedly one of the worst owners, and the Phillies bats at the end of the century couldn't wait to jump ship once a rival major league came into being. Were the Phillies just that bad in the early decades of the Twentieth Century?
No, that can't be the answer. After all, the Phillies did win the pennant in 1915. And there were a number of decent hitters who played for the Phillies at that time.
Consider Sherry Magee, a hot-headed left fielder who once knocked an umpire out cold for a disputed third strike call. Magee spent eleven seasons with the Phillies, sporting a .299 batting average during that time. He also hit 75 home runs and knocked in 886 RBIs as a Phillie, all during the dead-ball era. In 1904, Magee set the single-season stolen base record for the Phils with 55. That record stood for eighty years until Juan Samuel broke it with 72 in 1984. In 1910, Magee led the National League in runs, RBIs and batting average. In 1914, his last year with the Phillies, Magee led the NL in hits, RBIs and slugging percentage. Magee was equally respected for his defense, known for sensational catches and accurate throws. In all respects, Magee was a quality outfielder. Yet, he has not been selected for the Hall of Fame.
Gavvy Cravath, a consummate power-hitter who played along side Magee in right field, held the Twentieth Century major league record for career home runs, until a certain George Herman Ruth surpassed it. Cravath led the NL in home runs six times. In 1913, Cravath led the NL in home runs, RBIs and slugging percentage. His .341 batting average that year was only good enough for second place in the NL. His numbers for 1915 were solid, even for the dead-ball era. He hit a major league leading 24 home runs with 115 RBIs. His slugging percentage also led the majors at .510. Cravath played a key role in the first Phillies team to win a pennant. Over his career, he amassed 117 home runs with the Phillies, and 119 lifetime. His career Phillies batting average was .291. Lifetime was a respectable .287. There are players with less impressive stats in the Hall.
Even when you consider Chuck Klein, with his .320 lifetime batting average and 300 career home runs, it took thirty-six years after his career, and twenty-two years after his death, to gain admission to the Hall of Fame.
So, what has been holding Phillies players back? The short answer (no pun intended) is the Baker Bowl. Initially constructed in 1887, and then re-built in 1895, the Baker Bowl fit snuggly within a single city block, namely between Broad and 15th Streets, intersected by West Huntingdon Street and West Lehigh Avenue. The stadium boasted the first cantilevered upper deck design, and was the first baseball arena constructed of steel and concrete. While it was praised as being state of the art in the beginning, the stadium was still crammed into an urban neighborhood with a railway yard across the street in right field. It's dimensions were, shall we say, generous to hitters.
Take Fenway Park for example. Fenway is known for its Green Monster in left field: a thirty-seven foot wall, which is 310 feet from home plate along the left field foul line, and 379 feet in left center. The wall is there to protect against "cheap," line-drive home runs along the left field line. Fenway also boasts the shortest right field porch today, at 302 feet down the right field line. But that quickly changes to 380 feet in deep right field. It, too, was a ballpark crammed into a single city block of a busy, dense East Coast metropolis.
Now consider the Baker Bowl's dimensions. From its opening until 1921, the right field fence stood a mere 271 feet away from home plate. The dimensions were widened to 279 feet in 1922, and then to 280 feet in 1927. Right center stood at around 300 feet. To say that the dimensions in right field were short would be an understatement. To protect against the "cheap," line drive home run to right, a forty foot wall stood along Broad Street. A twenty foot screen was added in 1915, requiring a pop fly to clear sixty feet to make it over the right field fence for a dinger.
National League sluggers from the early Twentieth Century who played in Philadelphia, therefore, have had their numbers discounted because of the short right field porch.
Klein had no great difference between home runs hit at home and home hit as a vistor throughout his career. He hit 190 home runs in his home parks, which included short stints to Chicago and Pittsburgh. One hundred ten of career home runs were hit on the road. A full 164 of Klein's home runs were hit in the Baker Bowl, compared to 136 in other parks. That's 55% of his home runs hit at the Baker Bowl. Plus, by the time Klein began playing, in 1928, the right field fence at the Baker Bowl had reached it toughest dimensions. While it took a while for Cooperstown to recognize it, playing in the Baker Bowl did not pose a huge distortion for Klein's offensive stats.
Sherry Magee hit 43 of his 84 career home runs at the Baker Bowl, or about 51%. That is roughly an equal split between home and away home runs. Like Klein, Magee's case for Hall of Fame consideration should not be marred by his time in the Baker Bowl.
Of Gavvy Cravath's 119 home runs, 92, or about 77%, were hit in the Baker Bowl. Cravath clearly benefitted from the short right field porch. Cravath's candidacy for the Hall of Fame has also been plagued by his relatively short major league career of eleven years. On the other hand, Cravath suffered from the East Coast bias, as he was born in California and played a significant amount of time in the Pacific Coast League.
Nonetheless, despite some high quality hitters in the early part of the Twentieth Century, Phillies players are handicapped for Hall of Fame consideration due to, among other things, the dimensions of their home ballpark. As demonstrated above, Sherry Magee should not have his statistics discounted, due to his relatively equal production at home and on the road.
When it comes to the decision on whether to induct a player, in place of the old Veterans' Committee, the Hall of Fame now employs a system of committees, known as the "Eras Committees," for players who were not voted in by the Baseball Writers Association of America. The Early Baseball Committee, which considers players from before 1950, will next meet in December of 2020. After that, current Hall of Fame policy is for the Early Baseball Committee to meet once every decade. You would have to go back to the turn of the Millenium to find the last a player, who was not in the Negro Leagues, and who made most of his contributions to the sport between 1900-1920, was chosen for induction to the Hall of Fame. With the Golden Days Committee (1950-1969) set to meet this winter as well, it should be interesting to see if Sherry Magee gets another chance to make the Hall of Fame.
By: William J. Kovatch, Jr.
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References
Players' statistics were obtained from the Baseball Reference website, Baseball-Reference.com.
Albertson, Matt, "Greatest Phillies not in the Hall of Fame - Sherwood "Sherry" Magee," Philliedelphia (May 18, 2016).
"Baker Bowl," Ballparks.com (last updated October 2004).
"Baker Bowl," Baseball Almanac (site accessed June 1, 2020).
"Eras Committees," National Baseball Hall of Fame website (sited accessed June 1, 2020).
"Fast Facts," Fenway Fanatics (Home to Boston Red Sox fans everywhere) (site accessed June 1, 2020).
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