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OFFICIAL WIS XVIII THREAD: An Ode to Claude Hendrix (1 Viewer)

5.14 - Jack Chesbro, SP - 1900s

Lots of good wiki shtick for Happy Jack:

Chesbro worked in 1894 as an attendant at the Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital in Middletown, New York in order to play for the Asylums, the team representing the mental hospital. There, an inmate gave Chesbro the nickname "Happy Jack", due to his pleasant demeanor.

He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut with the Pirates on July 12, 1899. He recorded a 6–9 win-loss record for the 1899 Pirates. After the season, on December 8, 1899, Chesbro was traded with George Fox, Art Madison, John O'Brien, and $25,000 ($701,500 in current dollar terms) to the Louisville Colonels for Honus Wagner, Fred Clarke, Bert Cunningham, Mike Kelley, Tacks Latimer, Tommy Leach, Tom Messitt, Deacon Phillippe, Claude Ritchey, Rube Waddell, Jack Wadsworth, and Chief Zimmer. The Louisville club dissolved that offseason, and Chesbro, Fox, Madison and O'Brien were assigned to Pittsburgh in March as the National League (NL) reduced from 12 to eight teams.

Chesbro began throwing a spitball in the 1904 season,[23][24] which he learned from Elmer Stricklett, the inventor of the spitball.[25] Chesbro also began working on a "slow ball". That year, he started 51 games and finished 48 while posting a 1.82 ERA, striking out 239 batters, and recording 41 wins and 48 complete games over 454 2⁄3 innings pitched, setting MLB records for wins, complete games, and innings pitched in a season.

Before the 1905 season, Chesbro announced that he had created a pitch he called the "jump ball". He struggled in the 1905 season, registering a 19-15 record.

During the 1905 season, Chesbro was involved in the first squeeze play in baseball. At third base, Chesbro mistakenly thought he had received a steal sign from manager Clark Griffith, while Willie Keeler bunted for a hit. As Chesbro scored, Griffith made a note of the play and taught it in spring training the following season.

Chesbro announced he would work on keeping his weight down prior to the 1907 season, but announced his intentions to retire in February 1907. In March 1907, he announced he would return, but not at a pay cut. He signed a new contract two weeks into the 1907 season, in which he went 10–10.

After the 1907 season, Chesbro announced that he was giving up the experimental spitball, intending to return to the "old style of pitching" in 1908. He finished the 1908 season with a 14–20 record.

Chesbro's induction into the HOF is considered dubious, as his overall career was overshadowed by his 1904 season. Baseball historian Bill James considers Chesbro to be undeserving of induction to the Hall of Fame. In his book The Politics of Glory, James charged that the induction of undeserving players created a "second tier" in the Hall of Fame. James claimed that Chesbro was inducted into the Hall of Fame solely on the basis of his 1904 season, even though other pitchers who did not make the Hall of Fame have similar career statistics.
 
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This whole having a list of players and hope they don't get taken.....it's a strange and new feeling to me.

 
5.15 Dave Davenport, SP, Federal League
At long last. The 24th guy from my initial list of possible 1st rounders. Insane that he lasted as long as he did.
None of us (save you) know how FL players perform. Almost took him over Chesbro, but Chesbro had a better wiki page.
I don't really know either but he's a deadballer, and I expect he'll perform like one for the most part. Deadballers are great. Any way to get another one for free is a big plus. At least that was my thinking.

 
5.15 Dave Davenport, SP, Federal League
At long last. The 24th guy from my initial list of possible 1st rounders. Insane that he lasted as long as he did.
You think he's miles better than Eddie Plank's Fed season, or just a little better (way more IPs for sure)? Plank has the edge in some metrics, and Davenport has the edge in some.
I was scared off by his OVA. I personally haven't had much success with pitchers at that level. Hard to argue with the inning and ERC though.

 
I was scared off by his OVA. I personally haven't had much success with pitchers at that level. Hard to argue with the inning and ERC though.
Plank's OAV is three points worse (.222 vs .219, normalized). But I figured that was essentially even.

If ERC matters in and of itself, Plank's is lower (1.85 vs 1.95, normalized). Much of that difference has to be a function of Plank's way lower HR/9 rate.

 

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