#jim mccormick

[kaykayandersen]

Damn, that trailer was as short as Forge's entire career in the Apex Games.

[kaykayandersen]

I suspected there was no way Revenant wasn't at least dropping in season 4 along with Forge. Hell, Revenant has Valentine's Day lines stored in the files. The new season 4 trailer leak is kinda confirming those suspicions.

[gummyartstradingcards]

[andreblogson]

The Mystery of Jim McCormick: Solved

Have you ever looked at the JAWS list for pitchers? It can be an infuriatingly frustrating experience. Let’s say that you’re trying to make a case that a pitcher like Mike Mussina, Roy Halladay or Curt Schilling (I know, I know) deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. And let’s say you’re using Bill James’ tried-and-true Keltner List as a guideline. Question #10 on that list is, “Is he the best player at his position who is eligible for the Hall of Fame?” Well, if you take Roger Clemens out of the equation, the answer to that question is still always going to be no. Because the best pitcher not currently in Cooperstown (according to JAWS, anyway) is always Jim McCormick, some guy who pitched from 1878-1887. For teams like the Indianapolis and Cleveland Blues, the Cincinnati Outlaw Reds, the Providence Grays and the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. I mean, the guy played a year in the Union Association, whatever that was. He also pitched from 50 feet his whole career, underhand until 1884, with batters having the privilege of calling for a low or a high pitch. During his career, 9 balls equaled a walk. Then 8. Then 6. Then 5. He never even made it to 1893, when the distance was moved to 60-feet-6-inches. And yet there he is, like a sore thumb, #18 on JAWS. 

You might want to dismiss McCormick on era alone, but two pitchers from the 1870′s and five other pre-1884 pitchers are in the Hall of Fame, officially as pitchers. Al Spalding and Candy Cummings are in as ‘pioneers’. The rest won 300 games. And if McCormick had won 300 instead of 265, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. Plus, he ranks higher on JAWS than Pud Galvin (310 wins), Mickey Welch (307) and Old Hoss Radbourn (309). Wins have been historically overvalued. And these guys may have been throwing underhand from 50 feet, but they were still trying to deceive the batters. Candy Cummings is in the Hall as the (debatable) inventor of the curveball, for chrissakes. And some of these underhand pitchers were actually really effective at deceiving batters. There were 10 no-hitters before 1884 and two of them were by Larry Corcoran of the White Stockings. Underhand. Then he pitched another one in 1884. If you’re doing math at home, that’s three no-hitters for a guy from an era that gets dismissed as irrelevant. 

It may not have looked like modern pitching. But that means it shouldn’t have looked like modern hitting either. And yet nine different pre-1884 position players are in the Hall, all while calling for high or low pitches and apparently padding their career stats. Go figure. 

So if we decide that pre-1884 pitchers and pre-1893 pitchers are Hall-of-Fame-worthy, which I think we can, let’s take a look at Jim McCormick. And let’s use the aforementioned Keltner List to sort things out.  

1. Was he ever regarded as the best player in baseball? Did anybody, while he was active, ever suggest that he was the best player in baseball?

I don’t think so. I never would have given him a league Cy Young Award, although he would have come close in 1880. He did put up some massive black ink in 1880 and 1882 due to sheer workload. Like, insane 19th Century oh-my-god-600-innings workloads. And he led the National League in ERA in 1883 and the UA in ERA in ‘84. 

So I think one could make a decent argument for McCormick being the best pitcher in 1880. But I would say the best he could hope for was #2, which is not nothing. It’s just not a yes.         

2. Was he the best player on his team?

Yes, But... These teams didn’t necessarily have a staff, per se. So from 1879-1882, McCormick was THE pitcher for the Cleveland Blues (and also player-manager in 1879-80 and ‘82). He also pitched on two-man rotations, where he was the better of the two for Cleveland in 1883 and with Cincinnati of the UA in 1884. He was the #2 guy in Indianapolis in 1878 and #2 with Cleveland in 1884 (yes, he played in two leagues that year). And then he took a backseat to John Clarkson in Chicago in 1885 and ‘86 before ending his career the #3 guy in Pittsburgh. 

3. Was he the best player in baseball at his position? Was he the best player in the league at his position?

To expand upon the answer to #1, over McCormick’s own career (1878-1887), McCormick is 4th in fWAR after Pud Galvin, Tim Keefe and Jim Whitney. I think the best he can do is #2 to Pud Galvin if you go 1879-1883 or ‘84. It’s not helping that Whitney is not a Hall of Famer, is not in the Hall of Stats, has a 31 on Standards and is 52nd on JAWS. And just for fun, here are the top 10 single-season fWARs during McCormick’s career.         

Toad Ramsey 10.9 1886

John Clarkson 10.9 1887 (HOF)

Toad Ramsey 10.9 1887

Tim Keefe 10.8 1883 (HOF)

Pud Galvin 10.7 1884 (HOF)

Guy Hecker 10.4 1884

John Clarkson 10.1 1885 (HOF)

Matt Kilroy 10.0 1886

Charlie Buffinton 9.9 1884

Charley Radbourn 9.5 1884 (HOF)

4. Did he have an impact on a number of pennant races?

McCormick’s teams were usually pretty bad until he went to Chicago in 1885 and 1886, where he won two pennants with the White Stockings. 

5. Was he good enough that he could play regularly after passing his prime?

He only played for 10 seasons. So maybe not. But it’s not like these old time pitchers played that long. Amos Rusie also only pitched for 10 seasons. Old Hoss Radbourn pitched for 11 seasons. John Clarkson pitched for 12. Mickey Welch pitched for 13. There were major rule changes along the way. Dudes arms basically fell off from those insane workloads. So taken into the context of the times, it was a fairly long career.  

6. Is he the very best baseball player in history who is not in the Hall of Fame?

No. He’s 53rd on Hall of Stats for non-Hall-of-Famers. His 51 standards is behind Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina, not to mention Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield, Larry Walker, Rafael Palmeiro, Pete Rose and Sammy Sosa. And he trails Clemens on JAWS for pitchers.       

7. Are most players who have comparable statistics in the Hall of Fame?

Vic Willis, Old Hoss Radbourn, Red Faber and Burleigh Grimes are similar on BBR Similarity Scores. On Hall of Stats, 18 of the 20 most similar pitchers are deemed Hall-worthy. 

8. Do the player’s numbers meet Hall of Fame standards?

McCormick’s Standards score is a 51, which would make him above average for a Hall of Famer. 265 wins, a 2.43 ERA, a 118 ERA+. His Hall of Stats number is 105, which would also place him in the Hall, if not towards the bottom of the list (201/226). And that’s with a - 20% adjustment for anything before 1893.            

9. Is there any evidence to suggest that the player was significantly better or worse than is suggested by his statistics?

Yeah. I think a lot of his WAR is due to the amount of innings he ate up in Cleveland from 1879-1882, plus that combined NL and UA year in 1884. As Hall of Stats mentions, he’s the only pitcher with more than three seasons of 500+ innings. And he did it five times. That could be impressive or a reason to dismiss his totals (hence their 20% adjustment), depending on how you look at it. He also never had to pitch from 60′6″, which is something major to consider. His bWAR is also significantly different than his fWAR (72.2 to 40.0). BBR gives him a 7.8 WAR in 24 games in the Union Association. FanGraphs gives him a 3.7.

At the same time, McCormick was consistently in the top 10 in fWAR, FIP and ERA. He finished in the top 10 in all 3 six different times in the NL and once in the UA. And even if there weren’t very many teams and there weren’t very many pitchers to begin with, nobody else did that. Not one. From 1871-1895, Jim McCormick was the only pitcher with six elite seasons. I call that ‘the Koufax Rule’. And the only other 19th Century pitchers who meet that criteria were Cy Young (who was a freak and did it 16 times), Kid Nichols (7) and Amos Rusie. Through 2017, only 45 pitchers qualify for the Koufax Rule (which doesn’t really exist, it’s just a thing I invented) and only McCormick, Babe Adams, Tommy Bridges (7), Dutch Leonard, Curt Simmons, Roger Clemens (13), Mike Mussina (10), Kevin Brown (7) and Curt Schilling (8) have done it, are eligible for the Hall of Fame and remain outside.                   

10. Is he the best player at his position who is eligible for the Hall of Fame?

On Jaws? Other than Roger Clemens, yes. On Hall of Stats, 19 pitchers are ahead of him since he got adjusted 20%. And for Standards, it’s Clemens and Mussina.   

11. How many MVP-type seasons did he have? Did he ever win an MVP award? If not, how many times was he close?

In 1878, Will White is my pick for Cy Young and I have McCormick 7th. It is funny to me to name any pre-1890 pitching awards after the actual Cy Young, but whatever. Al Spalding Award? Fine, but that would confuse everyone.      

In 1879, I would have said John Ward was the NL Cy Young winner. But I would have given McCormick 5th. And granted, there were only 8 teams at this point. But only 6 pitchers finished in the top 10 in WAR, FIP and ERA out of 15 qualified.     

In 1880, the race between Ward and McCormick would have been tight. But the slight edge would go to Ward again. Now is as good a time as any to remind you that John Ward is in the Hall of Fame as a shortstop. 

My pick for 1881 would be George Derby of the Detroit Wolverines. I think McCormick gets 4th place. Nobody else was ‘elite’ 4 seasons in a row like that, by the way.      

1882′s NL Cy Young would go to Charley Radbourn. I think McCormick is worthy of 7th. So he stayed consistent.   

I’d give 1883′s NL Cy to Jim Whitney and put McCormick 4th. 

So in 1884, McCormick also played in the Union Association. I would have given Dupee Shaw the Cy Young in the UA, with McCormick probably at #3.  

That’s 7 top 10 finishes. More than anyone else in his era until actual Cy Young. 

12. How many All-Star-type seasons did he have? How many All-Star games did he play in? Did most of the players who played in this many All-Star games go into the Hall of Fame?

When there’s mostly just one league, you can’t really do an All-Star Game. But sure, I’ll say seven All-Star Games would be generous.  

13. If this man were the best player on his team, would it be likely that the team could win the pennant?

Not quite. And that might hurt him.  

14. What impact did the player have on baseball history? Was he responsible for any rule changes? Did he introduce any new equipment? Did he change the game in any way?

Nothing seems to pop up here. 

15. Did the player uphold the standards of sportsmanship and character that the Hall of Fame, in its written guidelines, instructs us to consider?

He was probably a hard boozer, but there’s nothing flagrant to dock him for.  

Conclusion: McCormick was never the best pitcher in baseball. He just pitched a massive workload as the only pitcher in Cleveland, which was probably only manageable because of the 50-feet-and-underhand rules. But he stayed consistent in that role, more consistent than other pitchers of his very specific era, and compiled some pretty impressive career stats along the way, especially for a 10-year career. Things, ehhh, start to break down a little from there.  

Here are the top pitchers in fWAR for 1871-1883 (50-feet-and-underhand) and 1871-1892 (all 50 feet).  

1871-1883 (13 Seasons) fWAR

Bobby Mathews  35.4

Tommy Bond     34.6

Pud Galvin          33.8 (HOF)

Al Spalding         31.3 (HOF)

Jim McCormick  25.0

1871-1892 (22 Seasons) fWAR

Tim Keefe              67.9 (HOF)

Pud Galvin            67.3 (HOF)

John Clarkson      63.6 (HOF)

Bobby Mathews.   54.2

Charley Radbourn 49.3 (HOF)

Jim Whitney          47.5

Charlie Buffinton  46.4

Tony Mullane.       42.5

Mickey Welch       41.7 (HOF)

Silver King            40.5

Jim McCormick   40.0

And here he is compared to the 300-game winners and high WAR pitchers of the same era. This is essentially JAWS using fWAR.

John Clarkson       69.9    56.6   63.25 (HOF)

Tim Keefe              69.9   50.3    60.10 (HOF)

Pud Galvin             67.3   48.4   57.85 (HOF)

Bobby Mathews.   54.2   39.9.  47.05

Jim Whitney           47.5   44.1   45.80

Charley Radbourn   49.3  40.6   44.95 (HOF)

Charlie Buffinton     46.4  41.5   43.95

Silver King               44.8  42.8   43.80

Tony Mullane           47.4   37.2   42.30

Toad Ramsey           37.6   37.6   37.60

Jim McCormick      40.0  34.5   37.25

Mickey Welch          41.7  32.4  37.05 (HOF)

And here are those three pitchers I mentioned at the top of the blog, just for comparison. 

Curt Schilling          79.8   49.8   64.80

Mike Mussina          82.2  41.4   61.80

Roy Halladay            65.2 47.1   56.15

The flaw in BRR JAWS is probably the flaw in bWAR. If you use bWAR, McCormick looks like a Hall of Fame shoe-in, where you even have to deduct 20% from his score to make him come back down to earth. If you use fWAR, he’s the 11th-best pitcher of his era.  

The Hall of Stats seems iffy about him. Jay Jaffe (who invented JAWS) doesn’t even mention McCormick in his Cooperstown book (favoring Tony Mullane over Tommy Bond, Charlie Buffinton, Bob Carruthers, Bobby Mathews and McCormick due to fame). I actually tweeted at Jaffe for some guidance on this. He essentially shrugged and sent me to a Twitter thread from November of 2017, where he said to take pre-1893 stats with a grain of salt and then deferred to Adam Darowski (creator of Hall of Stats and chair of SABR’s Overlooked Nineteenth Century Base Ball Legends committee). If anyone would have answers, it’d be that guy. Darowski basically said McCormick had no traction in the Overlooked Legend project due to lack of fame and/or pioneering story. Nobody there sees McCormick as a priority. Everyone seems good with the number of 19th Century pitchers already enshrined. And everyone would prefer to focus more on overlooked pioneers of the game.  

In the end, bWAR for pitchers is either flawed for 19th Century pitchers or it’s flawed in total. You can judge for yourself. So, is Jim McCormick a Hall of Famer? I’d say no. 

But we might want to take a look at Bobby Mathews.  

[cannabisbusinessexecutive]

Powering The Cannabis Industry: Kush Bottles

Powering The Cannabis Industry: Kush Bottles

A lot of slogans come to mind when I think about Nick Kovacevich and Kush Bottles (KB), particularly “You’ve come a long way baby” or “I would rather fight than quit”. But until CBE interviewed him to catch-up after the story we wrote about the upstart cannabis packaging company three years ago (Torn ACL, Basketball’s loss, Cannabis Industry’s Gain: Kush Bottles…), I never would thought that a…

View On WordPress

[heike-251]

Finally saw Madison yesterday. What a wonderful movie about the Speedboatdriver Jim McCormick. Jim is adorable and gorgeous in it ... and of course he is a fantastic actor.

[simichiamano]

Ima Abasi-Okon ##########################, 2014