It seems that the 1945 class focused more on hitters, as all 10 were position players including catcher/manager Wilbert Robinson. The following year saw five hitters and six pitchers, including pitcher/manager/executive Clark Griffith.
Perhaps the most curious thing about this time period is that the BBWAA couldn't agree on any new electees. They passed on the likes of Lefty Grove, Carl Hubbell and Al Simmons, while the Old Timers had no problem putting in long-forgotten figures like Jesse Burkett and Jim O'Rourke.
Lets dive in to how the Hall handled this new crop of plaques:
Image: A-. A nice representation. Something to note, however, is that Bresnahan's plaque image is probably derived from this photo of him with the Cubs, with whom he played for for two games in 1900, and again from 1913 to 1915. Getty Images states this photo is from 1913. Bresnahan would easily be classified as a New York Giant when it comes to primary teams, but since the Giants should no easily recognizable cap feature during this time, the Hall gets a pass for an incorrect plaque logo.
Name: B-. They're missing his middle name, Phillip, and his nickname "The Duke of Tralee" is lopped in with his text section.
Teams: D. Only the New York Giants are mentioned, in the second line of text, and there is no indication of what other clubs he played for or for how long.
Text: C. It is never a good sign when another player is the focal point of FIRST LINE of text on your Hall of Fame plaque. "Battery Mate of Christy Mathewson," sounds like it is the most famous thing about him, which might be true, but this is not a strong enough claim to immortality.
Let's keep reading. "One of the game's most natural players and might have starred at any position," I don't like this line. All of this text could have been avoided using one word: Versatile. What exactly does it mean to be a "natural player" anyway? If you're in the Baseball Hall of Fame, shouldn't it be assumed you were good at playing baseball? That you had a knack for it? That you were a "natural"?
The last line on his ability to hit leadoff is fine, as he did so in all five games of the 1905 World Series. Its worth noting that perhaps his greatest claim to fame besides the Mathewson connection is his popularization of shin guards, which isn't even mentioned on his plaque.
All this being said, Roger Bresnahan is one of the most controversial Hall of Famers. His 1252 career hits ranks dead last among Hall of Famers inducted solely as (non-Negro League) major league position player, behind Billy Southworth, Bucky Harris, Ned Hanlon and Leo Durocher, who are all inducted as managers. In his book, Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?, Bill James calls the election of Bresnahan and Hughie Jennings, who we'll get to in a bit, "the Hall of Fame's first clear, unmistakable errors" who "wandered into the Hall of Fame on a series of miscalculations."
When I first began studying the Hall, I too thought that Bresnahan was out of place; a light-hitting catcher who had famous teammates and popularized a now-common aspect of the sport. As I look closer, the more I like his election. Among all catchers from his first full season in 1901 until his finale in 1915, he ranks first in WAR, by far. His 40.7 mark is 15.9 above second-place finisher Johnny Kling. If you look at the first 50 years of MLB, 1871-1921, Bresnahan ranks second among all catchers in WAR, just 5.9 behind Buck Ewing, who is regarded as an obvious Hall of Famer. Thanks to a high on-base percentage (.386) and versatility, he makes up for his low hit totals. If you stack him up against his peers, and the era before and after him, Roger Bresnahan is a worthy Hall of Famer too me.
Image: B-. Rounding out the cap-less Class of 1945 is King Kelly. Many similar shots of Kelly facing to his right exist, so I'm not sure exactly what photo this was drawn from. The way its cutoff gives the appearance that Kelly's not even wearing a jersey here, as you can't see his collar.
When I first began studying the Hall, I too thought that Bresnahan was out of place; a light-hitting catcher who had famous teammates and popularized a now-common aspect of the sport. As I look closer, the more I like his election. Among all catchers from his first full season in 1901 until his finale in 1915, he ranks first in WAR, by far. His 40.7 mark is 15.9 above second-place finisher Johnny Kling. If you look at the first 50 years of MLB, 1871-1921, Bresnahan ranks second among all catchers in WAR, just 5.9 behind Buck Ewing, who is regarded as an obvious Hall of Famer. Thanks to a high on-base percentage (.386) and versatility, he makes up for his low hit totals. If you stack him up against his peers, and the era before and after him, Roger Bresnahan is a worthy Hall of Famer too me.
Image: B-. Could have used a cap. The source of this image appears to be this c. 1887 shot of Brouthers with the Detroit Wolverines.
Name: B. Just by looking at his plaque, fans are left assuming one of two things: 1) that his full name was "Dan Brouthers," or B) Dan is an obvious nickname for "Daniel," which must have been his real first name then. Of course, neither are true, as his full name was Dennis Joseph Brouthers.
Teams: D. Missing mention of six of his eight teams, with only Buffalo and Detroit appearing in the body paragraph.
Text: B. This wouldn't be that bad a text section if not for his non-existent .419 batting average in 1887. In actuality, he hit a still-impressive .338. This confusion stems from the fact that for one season, 1887, walks were counted as hits in league records. However, even if you add Brouthers' 71 walks to his 169 hits, factoring in his 588 plate appearances, his average would be.416, not .419.
Image: A. A Fine representation, probably based on this photo.
Name: B. Oddly, Clarke's first name is not Frederick or a variation of it, it was simply Fred. However, his middle name, Clifford, is missing.
Teams: N/A. See John McGraw, Clarke had an equally-notable playing and managing career, and its not clear which, if either, was more important in his Hall of Fame election. He's in the Hall as a player, but he managed for 19 years, and won 4 pennants and a World Series. He was an everyday player for the 15 years of his career as a player-manager. Since he only played and managed two clubs, the Louisville Colonels and Pittsburgh Pirates, his plaque could have read:
Louisville (N.L.), 1894-1899
Pittsburgh (N.L.) 1900-1915
There are several problems with this, as he technically did not play in 1912, as he devoted all of his time that season to managing the Pirates. He also did not manage a game until 1897, but if he was elected as a player, the layout above could have been used, possibly leaving out 1912.
Text: C. It is odd that the Hall classifies Clarke as a left fielder, as his playing career gets one mention on his plaque, at the end. Also, they were incorrect to say he "starred as an outfielder for 22 seasons," since he only played in parts of 21 years, and never saw action in more than nine games a year from 1913 to 1915.
Every other sentence references his managing success. Also worth noting is that Clarke was not the first young, "boy manager" to guide his team to a pennant. The first National Association champions, the 1871 Philadelphia Athletics, were led by a 24-year-old Dick McBride. The Chicago White Stockings, the 1876 National League champs, were managed by 25-year-old Albert Spalding. Cap Anson was 28 when he won his first pennant in 1880, and a 25-year-old Charles Comiskey piloted the St. Louis Browns to the 1885 American Association crown, then led them to three more pennants the next three years.
Image: B-. I'm assuming his image is based on this photo. Much like George Sisler, I wish he was wearing a cap.
Name: B. As would be the case with Lou Boudreau 25 years later, the Hall should have noted Collins' common nickname of "Jimmy," as this plaque would make it seem that he was known as "James Collins" during his career. Also, his middle name Joseph is missing if they wanted to go super formal with the naming conventions.
Teams: D. Collins played for four teams, but only one is mentioned, his most famous club the Red Sox. Boston didn't even go by "Red Sox" officially the entire time Collins played for them, so they mentioned one team but couldn't even get that historically accurate. Also missing is his years played.
Text: B. We already addressed the Red Sox text, now let's get to the first line of his paragraph. It probably should have said "one of the game's greatest third baseman," rather than simply giving him the title outright. While he was the first inductee who primarily played at the hot corner, I would argue Frank "Home Run" Baker was a notch better, though he would have to wait until 1955 to gain election. It would also only be three years later when Pie Traynor joined Collins in Cooperstown. Traynor's playing excellence and overall value have been decimated in recent years, as Sabermetrics has chewed up and spit out his career though, leaving him with a 36.2 WAR, not even high enough to crack the top-5 third basemen from 1871-1945.
Image: B-. Again I don't like it when players are missing their caps, Clearly based on this shot. The interesting thing is that Delahanty is not wearing a baseball uniform in that photo, and by extension, not on his HOF plaque. How many players are depicted in street clothes? Just Delahanty?
Name: B. Missing his full name "Edward James."
Teams: D. Complete list of teams and years played are missing, and only some details are scattered in the bio. Philadelphia, who he spent 13 years with, has as many mentions as Washington, who he played with for two seasons, but you'd have no idea about any of that from this plaque.
Text: B. Modern record keeping has boosted Big Ed's 1899 batting average from the listed .408 to .410, while his 1902 mark of .376 has stood.
Image: B-. What is it with the Class of 1945 and no caps? Brouthers, Collins, Delahanty, Duffy and King Kelly (coming up shortly) all apparently showed up to photo day with cold heads.
Name: A. This would have been hard for the Hall to mess up, as Duffy has no middle name, no longer first name and no widely-used nicknames.
Teams: F. Guess how many teams Hugh Duffy played for? A quick look at his plaque would give you one answer: one. Now of course he played mostly for the Boston Beaneaters of the NL, and they get a much-deserved shout-out here. But Duffy played for FIVE other teams, abet none for more than three seasons. Also missing is his years played.
Text: C-. This text says two things: that he was a good defensive outfielder for Boston, and that he had a monster year in 1894 when he had an historically high batting average. That's it. The guy played in parts of 17 seasons but all we care about is that he was good in the field and had a good season once? Duffy actually doesn't rate high with modern defensive metrics, but I admittedly don't hold much stock in that. His 1894 average has been retroactively raised to .440, so the Hall cuts him a bit short here, and they miss that he won the Triple Crown that season. He also won a batting title in 1893 and hit .462 in the 1892 World Series. All in all, this is one of the most barren plaques.
Image: A. Hey, we got a cap! 100% based on this photo.
Name: B. Same situation as Keeler, among others. Jennings' full name of Hugh Ambrose Jennings is omitted. Unlike Keeler, who got his famous quote of "Hit 'em where they ain't" plastered on his plaque for all of eternity, Jennings' cry of "Ee-Yah!" is nowhere to be found.
Teams: N/A. Like Mack, McGraw and Clarke before him, Jennings split his career between the diamond and the dugout, so listing his teams and years spent with them would have been difficult. They did mention the two most important, Baltimore and Detroit, but missing are Louisville, Brooklyn and the Philadelphia Phillies from his playing career, as well as his brief stints managing the New York Giants in 1924 and 1925.
Text: C. The main thing that has bothered me about Jennings' text is the line "he was one of the game's mighty mites." The term "Mighty Mite" has been almost solely applied to Miller Huggins, who like Jennings began his career as a player before transitioning to manager. I can't find any references to Jennings being given this tag as well, so it has always struck me as very odd. Like, what does it even mean? I'm seriously wondering, so it just throws off the whole plaque for me. Since they don't list a year, or even what team it was for, I'm assuming the .397 season refers to 1896 with Baltimore, when he actually hit .401. Finally, from the plaque you would think the Tigers won three World Series under Jennings, right? They actually only won three American League championships, and no World Series, so it should have said either pennants or league titles.
Name: B-. Talk about inconsistent naming conventions. Why is Michael abbreviated to Mike? Joseph is shortened to J. And this is the first player who's nickname is enclosed in parenthesis as opposed to quotes since Nap Lajoie in 1937.
Teams: F. Only one city and year, Boston in 1887, gets a nod here. Kelly played for six major league franchises from 1878 to 1893.
Text: B-. Okay, so the glaring problem here is the claim that he hit .394 in 1887. Since walks counted as hits that season (see Brouthers above), it actually was .391. Modern record keeping with the walks removed brings it down to .322. It's very odd that they don't even mention his time in Chicago. They are after all who sold him to Boston. Similar to Duffy, Kelly's plaque basically says three things: that he was an interesting and exciting player, he had a good year in '87, and that he was sold for a lot of money. Also, shouldn't the last two lines be switched? As the trade happened before his 1887 season. The plaque reads like he played well in 1887, then got traded, when it was the other way around.
Image: A. Man, what a mustache Jim O'Rourke had.
Name: A-. Henry is shortened to H, and his nickname is moved to the first line of the body paragraph.
Teams: C-. Teams are lumped in the text, with only two years mentioned, but at least all are given placement on the plaque, all except the National Association's Middletown Mansfields for whom O'Rourke began his big league career with.
Text: C-. Okay, nickname in the body paragraph? Check. Teams in the body paragraph without years? Check. O'Rourke already has a few knocks against him here. Now, how does he do in the fact-checking department? Well, he did play in the minors well past his 50th birthday, but minor league accomplishments have never impacted a player's Hall case before, so why do they matter all of a sudden? And to get the opening line of text on his plaque???
Now this just gets weird. It mentions his pennant winning teams in Boston in 1873 and Providence in 1879, but why on Earth did they randomly note 1873 as a pennant winner, but not 1872 and 1874? Boston won the NA title all three seasons, and O'Rourke was there for all three of them? It makes no sense.
Wilbert Robinson
Image: A. Finally we come to the end of the Class of '45. This bust of Wilbert Robinson is among the most lifelike in the Hall. I just wish they would have plastered a Brooklyn "B" on that hat, as the Robins didn't seem to wear blank caps during his tenure.
Name: A+. Perfect, not that there was much room for error; a full name followed by a common nickname.
Teams: N/A. Robinson should probably get between a F and a C- on this one, but like McGraw, Mack, Clarke and Jennings before him, Robinson had his playing and managerial career grouped together here, so listing his teams and years might have been difficult.
Text: F. Okay, let's break this down. Both Mack and Robinson have their plaques begin with the claim that they were a "star catcher." Like Mack, Robinson might have been famous, but he certainly wasn't great. Robinson played for 17 years for four clubs, and totaled a whopping 6.7 WAR over that time. Yikes.
He clearly earned his call to the Hall for his managerial career, of which 18 of his 19 seasons were spent with Brooklyn. Robins, a moniker inspired by his own surname, was what the club officially went by during that time, not Dodgers as this plaque says, which didn't become the team name until after he was replaced with Max Carey.
Then, the plaque throws it right back to his playing career, singling out the time he had seven hits in seven at-bats. They don't list the year of what team he played for, but it was in 1892 for Baltimore. So, over half of the lines of text are devoted to his playing career, for which he shouldn't be in the Hall for. It doesn't even mention his two pennants won as manager, the only thing his HOF case has going for it. The more you dig into this one, the less sense it makes.
