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Grayson Angeline – Second Base/Utility – San Antonio Oilers – 81.7% First Ballot

Grayson Angeline was a 6’0’’, 200 pound left-handed hitting batter from Penobscot, Maine; a small town of 1,000 people on the Bagaduce River. At the plate, Angeline was known as a terrific contact hitter with a great eye and excellent ability to avoid strikeouts. He was also a very quick baserunner and effective base stealer, making him one of the most dangerous in the game when he got on. His drawback was a lack of major power, averaging around 30 doubles/triples and 10 home runs per year. Angeline was durable and versatile, making half of his career starts at second base with very solid defense. He also had notable stints with good D in left field and iffy D at shortstop, but could also be used at third or center in a pinch.

Angeline left for the west coast and played in college at Washington. He’d remain a Husky to begin his career, but traded in Washington’s purple for Hartford’s gold. Angeline was picked 35th overall in the 1960 MLB Draft and took second in 1961 Rookie of the Year voting despite only starting in 94 games. His second season was arguably his most impressive with a career best and National Association leading 8.9 WAR and 214 hits. He also led in runs scored (116) and stolen bases (66) and won his lone Gold Glove in left field. Angeline was moved to second the next season and won his first Silver Slugger.

He’d lead the NA in runs thrice and stolen bases twice, but this would be the peak of Angeline’s spots atop leaderboards. He won a second Silver Slugger with Hartford in 1966, who was regularly a playoff contender at this point. However, the Huskies couldn’t put it all together, only making the NACS once and falling in 1964. Angeline couldn’t be blamed though with 28 hits and 18 runs in his 24 playoff starts. For his full Hartford run, he had 1130 hits, 652 runs, 149 doubles, 67 home runs, a .335/.405/.465 slash, 397 stolen bases, and 44.4 WAR.

Angeline became a free agent after the 1966 season and decided to leave New England. He signed an eight-year, $2,154,000 deal with San Antonio. He played out that entire deal and became most known for his time in Texas, despite having more impressive stats with the Huskies. Angeline played shortstop initially with San Antonio and won Silver Sluggers in 1967 and 1968. He also won seven titles for the United States in the World Baseball Championship from 1963-75. In 144 games, Angeline had 142 hits, 103 runs, 16 doubles, 15 home runs, 103 stolen bases, and 6.5 WAR. He led the tournament in runs scored twice, hits one, and stolen bases twice.

San Antonio only made the playoffs twice during Angeline’s tenure and couldn’t get out of the second round. Still, he was extremely popular with Oilers fans and his #27 uniform would later be retired. In his eight seasons in Texas, Angeline had 1325 hits, 729 runs, 170 doubles, 70 home runs, 358 stolen bases, a .299/.373/.405 slash and 32.0 WAR. He became a free agent at 35 and signed a three-year deal beginning in 1975 with Ottawa.

After solid durability most of his career, his debut season with the Elks was cut short with a torn meniscus. Angeline rehabbed though and was able to get back in time for the postseason, helping Ottawa to a National Association title. They fell in the World Series to Albuquerque, but he had a chance to play in the Fall Classic and had a solid 20 hits and 13 runs in 16 playoff games. Angeline had a nice second season with Ottawa until a broken kneecap knocked him out in August. The Elks let him go and he signed at age 37 with Memphis. He had a full bounce-back season worth 5.0 WAR with the Mountain Cats, but lost chunks of 1978 with various injuries. Memphis let him go and Angeline was unsigned in 1979, opting him to retire that winter at age 40.

Angeline’s final career stats: 2881 hits, 1618 runs, 364 doubles, 107 triples, 167 home runs, 918 RBI, 980 walks, 864 stolen bases, .312/.385/.429 slash, 129 wRC+, and 87.8 WAR. At induction, he was fifth all time in steals and his OBP was among the better ones on the leaderboard, although his slugging was near the bottom. Some voters were dismissive of his lack of power stats and weren’t wowed by singles, walks, and steals. But his versatility and popularity couldn’t be ignored and Angeline earned the first ballot selection at 81.7%; the third member of the four-player 1984 class.



Benton “Ant” Gibney – Third Base/Left Field – Charlotte Canaries – 69.3% Fifth Ballot

Benton Gibney was a 5’9’’, 200 pound right-handed third baseman from Sulphur, Louisiana; a town of 21,000 people near sulfur mines in the southwestern part of the state near Lake Charles. Gibney was an excellent contact hitter with solid gap power, plus good speed and baserunning skills. He was okay at drawing walks, but generally above average at avoiding strikeouts. Gibney wasn’t a big home run hitter with around 15-20 per year on average. He’d get you about25-35 doubles and triples per season reliably though. Gibney was primarily a third baseman and considered below average, but not awfuld defensively. He also made about 1/5 of his starts in the outfield, primarily in left. Gibney was a scrappy sparkplug type player, which made him very popular among fans and teammates.

Gibney attended Arizona State University and in 148 college games, had 195 hits, 124 runs, 28 home runs, 101 RBI, and 8.4 WAR. He earned a college Silver Slugger as a sophomore and a Gold Glove as a junior. Gibney was a very hot commodity and Charlotte selected him with the #1 overall pick in the 1951 Major League Baseball Draft. He was a full-time starter immediately and stayed a starter his whole career when healthy. Gibney earned Rookie of the Year honors in 1952. He would lead the American Association in triples three times with the Canaries, which would be his only time as a league leader in his career.

Gibney was very popular with Charlotte, who was a terrible team throughout the 1950s. He had solid numbers for his first few seasons and signed an eight-year, $561,800 extension during the 1955 season. However, Gibney would get worn down from overuse. Gibney fell off in his fifth year, then was atrocious in the 1957 season with an all-time bad season of -4.8. He bounced back though with a 5.9 WAR 1958 season, earning his lone MLB Silver Slugger. In total with Charlotte, Gibney had 1438 hits, 703 runs, 202 doubles, 99 triples, 122 home runs, 510 RBI, 269 stolen bases, a .298/335/.457 slash and 23.1 WAR.

At the start of the 1960 season, Gibney suffered a torn PCL, putting him on the shelf for ten months. He played seven games in 1961 for Charlotte, who decided to cut their losses with the 30-year old Gibney in April. Two weeks later, he signed with Oklahoma City and ultimately spent five full seasons with the Outlaws. Gibney had a solid season and helped OKC win the 1961 World Series, posting 22 hits, 10 runs, 5 doubles, and 10 RBI in the postseason run. Oklahoma City got to the AACS in 1962 and the World Series again in 1963 with Gibney posting 43 hits, 19 runs, 14 extra base hits, 18 RBI, and a .314 average over 34 playoff games.

Gibney remained a solid starter into his 30s with the Outlaws, posting 833 hits, 441 runs, 94 doubles, 40 triples, 87 home runs, 285 RBI, a .304/.347/.463 slash, and 18.5 WAR while there. OKC began rebuilding in the mid 1960s and opted to release Gibney in April 1966. The 35-year old signed for one year with Ottawa, then spent 1967-69 with Toronto. He had 12.1 WAR with the Timberwolves, quietly providing solid value. Gibney continued to chug along, spending 1970-71 with Baltimore. He went to Columbus in 1972 and missed half the season with a torn back muscle, but bounced back with a solid 1973 at age 42. The Chargers traded him to San Francisco in 1974 and after an unremarkable season with the Gold Rush, he retired at age 44. Gibney is one of a select few to still be an MLB starter at such an advanced age.

Gibney’s final stats: 3565 hits, 1781 runs, 467 doubles, 199 triples, 322 home runs, 1285 RBI, 656 stolen bases, a .297/.335/.449 slash, 119 wRC+, and 72.5 WAR. His longevity meant that at induction, he was ninth all-time in hits and 16th in runs scored. However, Gibney lacked accolades or big stats, plus the advanced stats had him on the lower rung of Hall of Fame candidates despite his totals. Many voters looked at him as a guy who just was above average for a long time and he missed the cut in his first four ballots, although his bottom was 59.8%. Gibney’s popularity as a scrapper got him just enough of a boost on the fifth try to cross the 66% threshold with 69.3%, becoming the fourth and final member of the 1984 Hall of Fame Class.