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FuzzyRussianHat · 05-15-2024, 12:58 PM

Chinese League Baseball inducted two players for the 2003 Hall of Fame voting. The headliner was two-way star Wei Qin with a first ballot spot at 93.8%. Right fielder Shichao Zhang got a bump on his fourth try, joining Qin at 75.0%.

Four others were above 50%, but short of the needed 66%. RF Zhengyu Peng was the closest at 60.2% for his seventh try. Closer Junwei Zhu had 60.2% on his sixth ballot. SP Pengju Xue received 54.7% in his seventh go and SP Baoxian He had 51.2% on his sixth shot.

2B/SS Weiping Gao was dropped after ten ballots. He had a decorated career with 14 seasons between Kunming and Foshan, earning two MVPs, three Gold Gloves, and five Silver Sluggers. Gao had 1576 hits, 799 runs, 206 doubles, 101 triples, 343 home runs, 880 RBI, a .239/.276/.458 slash, 146 wRC+, and 82.1 WAR. He also won two titles with the Muscle and one with Honolulu as he left for OBA late in his career.

Despite that resume, the notoriously tough on hitters CLB voters never gave Gao much of a look. He debuted at 35.7%, which would be his peak. Gao finished at a mere 10.2%. He’s 50^th in WAR by a
positional player as of 2037.

Wei Qin – First Base/Pitcher – Macau Magicians – 93.8% First Ballot

Wei Qin was a 6’3’’, 205 pound right-handed pitcher and first baseman from China’s most populous city, Shanghai. As a batter, Qin had strong home run power with respectable contact skills. He was quite good at drawing walks, but had a poor strikeout rate. Qin’s gap power was decent and he was a very intelligent and crafty baserunner, although his speed was below average.

On the mound, Qin had above average stuff, movement, and control. He had an impressive mid 90s cutter in his pitching prime, mixed with a good changeup and forkball, plus a weak slider. Qin had nice stamina and was a good defensive pitcher. He’d start at first base when playing the field and was a firmly above average to good defender there as well. Qin managed to put together a lengthy career despite the physical wear-and-tear and injuries that typically came with two-way efforts.

In the 1984 CLB Draft, Qin was picked 5^th overall by Macau. His entire 13-year career in the Chinese League came with the Magicians, who intended to make him a full-time starter immediately. Qin’s first year was trying though with back spasms costing him two months, followed by a stretched elbow ligament in July. That would cost him the rest of 1985 and the first chunk of 1986, needing 11 months total to recover. There was some worry that this injury could limit his pitching usefulness, but Qin would overcome that.

In his initial years, Qin was a great batter and merely good pitcher. He would win 12 Silver Sluggers in his career, but impressively, not all were against the weak competition of normal pitchers. In 1988, he won two SSs, one as a pitcher and one as a first baseman. Qin did the same in 1991. His pitcher-only Silver Sluggers came in 1987, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, and 97. He didn’t play enough games in the field to lead the league offensively, but he had five seasons with 5+ WAR offensively and hit 20+ home runs seven times.

The combined efforts earned Qin MVP consideration for the first time in 1987, taking third. He won MVP four times (1988, 90, 92, 93) and took third in 1991, second in 1994, and third in 1995. Qin’s pitching skills improved as he’d lead in wins in both 1990-91, then in ERA in 1993 and 1994. Qin also won 1993 Pitcher of the Year honors and took second in 1990. He had three seasons of 6+ WAR on the mound.

By WAR, Qin’s best combined number was 1992 with 6.7 offensively and 7.1 pitching, a total of 13.8. He also breached double-digits in 1988 (10.9), 1990 (12.1), and 1993 (11.2). Qin was a superstar for Macau, who gave him an eight-year, $9,750,000 extension after the 1989 season. He was a big reason the Magicians became a playoff contender, making five berths from 1988-94.

Despite his efforts, Macau only once made it beyond the semifinal, dropping the 1989 China Series to Dalian. Qin’s playoff numbers at the plate were decent with 36 games and 31 starts, 24 hits, 10 runs, 5 doubles, 5 home runs, 10 RBI, a .214/.273/.411 slash, 146 wRC+, and 1.0 WAR. On the mound though, he had a 76 ERA+ with a 3.22 ERA in 67 innings, 64 strikeouts, and only 0.5 WAR.

Qin also made a few two-way appearances for China in the World Baseball Championship. He played in six WBCs from 1989-96 and at the plate was strong in 73 games and 59 starts. Qin had 57 hits, 35 runs, 8 doubles, 22 home runs, 47 RBI, a .249/.341/.581 slash, 163 wRC+, and 3.0 WAR. On the mound, he had a mere 4.75 ERA over 30.1 innings for a 77 ERA+. He would earn a world title ring with the 1993 squad.

The demands of the job started to catch up to Qin. He reputed a tendon in a finger to miss the end of 1993, then lost two months of 1994 to back troubles. 1996 had a forearm strain that cost about three months. Towards the end of the Macau run, his pitching stats began to look subpar. However, his offense numbers still held up quite well. The Magicians had fallen off with 1996 being their first losing season in a decade.

Macau opted not to re-sign Qin after the 1997 season, making him a 36-year old free agent. The franchise would later retire his #23 uniform. Qin earned attention worldwide and ended up moving to Canada and MLB, signing a two-year, $8,320,000 deal with Calgary. Qin struggled as a pitcher for the Cheetahs and gave them average offensive numbers in one season, missing some time to a sprained ankle. He didn’t meet the vesting criteria for the second year of the deal, becoming a free agent again for 1999. He stayed in MLB on a one year, $3,040,000 contract with Dallas.

The Dalmatians gave him another year after that and used him mostly as a hitter in 2000. He was merely okay as a hitter for Dallas with similar marks a pitcher. Still wanting to play in 2001 somewhere, the now 39-year old Qin ended up in Saudi Arabia with Jeddah. Qin had okay batting numbers for the Jackals and only saw one relief appearance on the mound. He made it back to MLB just as a batter in 2002 with Minneapolis, but had poor results. Qin finally retired that winter at age 41. Between MLB and ALB he had 2.1 WAR offensively and 1.3 WAR pitching.

For his CLB and Macau run as a hitter, Qin had 1005 hits, 585 runs, 141 doubles, 249 home runs, 604 RBI, 464 walks, a .239/.324/.460 slash, 168 wRC+, and 54.7 WAR. As a pitcher, Qin had a 169-88 record, 2.17 ERA, 2520 innings, 2502 strikeouts, 493 walks, 262/343 quality starts, 111 ERA+, and 45.1 WAR. Either by themselves probably weren’t HOF worthy, but a combined 99.8 WAR with four MVPs is hard to deny.

Counting his MLB/ALB stats, Qin had a career WAR of 103.2. When compared to other two-way guys as of 2037, that is 16^th best. He’s among the higher ones in batting WAR, as most of the other elites in history tended to be stellar pitchers and good batters. Qin had bursts as a great pitcher, but was more consistently good as a hitter. Qin earned 93.8% for a first ballot induction to headline the 2003 CLB class.

Shichao Zhang – Right Field/First Base – Chongqing Cavaliers – 75.0% Fourth Ballot

Shichao Zhang was a 6’0’’, 205 pound switch-hitting right fielder from Tanggu, a former district within Tianjin in Northern China. Zhang was an excellent home run hitter that could also quite effectively hit for contact. He was above average at drawing walks with an average strikeout rate. Zhang also had very good gap power, averaging 29 doubles and 38 home runs per 162 game average.

He was a decent baserunner, but could only do so much to makeup for mediocre speed. Zhang made around 3/4s of his starts in right field with the rest at first base. He was an absolutely abysmal defender in both spots, really stinking up the outfield with his awful range. Some criticized him for poor leadership and intelligent. However, strong man smacking dingers always finds a home somewhere. Zhang was a popular player and boasted very good durability.

His power potential was noted by Chongqing, who selected Zhang second overall in the 1979 CLB Draft. He wasn’t ready yet for the big time, making only five at bats in 1980. He saw some pinch hit spots in 1981 and a few starts in 1982. Zhang earned a full-time job in 1983 and held it for the next decade with the Cavaliers. He would hit 30+ homers in every season as a full-time starter for Chongqing.

Zhang had a remarkable streak of six straight seasons leading in wRC+ from 1984-89. He led in OPS and slugging five times in that stretch while leading in OBP thrice, batting average twice, total bases thrice, home runs thrice, doubles once, and RBI once.

1984 saw CLB’s first-ever offensive Triple Crown with 47 home runs, 101 RBI, and a .301 average, all career bests while in CLB. He also had 9.5 WAR that year, but managed to take second in MVP voting. Zhang never won the top honor, but also took second in 1985, 86, 88, and 92. He won eight Silver Sluggers with seven straight in RF from 1983-89, then one at 1B in 1992.

Chongqing had three straight playoff berths from 1983-85, earning China Series appearances in 1983 and 1985. They lost the former year to Tianjin and the latter to Beijing. In 25 playoff starts, Zhang had 29 hits, 11 runs, 5 doubles, 6 home runs, 16 RBI, a .284/.324/.510 slash, 179 wRC+, and 1.6 WAR. The Cavaliers committed to Zhang after the 1984 campaign on an eight-year, $3,502,000 extension. They wouldn’t make the playoffs after 1985 while Zhang was there, generally hovering just below .500.

Zhang’s stats fell off a bit in 1990 and 1991, but he bounced back with a strong 1992, leading in homers, RBI, total bases, OBP, slugging, OPS, and wRC+. It was also his fourth season worth 8+ WAR. He performed well in a contract year, earning the soon-to-be 33 year old attention as he entered free agency for 1993.

This marked the end of his time in the Chinese League. He would return home for the World Baseball Championship from 1993-97, posting 83 hits in 110 games with 81 runs, 19 doubles, 44 home runs, 91 RBI, a .213/.335/.607 slash, 169 wRC+, and 5.9 WAR.

China won the world title in 1993 against India and in 1994 against the United States. 1995 was a defeat to Canada in a seven-game thriller with game seven going 11 innings with a 1-0 final. Although they lost, Zhang was the 1995 WBC MVP, starting 27 games with 26 hits, 26 runs, 17 home runs, 37 RBI, 18 walks, a .283/.416/.870 slash, 259 wRC+, and 2.7 WAR. At the time, 37 RBI was the second-most in a single WBC. He has the fifth most homers of any Chinese player in the WBC despite only playing in five editions.

During those WBCs, Zhang made his money in America in Major League Baseball. For 1993, he signed a four-year, $9,280,000 deal with Cleveland. He had four strong seasons hitting for the Cobras, smacking 40+ homers and 100+ RBI thrice each. 1996 saw career bests with 49 homers and 129 RBI, along with an impressive 6.9 WAR at age 36.

Cleveland won their division from 1993-95 and in 1994, earned a trip to the World Series where they were defeated by San Francisco. In 19 playoff starts for the Cobras, Zhang had 20 hit, 11 runs, 6 home runs, 15 RBI, a .303/.418/.606 slash, 210 wRC+, and 1.2 WAR. In total for Cleveland, Zhang had 580 hits, 368 runs, 82 doubles, 164 home runs, 415 RBI, a .272/.348/.549 slash, 169 wRC+, and 20.2 WAR. He certainly showed that he could adjust well to MLB hitters.

Now 37 and a free agent again, Zhang signed for two years and $7,680,000 with Tampa. He looked merely average in a 1997 that was plagued by various injuries. Zhang was moved to a part-time role after terrible results in 1998 with negative WAR. He had zero WAR total and an 89 wRC+ with the Thunderbirds. Philadelphia gave Zhang a look in 1999, but he stunk in his 49 at-bats. He retired that winter at age 39.

For his entire pro career, Zhang had 2408 hits, 1265 runs, 413 doubles, 579 home runs, 1409 RBI, a .275/.343/.531 slash, 184 wRC+, and 94.5 WAR. The great years in Cleveland helped pad out his accumulations. In just CLB with Chongqing, Zhang had 1638 hits, 805 runs, 292 doubles, 387 home runs, 887 RBI, a .283/.357/.547 slash, 204 wRC+, and 74.8 WAR. The Cavaliers also retired his #45 uniform.

The accumulations aren’t super high, largely due to the very low offense environment of CLB. The notoriously harsh CLB voters kept him out for three years because of the accumulations and his truly abysmal defense. His rate stats are outstanding though. As of 2037 among CLB HOFers, he’s fourth in OBP, seventh in slugging, and fifth in OPS. Zhang got 61.0%, 65.9%, and 61.8% in his first three times on the ballot. Finally in 2003 on his fourth try, he got the bump to 75.0% to earn his spot in the Hall of Fame.

05-15-2024, 12:58 PM	#1246
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 3,179	2003 CLB Hall of Fame Chinese League Baseball inducted two players for the 2003 Hall of Fame voting. The headliner was two-way star Wei Qin with a first ballot spot at 93.8%. Right fielder Shichao Zhang got a bump on his fourth try, joining Qin at 75.0%. Four others were above 50%, but short of the needed 66%. RF Zhengyu Peng was the closest at 60.2% for his seventh try. Closer Junwei Zhu had 60.2% on his sixth ballot. SP Pengju Xue received 54.7% in his seventh go and SP Baoxian He had 51.2% on his sixth shot. 2B/SS Weiping Gao was dropped after ten ballots. He had a decorated career with 14 seasons between Kunming and Foshan, earning two MVPs, three Gold Gloves, and five Silver Sluggers. Gao had 1576 hits, 799 runs, 206 doubles, 101 triples, 343 home runs, 880 RBI, a .239/.276/.458 slash, 146 wRC+, and 82.1 WAR. He also won two titles with the Muscle and one with Honolulu as he left for OBA late in his career. Despite that resume, the notoriously tough on hitters CLB voters never gave Gao much of a look. He debuted at 35.7%, which would be his peak. Gao finished at a mere 10.2%. He’s 50^th in WAR by a positional player as of 2037. Wei Qin – First Base/Pitcher – Macau Magicians – 93.8% First Ballot Wei Qin was a 6’3’’, 205 pound right-handed pitcher and first baseman from China’s most populous city, Shanghai. As a batter, Qin had strong home run power with respectable contact skills. He was quite good at drawing walks, but had a poor strikeout rate. Qin’s gap power was decent and he was a very intelligent and crafty baserunner, although his speed was below average. On the mound, Qin had above average stuff, movement, and control. He had an impressive mid 90s cutter in his pitching prime, mixed with a good changeup and forkball, plus a weak slider. Qin had nice stamina and was a good defensive pitcher. He’d start at first base when playing the field and was a firmly above average to good defender there as well. Qin managed to put together a lengthy career despite the physical wear-and-tear and injuries that typically came with two-way efforts. In the 1984 CLB Draft, Qin was picked 5^th overall by Macau. His entire 13-year career in the Chinese League came with the Magicians, who intended to make him a full-time starter immediately. Qin’s first year was trying though with back spasms costing him two months, followed by a stretched elbow ligament in July. That would cost him the rest of 1985 and the first chunk of 1986, needing 11 months total to recover. There was some worry that this injury could limit his pitching usefulness, but Qin would overcome that. In his initial years, Qin was a great batter and merely good pitcher. He would win 12 Silver Sluggers in his career, but impressively, not all were against the weak competition of normal pitchers. In 1988, he won two SSs, one as a pitcher and one as a first baseman. Qin did the same in 1991. His pitcher-only Silver Sluggers came in 1987, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, and 97. He didn’t play enough games in the field to lead the league offensively, but he had five seasons with 5+ WAR offensively and hit 20+ home runs seven times. The combined efforts earned Qin MVP consideration for the first time in 1987, taking third. He won MVP four times (1988, 90, 92, 93) and took third in 1991, second in 1994, and third in 1995. Qin’s pitching skills improved as he’d lead in wins in both 1990-91, then in ERA in 1993 and 1994. Qin also won 1993 Pitcher of the Year honors and took second in 1990. He had three seasons of 6+ WAR on the mound. By WAR, Qin’s best combined number was 1992 with 6.7 offensively and 7.1 pitching, a total of 13.8. He also breached double-digits in 1988 (10.9), 1990 (12.1), and 1993 (11.2). Qin was a superstar for Macau, who gave him an eight-year, $9,750,000 extension after the 1989 season. He was a big reason the Magicians became a playoff contender, making five berths from 1988-94. Despite his efforts, Macau only once made it beyond the semifinal, dropping the 1989 China Series to Dalian. Qin’s playoff numbers at the plate were decent with 36 games and 31 starts, 24 hits, 10 runs, 5 doubles, 5 home runs, 10 RBI, a .214/.273/.411 slash, 146 wRC+, and 1.0 WAR. On the mound though, he had a 76 ERA+ with a 3.22 ERA in 67 innings, 64 strikeouts, and only 0.5 WAR. Qin also made a few two-way appearances for China in the World Baseball Championship. He played in six WBCs from 1989-96 and at the plate was strong in 73 games and 59 starts. Qin had 57 hits, 35 runs, 8 doubles, 22 home runs, 47 RBI, a .249/.341/.581 slash, 163 wRC+, and 3.0 WAR. On the mound, he had a mere 4.75 ERA over 30.1 innings for a 77 ERA+. He would earn a world title ring with the 1993 squad. The demands of the job started to catch up to Qin. He reputed a tendon in a finger to miss the end of 1993, then lost two months of 1994 to back troubles. 1996 had a forearm strain that cost about three months. Towards the end of the Macau run, his pitching stats began to look subpar. However, his offense numbers still held up quite well. The Magicians had fallen off with 1996 being their first losing season in a decade. Macau opted not to re-sign Qin after the 1997 season, making him a 36-year old free agent. The franchise would later retire his #23 uniform. Qin earned attention worldwide and ended up moving to Canada and MLB, signing a two-year, $8,320,000 deal with Calgary. Qin struggled as a pitcher for the Cheetahs and gave them average offensive numbers in one season, missing some time to a sprained ankle. He didn’t meet the vesting criteria for the second year of the deal, becoming a free agent again for 1999. He stayed in MLB on a one year, $3,040,000 contract with Dallas. The Dalmatians gave him another year after that and used him mostly as a hitter in 2000. He was merely okay as a hitter for Dallas with similar marks a pitcher. Still wanting to play in 2001 somewhere, the now 39-year old Qin ended up in Saudi Arabia with Jeddah. Qin had okay batting numbers for the Jackals and only saw one relief appearance on the mound. He made it back to MLB just as a batter in 2002 with Minneapolis, but had poor results. Qin finally retired that winter at age 41. Between MLB and ALB he had 2.1 WAR offensively and 1.3 WAR pitching. For his CLB and Macau run as a hitter, Qin had 1005 hits, 585 runs, 141 doubles, 249 home runs, 604 RBI, 464 walks, a .239/.324/.460 slash, 168 wRC+, and 54.7 WAR. As a pitcher, Qin had a 169-88 record, 2.17 ERA, 2520 innings, 2502 strikeouts, 493 walks, 262/343 quality starts, 111 ERA+, and 45.1 WAR. Either by themselves probably weren’t HOF worthy, but a combined 99.8 WAR with four MVPs is hard to deny. Counting his MLB/ALB stats, Qin had a career WAR of 103.2. When compared to other two-way guys as of 2037, that is 16^th best. He’s among the higher ones in batting WAR, as most of the other elites in history tended to be stellar pitchers and good batters. Qin had bursts as a great pitcher, but was more consistently good as a hitter. Qin earned 93.8% for a first ballot induction to headline the 2003 CLB class. Shichao Zhang – Right Field/First Base – Chongqing Cavaliers – 75.0% Fourth Ballot Shichao Zhang was a 6’0’’, 205 pound switch-hitting right fielder from Tanggu, a former district within Tianjin in Northern China. Zhang was an excellent home run hitter that could also quite effectively hit for contact. He was above average at drawing walks with an average strikeout rate. Zhang also had very good gap power, averaging 29 doubles and 38 home runs per 162 game average. He was a decent baserunner, but could only do so much to makeup for mediocre speed. Zhang made around 3/4s of his starts in right field with the rest at first base. He was an absolutely abysmal defender in both spots, really stinking up the outfield with his awful range. Some criticized him for poor leadership and intelligent. However, strong man smacking dingers always finds a home somewhere. Zhang was a popular player and boasted very good durability. His power potential was noted by Chongqing, who selected Zhang second overall in the 1979 CLB Draft. He wasn’t ready yet for the big time, making only five at bats in 1980. He saw some pinch hit spots in 1981 and a few starts in 1982. Zhang earned a full-time job in 1983 and held it for the next decade with the Cavaliers. He would hit 30+ homers in every season as a full-time starter for Chongqing. Zhang had a remarkable streak of six straight seasons leading in wRC+ from 1984-89. He led in OPS and slugging five times in that stretch while leading in OBP thrice, batting average twice, total bases thrice, home runs thrice, doubles once, and RBI once. 1984 saw CLB’s first-ever offensive Triple Crown with 47 home runs, 101 RBI, and a .301 average, all career bests while in CLB. He also had 9.5 WAR that year, but managed to take second in MVP voting. Zhang never won the top honor, but also took second in 1985, 86, 88, and 92. He won eight Silver Sluggers with seven straight in RF from 1983-89, then one at 1B in 1992. Chongqing had three straight playoff berths from 1983-85, earning China Series appearances in 1983 and 1985. They lost the former year to Tianjin and the latter to Beijing. In 25 playoff starts, Zhang had 29 hits, 11 runs, 5 doubles, 6 home runs, 16 RBI, a .284/.324/.510 slash, 179 wRC+, and 1.6 WAR. The Cavaliers committed to Zhang after the 1984 campaign on an eight-year, $3,502,000 extension. They wouldn’t make the playoffs after 1985 while Zhang was there, generally hovering just below .500. Zhang’s stats fell off a bit in 1990 and 1991, but he bounced back with a strong 1992, leading in homers, RBI, total bases, OBP, slugging, OPS, and wRC+. It was also his fourth season worth 8+ WAR. He performed well in a contract year, earning the soon-to-be 33 year old attention as he entered free agency for 1993. This marked the end of his time in the Chinese League. He would return home for the World Baseball Championship from 1993-97, posting 83 hits in 110 games with 81 runs, 19 doubles, 44 home runs, 91 RBI, a .213/.335/.607 slash, 169 wRC+, and 5.9 WAR. China won the world title in 1993 against India and in 1994 against the United States. 1995 was a defeat to Canada in a seven-game thriller with game seven going 11 innings with a 1-0 final. Although they lost, Zhang was the 1995 WBC MVP, starting 27 games with 26 hits, 26 runs, 17 home runs, 37 RBI, 18 walks, a .283/.416/.870 slash, 259 wRC+, and 2.7 WAR. At the time, 37 RBI was the second-most in a single WBC. He has the fifth most homers of any Chinese player in the WBC despite only playing in five editions. During those WBCs, Zhang made his money in America in Major League Baseball. For 1993, he signed a four-year, $9,280,000 deal with Cleveland. He had four strong seasons hitting for the Cobras, smacking 40+ homers and 100+ RBI thrice each. 1996 saw career bests with 49 homers and 129 RBI, along with an impressive 6.9 WAR at age 36. Cleveland won their division from 1993-95 and in 1994, earned a trip to the World Series where they were defeated by San Francisco. In 19 playoff starts for the Cobras, Zhang had 20 hit, 11 runs, 6 home runs, 15 RBI, a .303/.418/.606 slash, 210 wRC+, and 1.2 WAR. In total for Cleveland, Zhang had 580 hits, 368 runs, 82 doubles, 164 home runs, 415 RBI, a .272/.348/.549 slash, 169 wRC+, and 20.2 WAR. He certainly showed that he could adjust well to MLB hitters. Now 37 and a free agent again, Zhang signed for two years and $7,680,000 with Tampa. He looked merely average in a 1997 that was plagued by various injuries. Zhang was moved to a part-time role after terrible results in 1998 with negative WAR. He had zero WAR total and an 89 wRC+ with the Thunderbirds. Philadelphia gave Zhang a look in 1999, but he stunk in his 49 at-bats. He retired that winter at age 39. For his entire pro career, Zhang had 2408 hits, 1265 runs, 413 doubles, 579 home runs, 1409 RBI, a .275/.343/.531 slash, 184 wRC+, and 94.5 WAR. The great years in Cleveland helped pad out his accumulations. In just CLB with Chongqing, Zhang had 1638 hits, 805 runs, 292 doubles, 387 home runs, 887 RBI, a .283/.357/.547 slash, 204 wRC+, and 74.8 WAR. The Cavaliers also retired his #45 uniform. The accumulations aren’t super high, largely due to the very low offense environment of CLB. The notoriously harsh CLB voters kept him out for three years because of the accumulations and his truly abysmal defense. His rate stats are outstanding though. As of 2037 among CLB HOFers, he’s fourth in OBP, seventh in slugging, and fifth in OPS. Zhang got 61.0%, 65.9%, and 61.8% in his first three times on the ballot. Finally in 2003 on his fourth try, he got the bump to 75.0% to earn his spot in the Hall of Fame. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports The Level Playing Field: Alternate MLB History From 1884-Onward Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)