Brown Edges Waddell in Centennial Sweepstakes
This article was written by L. Robert Davids
This article was published in 1976 Baseball Research Journal
John McGraw was the outstanding baseball personage born in 1873; Honus Wagner in 1874; and Nap Lajoie in 1875. But what about 1876? As there was no clear-cut choice, Society members were asked to vote for three in a list of ten provided for the balloting.
It was a two-way race with Mordecai Brown edging Rube Waddell 364 points to 306. Far behind in third place was Sam Breadon, St. Louis magnate whose Cardinals won 7 pennants in the quarter century he was president. There were 106 ballots returned. Five points were given for a first place vote; three for second; and one for third. Here are the final results.
Points Baseball Personage
364 Mordecai Brown, pitcher
306 Rube Waddell, pitcher
87 Sam Breadon, club president
50 Bill Dinneen, pitcher and umpire
38 Elmer Flick, outfielder
33 Victor Willis, pitcher
17 Joe Williams, Negro League hurler
17 Pat Moran, catcher and manager
14 Bill Donovan, pitcher and manager
3 Ginger Beaumont, outfielder