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In Dave Bancroft’s first year the Philadelphia Phillies he helped the club win the NL pennant in 1915. Soon after, he moved to New York where the Giants were champions of the league each year from 1921-1923 culminating in back-to-back World Series crowns.

Success had a way of following the shortstop.

A fine fielder, Bancroft set a still-standing single-season record for total chances by a shortstop with 1,046 in 1922. His career statistics, while solid, appear to fall short of Cooperstown-worthy.

Bancroft’s lifetime stats include a .279 average, 32 homers, and 591 RBI. His .358 slugging percentage and below league-average OPS+ of 98 make his selection a questionable decision.

Found here is an index card signed by Bancroft who has listed each of the four teams he played for over the course of his 16-year career.

A lifelong National Leaguer, he played for teams in Senior Circuit teams in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Brooklyn.

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Shown here is the invitation Hall of Fame executive George Weiss sent to Dave Bancroft for the 1959 old timers’ game at Yankee Stadium.

It was a grand affair.

Weiss writes, “Each year here at Yankee Stadium we have, we believe, one of the highlight events of the baseball season, the annual Old Timers’ Day.”

It was a highlight indeed with former president Herbert Hoover throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. The contest featured sixty men who played either for or against the Yankees in the 24 previous World Series involving the New York club.

Bancroft, the Hall of Fame shortstop, played in four Fall Classics, three as a member of the New York Giants against the Yankees. Known as “Beauty”, Bancroft was captain for John McGraw‘s Gotham teams in back-to-back World Series-winning seasons of 1921 and 1922.

Such vintage correspondence between two Cooperstown men rarely surface.

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Dave Bancroft’s selection to the Hall of Fame is highly suspect. His .279 average doesn’t jump out as Hall-worthy, nor do his 2,004 hits, 32 homers or 591 RBI. The writers saw little value in electing Bancroft as he fell off the ballot entirely.

It seems being Frankie Frisch’s teammate and double play partner for four years was actually what put him in Cooperstown.

After a no-doubt Hall of Fame playing career in which he established the highest lifetime average among inducted switch hitters, Frisch became a voting member of the Hall’s Veterans Committee. Once there he ascended to the position of committee chairman, wielding his substantial influence to induct men who played alongside him.

Frisch’s legacy with the Veterans Committee is a dark chapter in the Hall’s history as he played the leading role in electing former teammates who fall well below Cooperstown standards.

Shown above is a letter written by Frisch to Paul Kerr, president of the Hall of Fame from 1961-1978. Frisch writes, “I want to thank you Uncle Paul for selecting the Old Flash as a member of Baseball’s Hall of Fame Committee on Veterans. I feel it quite an honor, and I am proud, and I do hope I can do a thorough job.”.

The letter continues before Frisch pens his remarkably consistent signature at the bottom. The Fordham Flash would serve on the committee from his appointment in 1966 until his death in 1973.

Baseball historians agree that the selections of Jesse Haines (1970), Bancroft (1971), Chick Hafey (1971), Ross Youngs (1972), and George Kelly (1973) are among the most glaring errors in the the history of Hall of Fame.

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Shown here is Dave Bancroft’s lifetime pass to the Baseball Hall of Fame. When inducted, each member of the Hall receives a pass similar to this one.

It allows the bearer free admission to the museum for life. Bancroft received this in 1971 and enjoyed it until his passing in 1971.

Suck passes usually remain in the inductee’s family and are rarely offered for sale. To view the largest privately-owned collection of baseball lifetime passes, click here.