Jesse Haines won 210 games & two World Series titles in his 18-year career
Jesse Haines pitched 17 of his 18 big league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. The three-time 20-game winner pitched on four pennant-winning teams and earned two World Series rings. In the collection is this contract between Haines and Draper-Maynard Sporting Goods. Haines is set to receive base
Jesse Haines won 210 games & two World Series titles in his 18-year career
Jesse Haines pitched 17 of his 18 big league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. The three-time 20-game winner pitched on four pennant-winning teams and earned two World Series rings.
In the collection is this contract between Haines and Draper-Maynard Sporting Goods. Haines is set to receive baseball gloves made according to his personal specifications for the princely sum of $1.00 per glove.
In return, Draper-Maynard gains “the exclusive use of his name on gloves, mitts, or other advertising material…”
By the time Jesse Haines signed this contract on May 15, 1931 he had already won 171 games for the St. Louis Cardinals. Haines concluded his career with 210 career victories.
Haines had 6 seasons of 20+ starts without double-digit win totals
Jesse Haines had three 20-win seasons and one 20-loss campaign. He won 14 or more games only four times in his 18-year career. The final 160 games in professional baseball gave him only 32 wins covering six seasons. From 1932-1937 Haines started 53 games and finished 58. He went 32-28 with one save
Haines had 6 seasons of 20+ starts without double-digit win totals
Jesse Haines had three 20-win seasons and one 20-loss campaign. He won 14 or more games only four times in his 18-year career.
The final 160 games in professional baseball gave him only 32 wins covering six seasons. From 1932-1937 Haines started 53 games and finished 58. He went 32-28 with one save and a 3.69 ERA.
Shown here is a 1933 Goudey baseball card signed by the Hall of Fame hurler. Many autograph ’33 Goudeys can be found on this site including those of fellow Hall of Fame pitchers Carl Hubbell, Lefty Gomez, Waite Hoyt, Red Faber, Burleigh Grimes.
Twenty-two members of the Hall of Fame attended Jesse Haines' induction
Jesse Haines gained baseball immortality when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 27, 1970. Cooperstown was hot and humid in the morning ceremony attended by 22 members of the Hall. Former NL president, commissioner, and founder of the Hall of Fame Ford Frick was among the four inductees.
Twenty-two members of the Hall of Fame attended Jesse Haines' induction
Jesse Haines gained baseball immortality when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 27, 1970. Cooperstown was hot and humid in the morning ceremony attended by 22 members of the Hall.
In the collection is this letter written by then-National League president Chub Feeney and Hall of Fame center fielder Max Carey. In it Feeney invites Carey to Haines’ induction ceremony. Feeney also invites Carey to a “Stag Dinner” for National League Hall of Famers held the night before. As an inductee himself, Haines no doubt attended the affair.
For Haines, the induction was an unexpected gift.
Former teammate Frank Frisch ushered Jesse Haines to Cooperstown
Jesse Haines’ selection to the Hall of Fame is highly suspect. He won as many as 14 games in a season only four times yet had six seasons of at least 20 starts in which he failed to post double-figure win totals. He struck out as many as 100 batters only once in a season and received MVP consi
Former teammate Frank Frisch ushered Jesse Haines to Cooperstown
Jesse Haines’ selection to the Hall of Fame is highly suspect. He won as many as 14 games in a season only four times yet had six seasons of at least 20 starts in which he failed to post double-figure win totals.
He struck out as many as 100 batters only once in a season and received MVP consideration exclusively in 1927 when he finished a distant 8th.
When it came time for the writers to consider him on the Hall of Fame ballot, the most support he received was 8.3%, well short of the 75% required for induction. His statistical qualifications earned him only cursory consideration from the electorate when he was on the ballot from 1939-1962.
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 Old Flash would serve on the committee from his appointment in 1966 until his death in 1973.
Baseball historians agree that the selections of Haines (1970), Dave 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.
Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax, and Cy Young are in everyone’s Hall of Fame. Marginal players like the ones selected on Frankie Frisch’s watch on the Veterans Committee have helped define and damage the Hall of Fame.
His five most glaring selections — George Kelly, Jesse Haines, Dave Bancroft, Ross Youngs, and Chick Hafey have ignited many arguments. Here’s a big reason why: Imagine if your favorite player is Keith Hernandez and you think he should be in Cooperstown. He’s flat out a better first baseman than George Kelly. Hernandez was in fact a better player than any of the five Frisch selections. There are likely hundreds of players better than the Frisch Five.
