Man, is the hot stove particularly cold, or what? It’s not just the Phillies, either. No team has made much of a splash, although it seems likely that the Winter Meetings will help fire things up.

Even if there is little activity in the way of free agent signings and trades at the Winter Meetings, there will be the announcement of the results of the Veteran’s Committee vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The ballot is separated into “Pre-1943″ and “Post-1942″ players. The “Post-1942″ players will be voted on by the living Hall of Famers, and the “Pre-1943″ players will be considered by a group of Hall of Famers and media types.

As we discussed here last week, Dick Allen made the cut to be a finalist for consideration among the living Hall of Famers. He has company, though, as he’s not the only Phillie with a shot at being immortalized in Cooperstown.

Sherry Magee, who patrolled Baker Bowl’s left field for the Phillies from 1904-1914, is on the “Pre-1943″ ballot.

Magee lacks a traditional Hall of Fame resume (although he does fare well on the Hall of Fame black ink and gray ink tests), but much of that is attributable to him playing during the dead ball era. What gives Magee a shot at making it in is that he is considered to be one of the great hitters of his time. More on his stats later.

Tom Simon researched Magee’s life as part of the SABR Baseball biography project. He writes about Magee being a complete unknown when he was picked up by the Phillies after one of their scouts was at the right place at the right time and overheard some fans raving about a player on a local team in Carlisle, PA:

After checking out the kid and liking what he saw, Randall approached him and asked if he’d be interested in playing with a league team. “With what team?” asked Magee. “With the Phillies,” replied Randall. Sherry couldn’t believe that he’d heard right, and it wasn’t until Randall pulled out a contract and offered him a roll of bills that he realized he wasn’t dreaming. The next day he was in Philadelphia, practicing with the Phillies…

Magee’s early years with the Phillies appear to be marked more by consistent production and an establishment of the left fielder as one of the best in the National League. He delivered 60-80 RBI per year, 40+ stolen bases and double digits in triples as well. In an era defined by small ball, Magee understood it well. He led the league in RBI 3 times, but generated a lot of runs when he was on base as well, as evidenced by his high ranking on the Phillies all-time list for runs and stolen bases.

According to Simon, Magee incurred the wrath of the Phillies fans, as his personality began to generate as many headlines as his play on the field:

“For five years, prior to 1914, the local fans have roasted Sherwood Magee,” wrote a Philadelphia reporter. “They cheered his long swats as all fans do, but still they shouted for his release.” (John J. Ward of Baseball Magazine) agreed, attributing Magee’s lack of popularity to the generally-held belief that he was “a man who played for his own personal record and not for the good of the team.”

The indispensable Phillies Encyclopedia (Temple Press, 2004) suggests that the criticism was warranted, saying:

Magee…was better known for his conduct on the field, which was deplorable, and his conduct in the clubhouse, which could be downright nasty. He took needling one step beyond the bounds of good judgment and actually bullied many of his younger teammates once he established himself as a star.

Magee’s reputation didn’t get any better when, in July of 1911, he got into an ugly fight with an umpire after a disputed strike call. Simon reports it this way in his SABR biography of Magee:

With the Phils leading, 2-1, Magee came to bat with one out and Dode Paskert on second and Hans Lobert on first. With two strikes, rookie umpire Bill Finneran called Magee out on what appeared to be a high pitch, prompting Magee to turn away in disgust and throw his bat high in the air. Finneran yanked off his mask and threw him out of the game. Sherry, who had been heading to the bench, suddenly turned and attacked the umpire, clutching him for a second before hitting him with a quick left just above the jaw. With blood spurting from his face, Finneran fell to the ground on his back, apparently unconscious.

Magee was suspended for the rest of the year, but was actually allowed to return to the field after 29 games, but the Phils were out of the pennant chase by then.

Magee played a couple more seasons with the Phillies, and was the captain of the team in 1914, but was traded in the offseason to the reigning World Champion Boston Braves. Magee then watched the Phillies win the franchise’s first ever pennant over his second place Braves in 1915. That had to hurt.

Sherry Magee still ranks in the top 10 in Phillies history in games played, stolen bases (3rd all-time), runs, hits and doubles.

Should voters need any convincing, one could point to the fact that Magee is one of only 10 players ever to amass 400 doubles, 150 triples and 400 stolen bases in a career. 7 of those players are already in the Hall of Fame (Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Honus Wagner, Eddie Collins, Max Carey, George Davis and Ed Delahanty). The remaining three are Magee, Jimmy Ryan, and Bill Dahlen, who is also being considered for election by the Veteran’s Committee this year.

Magee was teammates with Kid Gleason from 1904-1908. Gleason went on to manage the Chicago White Sox from 1919-1923. Gleason has the unfortunate distinction of managing the 1919 White Sox, forever known as the Black Sox for throwing the World Series that year. Their opponent was a Cincinnati Reds team that included Sherry Magee in his last major league season. So, Magee finally won a pennant, and then a World Series, albeit the most illegitimate World Series ever.

One last interesting tidbit about Magee’s stats: he ranks 27th all-time (tied with Roberto Clemente) in career triples with 166. Only 4 of the 27 players ahead of or tied with him are not in the Hall of Fame, and one of them, Shoeless Joe Jackson, is ineligible for induction.

The Phillies Encyclopedia finishes it’s bio of Magee by saying, “While he was in Philly, he was sort of an early version of Dick Allen. Controversy followed him everywhere.” Now both players could enter the Hall of Fame in the same year.

In another Hall of Fame note, Philadelphia native, and former Phillie Bucky Walters is on the pre-1943 ballot as well. Walter was born in Philly, died in Abington, and pitched 4 + years for the Phillies, from 1934-1938. The Phillies were awful during those years, finishing no better than 7th out of 8 teams in the National League.