Dave Bancroft - Legacy

Legacy

Grover Cleveland Alexander, Bancroft's teammate in Philadelphia, and Hughie Jennings, his coach in New York, considered Bancroft one of the best shortstops in MLB. Sportswriter Frank Graham called Bancroft "the greatest shortstop the Giants ever had and one of the greatest that ever lived." Bancroft is still considered to be among the top fielders in baseball history. He was also considered one of the fastest shortstops in baseball. In contrast to other great fielding shortstops, Bancroft was noted for his offensive ability.

"Bancroft is one of the greatest shortstops in the history of the game. He can go equally well to his right or left, has a great arm, and is a good hitter. In addition, he is pretty fast on his feet. The best hing about Bancroft is, he can think. He uses his brain. He is more than a great mechanical player. A player like Banny at short means everything to a ball club."

After failing to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), the Veterans Committee elected Bancroft in 1971. Former Giants teammates Terry and Frankie Frisch, who joined the Veterans Committee in 1967, aided the elections of several of their former teammates. Terry and Frisch shepherded the selections of Jesse Haines in 1970, Bancroft and Chick Hafey in 1971, Ross Youngs in 1972, George Kelly in 1973, Jim Bottomley in 1974, and Freddie Lindstrom in 1976. Bancroft, along with some of the other selections made by Terry and Frisch, has been considered among the weakest of all inductees. According to the BBWAA, the Veterans Committee was not selective enough in choosing members. Charges of cronyism were levied against the Veterans Committee. This led to the Veterans Committee having its powers reduced in subsequent years.

Despite the criticism of players elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in this period, Bancroft grades well in terms of sabermetric statistics. He finished fourth in the NL in Wins Above Replacement in 1920 (6.5) and third in 1921 (7.2) and 1922 (6.0). Bancroft was also inducted in The Des Moines Register's Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.