Last year, I asked readers to vote on an inner circle for the Hall of Fame. I’ve run a few voter-driven projects, and while I enjoy getting to look at everyone’s ballot, it’s generally the same story. I doubt any two ballots are alike. Voters use a variety of rationales. And most every ballot has […]
Author Archive
Why there may never be a unanimous Hall of Famer
Posted: 24th September 2013 by Graham Womack in Baseball Hall of Fame2
Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Dick Groat
Posted: 21st September 2013 by Graham Womack in Dick GroatClaim to fame: Dick Groat and the question of his Hall of Fame worthiness has popped up twice on this website in recent months. First came a comment at my annual project on the 50 best players not in the Hall of Fame. Someone wrote: Bobby Grich (6x-AS, .266 avg.) Dick Groat (8x AS, 1960 MVP, […]
Notes from the 19th annual Pacific Coast League reunion
Posted: 25th August 2013 by Graham Womack in MLBRugger Ardizoia didn’t know he was the oldest living New York Yankee until a few days ago. It’s probably fitting. Though the 93-year-old San Francisco resident still keeps his team identification card in his wallet, he comes across soft-spoken and reserved, not one to boast about his past or demand attention for it. It’s probably appropriate […]
My personal Hall of Fame: The inaugural class
Posted: 19th August 2013 by Graham Womack in Baseball Hall of FameMonths ago, a friend asked me to make a personal Hall of Fame for a project he’s doing. It sounded like a fun idea. The Hall of Fame has been a topic of frequent discussion here in the past, and I annually do a project on the 50 best players not in Cooperstown. Off the […]
What he did: There’s a Mickey Mantle stat I’m drawn to, and it’s not something that jumps out like the 536 lifetime home runs or 565-foot bomb he hit at Griffith Stadium in 1953. Early in his Hall of Fame career, Mantle was known for his speed, with him being one of the fastest players in […]
I joke sometimes that if I were ever marooned on a desert island and could bring one thing, I might take Baseball-Reference.com with me. The world’s greatest baseball website has enough content to keep a hardened fan or researcher occupied for months if not years. I’ve certainly killed weekends on it. I was lucky enough […]
Statistics are used much like a drunk uses a lamppost: For support, not illumination. -Vin Scully Three years ago, in the early stages of this blog, I wrote a post suggesting the best eligible player not in the Hall of Fame. It was three years ago, granted, so I knew less about sabermetrics, less about […]
April 1987 marked the 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier. On April 6 of that year, the ABC program “Nightline” had on baseball author Roger Kahn and the Dodgers executive who signed Robinson, Al Campanis as guests. At first, it went smoothly, with Kahn noting that his late friend Robinson might be […]
I was literally just asked WHY fans should respect MLB history — including that of each of its franchise’s (past/present). WHAT THE HELL?! — Melissa Dickson (@WhiteSoxDiaries) April 18, 2013 Thursday afternoon, news broke on Twitter that Derek Jeter would be out injured until at least the All Star Break and the response was fairly […]
Hi all, A quick note this morning to say that I have a new piece up at the Hardball Times. As some of you may know, Baseball-Reference.com added salary information and an inflation calculator to player pages not long ago. Using this info, I recently ranked every Hall of Fame player for their top salary […]