Baseball: Past and Present

Have you noticed what’s been happening recently? The Hall of Fame has been getting smaller, at least in relative size. In one way, the HOF is like the Roach Motel. Players check in but they don’t check out. In absolute terms, the HOF can only get bigger. But I prefer a different view. For HOF [...]

To whom it may concern: My name is Graham Womack, and I am founder and editor of Baseball: Past and Present. I had the pleasure recently to conduct an interview with founding Sports Illustrated writer and celebrated baseball author Robert Creamer for my site. I couldn’t have asked for a better interview, and it’s had [...]

Editor’s note: One thing that I love about this blog is that we have a range of viewpoints among the writers here. I personally differ from Joe Guzzardi on how many players should be the Hall of Fame (he’s an exclusionist, I’ve become more welcoming in the last couple years), but I’m glad to share [...]

It seems lately many members of the Baseball Writers Association of America have been tormented and undecided as to which player should receive their Hall of Fame vote. This not only applies to this year’s ballot but especially in 2013 when the eligible list will be flooded with steroid-aided stars. Should these writers forgive and [...]

A week has passed since I posted the results of my second annual project on the 50 best baseball players not in the Hall of Fame, and things are going well in these parts. We have a new traffic record here with just north of 7,200 unique visitors for the month as of yesterday. More [...]

Editor’s note: I’m pleased to present the latest post from regular contributor Alex Putterman. Alex is a high school senior and recently learned he was accepted early-decision to Northwestern. He will study journalism there. _________________ Last week the Veterans Committee announced the Hall of Fame will be enshrining Ron Santo, the sixth best player not [...]

It is my pleasure, as founder and editor of this site, to present the second-annual list here of the 50 best baseball players not in the Hall of Fame. I debuted the first version of this project in December 2010 and based it around a simple idea. Rather than have rankings be based on some all-powerful [...]

Editor’s note: My weekly Tuesday column “Does he belong in the Hall of Fame?” will resume next week. __________________ It’s a little shy of midnight as I write these words. My cat’s curled up on my couch next to me, I’m flopped out myself, and for the last couple of hours, I’ve gotten very little [...]

Later this month, the 2012 Hall of Fame ballot will be released. For traditionalists like me who think the HOF is already overcrowded with marginal players, next year’s offerings are slim pickings and, hopefully, will not produce any new inductees. The popular Jack Morris’ 254 wins are overshadowed by his 3.90 ERA and his 206 [...]

With the 2011 baseball officially in the books, it is my pleasure to announce the second year of my project on the 50 best baseball players not in the Hall of Fame. I debuted this project last year (here’s how it came out) with a simple goal. Rather than have my rankings based on some [...]