Collect and Digest

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I’m honored to see The Cooperstown Casebook on the Sports Collectors Digest’s “The 50 best baseball books from 2017” list alongside so many great authors including Marty Appel, Ira Berkow, Paul Dickson, Bill James, Keith Law, Greg Prince and Richard Sandomir, not to mention biographies of Hank Greenberg, Chipper Jones, David Ortiz, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez. And somehow, old nemesis Ned Colletti’s in there, too.

Certain to stir controversy, this hardcover shows how analytics can be applied to Hall of Fame selection. Jaffe explains who should be in, who should be thrown out, and who should win future enshrinement.

“The most thrilling and fascinating books of 2017”

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The New York Post‘s Larry Getlen not only gave The Cooperstown Casebook a favorable review back in July, he included it in the tabloid’s roundup of the year’s “most thrilling and fascinating books.” By the look if it, the Casebook isn’t just the only baseball book of the 40 they covered (23 nonfiction), it’s the only sports book!

Baseball fans will love, and be enraged at, this book making the case for players who belong in the Hall and players who don’t. Providing an in-depth history of the perpetual use of performance-enhancing substances in baseball.-LG

December Link-O-Rama

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Yakkin’ about The Cooperstown Casebook and the Hall of Fame

Seattle Times Extra Innings Podcast — with Ryan Divish (12/1/17)
Tigers History Podcast (12/4/17)
Sportsnet 590 with Jeff Blair — Toronto (12/6/17)
Super 70s Sports Podcast (12/8/17)
The Bernie Miklasz Show — ESPN101, St. Louis (12/8/17)
Downtown with Rich Kimball — WZON, Maine (12/13/17)

Other Links 

The Athletic Detroit Q&A — Discussing the Modern Baseball Era Committee (non) candidates Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell and Jack Morris with Katie Strang (11/9/17)

Scott Rolen Has a Better Hall of Fame Case Than You Think — The Cincinnati Enquirer‘s Trent Rosecrans asked me about the third baseman (11/20/17)

Goodreads Baseball Book Club December Book of the Month (12/1/17)

The Maine Edge‘s The Year in Books (12/6/17)

The Hall of Very Good 2017 Holiday Gift Guide (12/7/17)

2018 BBWAA Ballot @ SI.com

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Part of my ongoing effort to catalog my Hall of Fame-related coverage at SI.com for this site. As this series is in progress, some articles have not yet been published.

Roundups

First look
JAWS intro
Joe Morgan’s Letter
  Letter of Intent (magazine version)
My Virtual 2018 Ballot
2018 Election Day Preview
Results: Chipper, Guerrero, Thome, Hoffman elected
Player-by-Player
Next 5 Years

Candidates

One-and-Dones Part 1: Chris Carpenter, Livan Hernandez, Brad Lidge, Jason Isringhausen
One-and-Dones Part 2: Kevin Millwood, Jamie Moyer, Kerry Wood, Carlos Zambrano
One-and-Dones Part 3: Johnny Damon, Orlando Hudson, Aubrey Huff, Carlos Lee, Hideki Matsui

Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
Vlad Guerrero
Trevor Hoffman
Andruw Jones
Chipper Jones
Jeff Kent
Edgar Martinez
Fred McGriff
Mike Mussina
Manny Ramirez
Scott Rolen 
Johan Santana
Curt Schilling
Gary Sheffield
Sammy Sosa
Jim Thome
Omar Vizquel
Billy Wagner
Larry Walker

2018 Modern Baseball Era Committee Ballot @ SI.com

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Even for a process designed to reconsider long-retired players not elected via the writers’ ballot (managers, executives and umpires are included as well)— this feels like a particularly reheated slate. Six of the candidates have been considered via at least one Era Committee ballot before, namely Steve Garvey, Tommy John, Dave Parker, Ted Simmons, Luis Tiant and Marvin Miller, the lone non-player. While Don Mattingly, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy and Alan Trammell are all first-timers here, each spent the maximum 15 years on the BBWAA ballot, with Morris the only one coming anywhere close to the 75% needed for election by the end of his run:

Garvey, Mattingly and Tiant received their highest shares of the vote in their ballot debuts, with Parker and Murphy doing so in their second years. When the Hall announced the truncation of the 15-year eligibility window to 10 in the summer of 2014, Mattingly — who along with Trammell and Lee Smith was grandfathered in, as he was past the 10-year point — was down into single-digit percentages. In short, the candidacies of those players were arguments for a mercy rule.

Part 1: Tommy John, Luis Tiant, Ted Simmons

Part 2: Steve Garvey, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker

Part 3: Alan Trammell

Part 4: Jack Morris

Part 5: Marvin Miller

Results: Morris and Trammell elected

For all of the contentious debate that surrounded Jack Morris’ 15-year run on the BBWAA ballot, his election to the Hall of Fame via the Modern Baseball Era Committee—whose results were announced Sunday evening, from the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida—was inevitable, given the history of candidates who fell just short of 75% from the writers. On the other hand, the election of Morris’ longtime teammate, shortstop Alan Trammell, was a pleasant surprise given the lackadaisical support he received during his ballot tenure.

As Seen in the Columbus Dispatch

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Received a very positive (if brief) review from the Columbus, Ohio paper:

This is a book for those serious baseball fans who don’t know what to do with their post-World Series evenings. We all have opinions about our favorites making it to the Hall of Fame; Jaffe leads us around the bases, skillfully assessing the future roster of candidates. Don’t miss the Introduction, “Why Care About the Hall of Fame.”
— George Cowmeadow Bauman, Acorn Bookshop, Columbus

Ballots, Beer, Books, Brooklyn (or Maybe Manhattan)?

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UPDATE: Thank you to those who have reached out. We now have a venue and a time: Foley’s (18 W. 33rd St in Manhattan) from 7-9 pm on Tuesday, December 12.

Revisiting an idea I broached during the World Series, I’m thinking of trying to put together a beer & book event at a Brooklyn bar, or perhaps a Manhattan one, during the late November/December Hall of Fame ballot season. I’d do a Q&A over drinks, sell and sign books ($25, which is less than list price or what you’d pay for a signed book via Greenlight Bookstore), and leave enough time for causal hanging out after. Something like 7-9 PM on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, with the exact date TBD.

I have boxes of books already on hand. The event would be open to the public — many of you have already bought The Cooperstown Casebook, for which I thank you profusely — but I would need some kind of critical mass of direct pre-sales to pull this event off (via PayPal, most likely), as I’m not going to try to reserve space for an event that won’t generate turnout and I’m not schlepping books I can’t sell. If you have already bought (again, thank you!), perhaps you’ve got a friend or relative who needs a holiday or birthday gift? Just a thought, but if you do go that route, you’re free to bring your own copy for me to sign and personalize.

So, if this interests you, I need a virtual show of hands. Please fill out a contact form indicating your interest in pre-purchasing a book for such an event — using a valid email address which I swear on a stack of Edgar Martinez votes won’t be used for any other purpose — and whether you have a position on Manhattan vs. Brooklyn as a venue. I have bar options in mind for both, relatively convenient via subways.

Failing this, I may explore one other event idea during election season, but that will take more effort to put together.

2006 BBWAA Ballot @ BP

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Part of my ongoing effort to catalog my Hall of Fame-related coverage at Baseball Prospectus for this site. A recent design change at BP may result in formatting issues. 

This was the first BBWAA ballot for which I defined the peak component of JAWS as a player’s seven best seasons at large rather than his five best consecutive seasons (with allowances for injuries or military service), though it still relied upon Baseball Prospectus’ Wins Above Replacement Player metric, which used a significantly lower replacement level than today’s WAR

Hitters 
Albert Belle, Will Clark, Dave Concepcion, Andre Dawson, Gary DiSarcina, Gary Gaetti, Steve Garvey, Ozzie Guillen, Gregg Jefferies, Don Mattingly, Willie McGee, Hal Morris, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Jim Rice, Alan Trammell, Walt Weiss

Starters
Bert Blyleven, Alex Fernandez, Dwight Gooden, Orel Hershiser, Tommy John, Jack Morris

Relievers
Rick Aguilera, Rich Gossage, Doug Jones, Lee Smith, Bruce Sutter, John Wettteland

2005 Veterans Committee Ballot @ BP

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Part of my ongoing effort to catalog my Hall of Fame-related coverage at Baseball Prospectus for this site. A recent design change at BP may result in formatting issues. 

This was the first ballot for which the JAWS acronym was used — I introduced the new designation in a piece about Barry Bonds’ lack of Hall of Fame teammates in October 2004 — though it still relied upon Baseball Prospectus’ Wins Above Replacement Player metric, which used a significantly lower replacement level than today’s WAR, and a definition of peak based on a player’s best five-year run, with allowances made for injuries or military service. With so many candidates having such slim chances, I did not delve into every single case.

Hitters
Dick Allen, Bobby Bonds, Ken Boyer, Rocky Colavito, Curt Flood, Joe Gordon, Gil Hodges, Elston Howard, Marty Marion, Roger Maris, Minnie Minoso, Thurman Munson, Tony Oliva, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Joe Torre, Maury Wills

Pitchers (same article)
Wes Ferrell, Jim Kaat, Mickey Lolich, Sparky Lyle, Carl Mays, Don Newcombe, Luis Tiant, Smokey Joe Wood

2005 BBWAA Ballot @ BP

On By cooperstowncasebookIn Baseball ProsepctusLeave a comment

Part of my ongoing effort to catalog my Hall of Fame-related coverage at Baseball Prospectus for this site. A recent design change at BP may result in formatting issues. 

This was the first BBWAA ballot for which the JAWS acronym was used — I introduced the new designation in a piece about Barry Bonds’ lack of Hall of Fame teammates in October 2004 — though it still relied upon Baseball Prospectus’ Wins Above Replacement Player metric, which used a significantly lower replacement level than today’s WAR, and a definition of peak based on a player’s best five-year run, with allowances made for injuries or military service.

Hitters 
Wade Boggs, Dave Concepcion, Chili Davis, Andre Dawson, Steve Garvey, Don Mattingly, Willie McGee, Dale Murphy, Otis Nixon, Dave Parker, Tony Phillips, Jim Rice, Ryne Sandberg, Terry Steinbach, Darryl Strawberry, Alan Trammell

Pitchers
Jim Abbott, Bert Blyleven, Tom Candiotti, Rich Gossage, Tommy John, Mark Langston, Jack McDowell, Jeff Montgomery, Jack Morris, Lee Smith, Bruce Sutter