PART FIVE: FINALE
Bring In The Closer:
There are a lot of players in the Hall that simply don’t match up with the others. And while it would be fun to come up with a list of all the said players (I’ve tried), it is very much impossible to do. The Hall of Fame has never set up any concrete criteria that a player must meet to be deemed worthy of Cooperstown glory.
Whether that is, as Zev Chafet’s believes – that the founders of the Hall didn’t know enough about the game – or that the goal of the institution is to be flexible to the outside opinions of who the real immortals are or should be. Interpretation are welcomed.
That is part of what makes the short-comings of the Hall seem relatively insignificant. There is so much openness though baseball has been so closed-minded over the years.
We are all entitled to our own opinions about what makes a Hall of Famer or who should be one. Unfortunately some of us are idiots. Sportswriters included. But the fact that the game still matters enough, or that the Hall of Fame matters enough, to have those conversations is a great and telling sign.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a beautiful place set within a gorgeous backdrop in Central New York. However there are a lot of problems surrounding it.
Sometimes it feels like place where racists, gamblers, addicts and A*holes can be celebrated as immortals while naive baseball geniuses are banned for life, but it is more than that. The baseball Hall of Fame is one of the most sacred institutions in all of sports and deserves to be.
But as fans, we simply cannot rely on Hall of Fame to tell us who is good or bad, right or wrong, clean or a cheater. We especially cannot rely on baseball writers. It is their job to find the story at any cost in order to feed their families; no matter what it does to the players or their loved ones.
We need to see things, feel things, research and examine things for ourselves. Sports are just games that represent everyday life in a miniature and more entertaining fashion. And we should study them as such.
Example: ‘If cocaine can be that big in baseball, how big was it on the streets of NYC?’…
Performance Enhancing Drugs anyone? Should we really be primarily blaming the hitters or certain players as the writers are telling us to?
While the credibility of the Hall of Fame can be brought into question from time to time, in the big picture they have done pretty well. Other than Joe Jackson, Pete Rose, Bert Blyleven and a couple other names, like Tony Oliva and Buck O’Neil, the Hall of Fame has included all the great names and told many great stories. They have left some boarder-line cases out for the sake of maintaining their certain degree meaning and selectivity.
They continue to stretch the criteria for what makes a true member of their fraternity. That is a great thing. Sure some bugs might sneak in, but for the most part greatness is being preserved and images of the games immortals are being displayed so that the memories of their impact never die.
Photo: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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NateWorthy Notes – Good Baseball History Books: (I put this in order of my favorites – All Titles are linked.)
Crazy ’08 (Cait Murphy) – traces the 1908 baseball season from spring training to WS
The Best of Baseball Digest (John Kuenster) – a brilliant compilation of baseball stories
The Glory of Their Times (Lawrence S. Ritter) – Oral histories from ‘Deadball’ era players
Red Legs and Black Sox (Susan Dellinger) – A Biography of Edd Roush with Black Sox insight
Eight Men Out (Elliot Asinof) – An in-depth study of the 1919 Black Sox scandal: Chicago-side focus
Cooperstown Confidential (Zev Chafets) – A critical yet anecdotal study of the Hall of Fame
Baseball America (Donald Honig) – A beautifully poetic history of 20th century baseball
Baseball (Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns) – The book from the Ken Burns documentary
Game of Inches (Peter Morris) – An extensive volume of Baseball firsts: amazing research.
Cobb: A Biography (Al Stump) – The inside story of the life of Ty Cobb
Nice Guys Finish Last (Leo Durocher) – The life and times of Leo Durocher
February 26th, 2010 at 1:54 am
Hi Nate! I surely do appreciate your putting my book as #4 on
your “fav list.” Obviously, you had great insight and intelligence!
In fact, we’re in the middle of talks with a hollywood producer
about turning “Red Legs and Black Sox” into a feature film!
We welcome all visitors to our website: http://www.redlegsandblacksox.com
…Susan Dellinger, granddaughter of Edd J Roush (HOF ’62)