Baseball History — As Seen From The Shadows of Cooperstown: Part IV

In the fourth of a 10-part series, the author takes an in-depth look at Major League Baseball history from 1931 to 1940.

The 25 Left Fielders With the Best Careers

Here are the 25 left fielders who had the best careers during the 20th century (as measured by the NEWS HOF Gauge).

Baseball History — As Seen From The Shadows of Cooperstown: Part III

In the third of a 10-part series, the author takes an in-depth look at Major League Baseball history from 1921 to 1930.

Baseball History — As Seen From the Shadows of Cooperstown: Part II

In the second of a 10-part series, the author takes an in-depth look at Major League Baseball history from 1911 to 1920.

The 25 Right Fielders With the Best Careers

Here are the 25 right fielders who had the best careers during the 20th century (as measured by the NEWS HOF Gauge).

The Best 25 Careers at Each Position

This is the first installment of a new series on this blog regarding which major league players had the best careers at each position as determined by the NEWS HOF Gauge.

Baseball History — As Seen From the Shadows of Cooperstown

In the first of a 10-part series, the author takes an in-depth look at Major League Baseball history from 1900 to 1910.

Revamped Veterans Committee

There is now a special segment of the Veterans Committee that will examine the most deserving of those players who played prior to 1943 but are not in the Hall of Fame. A good question is – how many such players have HOF numbers and have been ignored in the past? According to the NEWS […]

More Strange HOF Voting

Maury Wills came onto the BBWAA ballot in 1978. In that first year, he got 115 votes (30%). Luis Aparicio, another shortstop, joined him on the ballot in 1979. Wills got 38% of the vote in 1979 compared to 28% for Aparicio. In 1980, Wills got more votes than Aparicio again – 38% to 32%. […]

Strange HOF Voting

At times, the manner in which some writers who are members of the BBWAA vote in the Hall of Fame elections seemingly defies rational explanation. Writers receive a ballot containing a list of candidates for the Hall. They are asked to vote for ten players at most. I would assume that if someone is voting […]

2008 BBWAA Results – Some Thoughts

Congratulations to Goose Gossage on his election to the Hall of Fame. He got 86% of the vote and was the only candidate elected. As we have said here before, Gossage has HOF numbers and should have been elected long ago. Three other players scored better than 60% of the vote and will probably be […]

Nolan Ryan

Nolan Ryan is a Hall of Fame pitcher – there is no question about that. But exactly how good was he and how does he compare to the other HOF pitchers? People are usually surprised when I explain that Nolan Ryan’s career more closely resembles that of Don Sutton than those of truly outstanding pitchers […]

A Short Career – The Pitchers

The NEWS HOF Gauge recognizes two small groups of pitchers as having HOF numbers even though they did not reach the NEWS criterion of 235 for a starting pitcher. 1. The 180/2400 Standard – Starters and starter/reliever There are only five pitchers in the 20th century who have attained a NEWS score of 180 while […]

A Short Career and the HOF

According to the NEWS HOF Gauge, only eighty-four (84) position players in the 20th century have attained HOF numbers with a NEWS score of 280. That is a very select club. But there were nine other position players who also achieved HOF numbers even though they had relatively short careers. There have only been eleven […]

HOF Election “Rigged?”

Marvin Miller was not elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans’ Committee on Dec. 3, 2007 and he was upset. This is some of what he said (as reported by the Associated Press). “I think it was rigged, but not to keep me out. It was rigged to bring some of these (people) […]

2008 BBWAA Hall of Fame Ballot

The NEWS HOF Gauge (based on Win Shares) has set performance standards for players and pitchers in order to determine whether they have the numbers to be considered serious candidates for the Hall of Fame. These are tough standards as is evidenced by the fact that only 93 position players and 49 pitchers (who played […]

The Best Players NOT in the Hall of Fame

According to the NEWS HOF Gauge (based on win shares), at the end of the 2006 season, only 82 position players had established a NEWS score of 280 (clear HOF numbers). In the 2007 season, Chipper Jones and Jim Thome joined this elite group. Jones is now the #79 best position player of the 20th […]

WIN SHARES and the HALL OF FAME

In 2002, Bill James published his book called WIN SHARES in which he introduced a new system that was the product of more than twenty-five years of research. And it is this system that I am convinced is far better than any other that has been developed for comparing players. The method is so revolutionary […]

Numbers and the Hall of Fame

This is the first in a series of short articles and/or comments that I will be writing regarding baseball’s Hall of Fame. Who belongs in the Hall of Fame? According to the guidelines set forth for the BBWAA election process, “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions […]

White Stocking Stuffers (#385)

There was so much more I wanted to get into this issue, but I just ran out of time and space. Look for one more issue in ’06. A NOTE FROM JIM ELFERS Last issue, I reviewed Jim’s book, The Tour to End All Tours, and received this note, which I pass along with Jim’s […]

NOTES #142

NOTES FROM THE SHADOWS OF COOPERSTOWN Observations from Outside the Lines By Two Finger Carney (carneya6@adelphia.net) #142 JULY 28, 1996 PEANUTS AND CRACKER JACK That’s the heading I use for pages where I collect all kinds of unrelated baseball stuff, and this is that kind of issue. No main theme, no big events, just a […]

NOTES #140

NOTES FROM THE SHADOWS OF COOPERSTOWN Observations from Outside the Lines By Two Finger Carney (carneya6@borg.com) #140 July 16, 1996 ONE OLD CAT One old cat is a game that is older than baseball, and is usually considered an ancestor. Rules vary, but it’s a ball and stick game, with running and bases, hits and […]

NOTES #126

NOTES FROM THE SHADOWS OF COOPERSTOWN Observations from Outside the Lines By Two Finger Carney (carneya6@borg.com) #126 MARCH 23, 1996 GONE FISHING “‘I would like to take the great DiMaggio fishing,’ the old man said. ‘They say his father was a fisherman. Maybe he was as poor as we are and would understand.’” I enjoyed […]

NOTES #125

St Patrick Invented Baseball I have suspected for some time that I’ve always felt at home in the country of baseball, partly because of my ancestry. Both of my grandfathers, long gone from the planet long before I arrived, were Irish. So what? Well, if you look closely at the hairs on baseball’s head, you […]

Some Reflections on Pete Rose

Some Reflections on Pete Rose From NOTES #116, October 20, 1995: PONDERING PETE ROSE, 1995 I was living in Cleveland when Pete Rose torpedoed Ray Fosse, but I think I disliked the guy even before then. I certainly respected him when he was hustling hits. He was, in a way, the John Kruk of his […]

Notes #77

NOTES FROM THE SHADOWS OF COOPERSTOWN Observations from Outside the Lines By Two Finger Carney (carneya6@adelphia.net) #77 August 3, 1994 TAKING TIME FOR PARADISE Americans and Their Games was Giamatti’s subtitle for his small but tedious book with the wonderful title I’ve borrowed, and it could fit nicely as the subtitle for my week on […]

Notes #52

NOTES FROM THE SHADOWS OF COOPERSTOWN Observations from Outside the Lines By Two Finger Carney (carneya6@adelphia.net) #52 — AKA: Hot Stove Issue #14 February 5, 1994 WHAT MAKES FOR A GOOD HOT STOVE QUESTION? The logs that burns longest and hottest are the kind I like in my hot stove. Trivia questions are like newspaper: […]

Notes #20

NOTES FROM THE SHADOWS OF COOPERSTOWN Observations from Outside the Lines By Two Finger Carney (carneya6@adelphia.net) #20 June 27, 1993 Week Twelve: June 21 – 27 WHO WAS THAT LADY I HEARD YOU WITH LAST NIGHT? A question I wanted to ask Gary Cohen, after tuning in the Mets for a while on June 5th, […]

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