The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, tucked away in upstate New York in a small town called Cooperstown, is far from any major media market or big league stadium. Yet no sports hall of fame's membership is so hallowed, nor its qualifications so debated, nor its voting process so dissected.
Since its founding in 1936, the Hall of Fame's standards for election have been nebulous, and its selection processes arcane, resulting in confusion among voters, not to mention mistakes in who has been recognized and who has been bypassed. Numerous so-called "greats" have been inducted despite having not been so great, while popular but controversial players such as all-time home run leader Barry Bonds and all-time hits leader Pete Rose are on the outside looking in.
Now, in The Cooperstown Casebook, Jay Jaffe takes us through his revolutionary ranking system. The foundation of Jaffe's approach is JAWS, an acronym for the Jaffe WAR Score, which he developed over a decade ago. Through JAWS, each candidate can be objectively compared on the basis of career and peak value to the players at his position who are already in the Hall of Fame. Because of its utility, JAWS has gained an increasing amount of exposure in recent years. Through his analysis, Jaffe shows why the Hall of Fame still matters and how it can remain relevant in the 21st century.
Jay Jaffe is a contributing baseball writer for SI.com. He is the founder of the Futility Infielder website, one of the oldest baseball blogs, and from 2005 - 2012 was a columnist for "Baseball Prospectus." He has been a recurring guest on MLB Network's "MLB Now" and "Clubhouse Confidential" shows and a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America since 2011.
On a Wednesday evening in July, Jay Jaffe led our final author event of the summer. Listen in to our intimate and lively Clubhouse conversation...
"Havana Hardball: Spring Training, Jackie Robinson, and the Cuban League" with Cesar Brioso
"The Betrayal: The 1919 World Series and the Birth of Modern Baseball" with Charles Fountain
"Game of My Life: NY Mets" with Ed Charles and author Michael Garry
"Pinstripes and Penance / Long Road Home" with John Malangone and Mike Harrison
"At The Ballpark" -- A Phenomenal Panel
"The Dad Report: Fathers, Sons, and Baseball Families" with Kevin Cook
"Crack of the Bat: A History of Baseball on the Radio" with James Walker
"The Colonel and Hug: The Partnership That Transformed The New York Yankees" with Steve Steinberg
"Split Season 1981" with Jeff Katz, the Mayor of Cooperstown
"Billy Martin: Baseball's Flawed Genius" with Bill Pennington
"If These Walls Could Talk: New York Yankees" with Jim Kaat
"A Game of Their Own: Voices of Contemporary Women in Baseball" with Jennifer Ring
"Freedom Between The Lines" with Gregory Rubano
"100 Years of Who's Who in Baseball" with Marty Appel and Doug Lyons
"Amazing Aaron to Zero Zippers" with 16-year-old author Matt Nadel
"Joe Black: More Than A Dodger" with Martha Jo Black
"Gil Hodges: A Hall of Fame Life" with author Mort Zachter
"Circus Maximus" with Andrew Zimbalist
Special Event: "A Baseball Life" with Bill Giles and author John Lord
"The Chalmers Race" with author Rick Huhn
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