Count Him In
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by user Ron Sen, MD
Most years since 1962, the Baseball Hall of Fame adds a sportswriter (or two) into its pantheon of greats. The J.G. Taylor Spink award honors a baseball writer "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing."
Perhaps the most deserving writer for entry has criticized the Hall of Fame in his writings, particularly "Whatever Became of the Hall of Fame." He began his operation with one-sided handwritten script in Kansas. He never was much of a ballplayer, and yet has revolutionized our view of baseball.
How this writer is viewed reminds me of the story of the mourning of former Boston Mayor James Michael Curley. They say over 50,000 passed by his casket, many to honor him, some to be sure the bastard was really dead. The scribe has written numerous books, with a combination of assiduous research and acerbic prose, sparing few from his poison pen.
He has advocated for an abolition of the minor leagues, in favor of a different structure of professional baseball, where winning was always important. In a Dionysian search for truth, he constantly seeks to understand why baseball games are won and lost, and strives for evidence-based writings in both player and team evaluation. Where truisms are offered, he responds with indefatiguable research. He demands objectivity where others have accepted the truth from their lying eyes.
From his writing tree has sprung other rich baseball writing fruit, including John Sickels and Rob Neyer. The greatest tribute to his work came not from his own many writings, but from the best-selling work of a financial writer, Michael Lewis. His contributions have extended beyond the realm of the theoretical, to becoming a World Champion, and celebrating with a meal at the Steak 'N Shake.
My nominee for the J.G. Taylor Spink Award is George William James, better known as Bill James, founder of the Baseball Abstract, ultimately the originator of Sabermetrics, and consultant to the Boston Red Sox.
Date
Sat 06/17/06, 11:26 am EST
