We are going through the candidates that could appear on the Veterans Committee ballot in 2020-2021. The rules are different. They have split the sport into eras. The era this year will be 1950 to 1969. Obviously, there will always be overlap, so we are picking players that played at

As we move past the all-time greats we move back to a place where we can look more critically at the Hall of Fame. The Veterans Committee broke up the game into time periods with each time period rotating over several years to get their turn at “righting a wrong”

There is no drama as to who is in the top spot for right fielders. In fact, there is little drama as to who is in the top spot for overall players. Bill James once said that any statistical system that didn’t have Ruth as the top player of all-time

There are a few spots where analysis and emotion collide. There is probably no place where this collision is more violent than in center field. There are those that will fiercely cling to the notion that Ty Cobb is not only the best center fielder of all time, but the

When we looked at shortstops we came up on the problem with what to do with Alex Rodrgiguez. The same problem comes up with Barry Bonds. Fortunately, the focus of the book The Hall of Fame Index Part II wasn’t who was the best or most valuable at each position.

Like with our third basemen, there really is no drama as who will get the top spot amongst shortstops in the history of the game. So, we altered the headline for the article because the comments usually joke about how obvious the choice is. The Hall of Fame Index was

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. One of the keys of The Hall of Fame Index is that we go where the data takes us. We can ask lofty questions like who is the most valuable third baseman of all-time and that’s what the headline says, but the

Every position is unique when it comes to evaluating the top five guys. There is no doubt about the top four second basemen. Obviously, the order in which they go will be debated and it was in The Hall of Fame Index Part II. Getting to the fifth spot is

It’s not really a surprise that there’s a big overlap between sports fans and those who gamble. Gambling and sports go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly — both of them have high risks and high stakes which gets the adrenaline pumping. They’re also extremely passionate about sports

One of the cardinal rules of analysis is that you have to follow the data where it goes. One of the mistakes people make in science is that they go into a research question with the answer in their mind. If you did not read the article on the most