Effectively Wild Episode 1636: A First-Ballot Hall of Fame Voter

December 29, 2020

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs Hall of Fame expert Jay Jaffe (the author of The Cooperstown Casebook) discuss Jay’s experience as a first-time Hall of Fame voter, the case of Curt Schilling, weighing on-field contributions and off-field transgressions, the players on Jay’s ballot, the candidacies of Billy Wagner, Gary Sheffield, Omar Vizquel, and others, adjusting the baseline for Hall of Fame starting pitchers, Jay’s predictions for this year’s voting results, a preview of the upcoming Cooperstown classes, the record number of Hall of Fame players who died in 2020, how to better honor baseball greats while they’re still alive, the Hall of Fame ramifications of reclassifying the Negro Leagues as major leagues, and more.