TV Party from Vegas (with a Spink Award Winner)
Greetings from the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, where the big excitement of the Tyson Ross signing still hasn’t died down. On Monday, in the wake of Harold Baines‘ shocking election to the Hall of Fame by the Today’s Game Era Committee, I did a pair of TV spots on the subject that I shared on Twitter and figured I’d gather here as well.
First off, here’s the spot I did for Fox Sports South (the RSN of the Braves) with Cory McCartney. Naturally, our discussion touched upon several Atlanta-linked candidates:
"I don't think I've ever been more shocked at a Hall of Fame result."@coryjmccartney catches up with @fangraphs senior writer and JAWS creator @jay_jaffe to discuss if Harold Baines' HOF nod could affect the cases for players like Dale Murphy, Fred McGriff or Andruw Jones. pic.twitter.com/msO0HbydCm
— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) December 11, 2018
And here I am on MLB Now, discussing the election with Brian Kenny, Dan O’Dowd, and Jayson Stark:
That would be 2019 J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner Jayson Stark, whose win was announced at the BBWAA’s winter meeting on Tuesday morning, as well as simultaneously on the organization’s web site. A 40-year veteran of the industry who has spent the bulk of his career at the Philadelphia Inquirer and ESPN (he’s now at The Athletic), Stark has long been a favorite of the statistically inclined, and was at the vanguard when it came to incorporating advanced statistics into his Hall of Fame deliberations (a topic I took up in The Cooperstown Casebook, for which he also provided a glowing back-cover blurb). In doing so, he’s introduced my work to countless people, including fellow voters. Thus, doing a TV spot with him was a bucket-list item given my respect for him and the impact he’s had upon my career. My heartfelt congratulations, Jayson!
For some reason, that MLB Network set upon which our discussion took place is outdoors overlooking a swimming pool, and when I was coming off set, I could not help but notice the potential for disaster and a particular variety of Winter Meetings infamy:
That MLB Now spot was shot outside by a pool for some weird reason. Had I stumbled coming off-set, it would have been Winter Meetings Follies fodder for the ages pic.twitter.com/xzHvctpTRW
— Jay Jaffe (@jay_jaffe) December 11, 2018
Brooklyn-based Jay Jaffe is a senior writer for FanGraphs, the author of The Cooperstown Casebook (Thomas Dunne Books, 2017) and the creator of the JAWS (Jaffe WAR Score) metric for Hall of Fame analysis. He founded the Futility Infielder website (2001), was a columnist for Baseball Prospectus (2005-2012) and a contributing writer for Sports Illustrated (2012-2018). He has been a recurring guest on MLB Network and a member of the BBWAA since 2011, and a Hall of Fame voter since 2021. Follow him on BlueSky @jayjaffe.bsky.social.
Stark has been in the biz 40 years now? Amazing. He doesn’t look nearly old enough for that to be true.
Jay, I had no idea you had such a glorious mustache. As a fellow facial hair aficionado all I can say is, “Keep on rockin’ it!”
Fantastic moustache
Congratulations Jayson. As an “early subscriber” to Baseball America, I was honored (surprised???) to run into him at a random spring training game at Vero Beach many years ago (um, 1993?), and his humble acceptance of my blatherings for his unique notes in that special publication, was a memorable moment for me. H-m-m-m, we may have to re-consider our plans of not attending the HoF Induction Ceremonies this year (we’re from Michigan), just to see one of our favorite columnist, there, getting his day in the sun. He is/was ahead of his time in regards to his musings on the unique stats that we now take for granted. Once again, Congratulations, Mr. Stark!