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Baseball Hall of Fame




The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, based in Cooperstown, New
York, is a semi-official museum operated by private interests that serves as
the central point for the study of the history of baseball in North America,
the display of baseball-related artifacts and exhibits, and the honoring of
persons who have excelled in playing, managing, and serving the sport.

The Hall of Fame was opened in 1939 by the Clark Foundation, a private
fortune based in Cooperstown that traces its money to the original Singer
Sewing Machine company. The Foundation sought to bring tourists to
Cooperstown, which had been doubly damaged by the Great Depression, which
decimated the local tourist trade, and Prohibition, which was devastating to
the local hops industry. A legend that U.S. Civil War hero Abner Doubleday
invented baseball in Cooperstown was instrumental in the early marketing of
the Hall, though in fact the story is completely false.

The Major Leagues, seeing the marketing opportunity, soon began cooperating
with the Hall of Fame in marketing it and acquiring artifacts for display
there. Today the Hall of Fame is a large, modern museum, governed by the
laws of the State of New York that regulate museums. the Hall of Fame also
includes a substantial research library with online search capabilities, art
collection, and tens of thousands of artifacts on display. The town of
Cooperstown also includes Doubleday Field, where the "Hall of Fame Game" is
held every year on the same weekend as the annual indusction ceremony.

Among baseball fans, "Hall of Fame" means not only the museum and facility
in Cooperstown, but also the pantheon of players, managers, umpires and
builders who have been named to enshrinement there. The first five men
elected were superstars Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy
Mathewson and Honus Wagner, named in 1936. As of 2003, 256 men had been
elected or appointed to the Hall of Fame, including 208 players, 17 managers
(many of whom also played), eight umpires, and 23 builders, executives, and
organizers. 26 men have also been awarded the Ford Frick Award for
excellence in broadcasting.

Players are elected to the Hall of Fame either through election by the
Baseball Writers Association of America (or BBWAA), or the Veterans
Committee. Five years after retirement, any player with 10 years of major
league experience, who passes a screening committee (which weeds out players
who were benchwarmers for most of their careers) is eligible to be elected
by BBWAA members with 10 years' membership or more. Each writer may vote
from anywhere from 0 to 10 players. Any player named on 75% or more of all
ballots cast is elected. A player who is named on fewer than 5% of ballots
is dropped from future elections. If a player fails to be elected by the
BBWAA, he may be selected by the Veterans Committee, which votes every two
years, provided the player has been retired for 21 years or more. The
Veterans Committee also votes on candidates from among managers, umpires,
builders, or Negro Leagues players.

Predictably, the votes are the catalyst of endless debate among baseball
fans over the merits of various candidates. Even players already elected
remain the subject of debate as to whether or not their elections were in error.

A amjor controversy facing the Hall of Fame is that of the status of Joe
Jackson and Pete Rose. Jackson and Rose were both permanently banned for
baseball for actions related to gambling on their own teams - Jackson for
conspiring to lose the 1919 World Series on purpose, and Rose for betting on
the Cincinnati Reds when he was their manager in the 1980s. (Baseball's Rule
21 mandates permanent banishment for having a gambling interest of any sort
on a game a player or manager is directly involved in.) While Jackson and
Rose had careers that would merit Hall of Fame induction, the Hall of Fame
disallows election of anyone on the permanent suspension list. (Many others
were permanently suspended, but none have the Hall of Fame credentials of
Rose and Jackson.) Baseball fans are deeply split on the issue of whether
these two should be exonerated, remain banned, or (in the case of Rose, who
is still living) be inducted with the caveat that he cannot reenter the game
in any other way.

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