Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame

by Zev Chafets

Overview

If baseball is America's national religion, then the Hall of Fame is its High Church. Being named among its 286 inductees makes you the closest thing our country has to an undisputed hero - even a secular saint. But the men in the Hall of Fame are no angels. Among their number are gamblers, drunks, race-baiters, at least one murderer, and perhaps the greatest collection of bona fide characters ever to be dignified by an honor of any kind.
This is the book the Hall of Fame deserves. Along with the story of the institution comes a smart, irreverent discussion of some of the great barstool questions of all time (Why did Jim Bunning make the Hall but not Mickey Lolich? How much is it worth to a player's autograph-signing career to get in? Did Ty Cobb really kill somebody?) and a fresh look at some of the Hall's most and least admirable characters. Taken in all, it amounts to a shadow history of America's Game, shown through the prism of its most sacred spot. Written with a deep love of the game and a hardened skeptic's eye, this is a book to incite both passionate conversation and a fresh appreciation of baseball as a mirror and catalyst for our nation's culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608191093
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	07/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	930,325
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Zev Chafets is the author of ten books, including A Match Made in Heaven, Members of the Tribe, and The Devil's Night. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times Magazine, among many other periodicals, a former columnist for the New York Daily News, and the founding editor of Jerusalem Report. He lives in Westchester, New York, with his wife and children.
Zev Chafets is the author of ten books, including A Match Made in Heaven, Members of the Tribe, and The Devil's Night. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times Magazine, among many other periodicals, a former columnist for the New York Daily News, and the founding editor of Jerusalem Report. He lives in Westchester, New York, with his wife and children.

Table of Contents

Preface 1

1 Induction Weekend 7

2 Paternity Suit 21

3 James and the Vets 38

4 A Question of Character 49

5 The Monks 72

6 The Haul of Fame 85

7 Bad, Bad Barry Bonds 110

8 The Marvin Miller Affair 137

9 Lost in Translation 151

10 Mitchell and Clemens 163

11 A Few Closing Thoughts 194

Acknowledgments 199

Appendix 1 Rules for Election 201

Appendix 2 Hall of Fame Members 205

Appendix 3 The Honor Rolls of Baseball 215

Notes 217

Bibliography 223

Index 227

Editorial Reviews

Cooperstown is a sleepy New York village with a population barely eclipsing 2,000, in a location where if you arrive by mistake, "you've been lost for forty-five minutes." But Chafets explains why Cooperstown and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a must-see destination for hundreds of thousands of baseball fans each year, diving into more than just the 200-plus players that have received baseball immortality by induction into the Hall of Fame. Chafets (A Match Made in Heaven) briefly explores the history of how the Hall of Fame came to pass, but the real good stuff comes as he dives into the politics of the museum and how race has played a role in who has received election and who has received the shaft. He looks at the "monks" who oversee the hallowed halls, the writers who act as gatekeepers to the Hall of Fame, and explains how election can make what was once a player's worthless memorabilia into a gold mine. Much of Chafets's subject matter is sure to strike a chord with baseball fans, and many will surely disagree with his stance on steroids as it relates to a player's induction. The relationships he develops with the Hall staff, combined with his accessible style, gives the reader a glimpse beyond what one might see at the exhibits. (July)

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Publishers Weekly

Major League Baseball's most sacred shrine undergoes what its guardians have often sought to avoid-a critical analysis. Best known for his Middle East journalism-he is the founding managing editor of Jerusalem Report and author of works on Jewish issues and culture (A Match Made in Heaven, 2007, etc.)-Chafets brings both a fan's affection and a social critic's eye to his examination of the Cooperstown, N.Y., institution. He begins with a visit to the Hall's 2007 induction ceremony, where he wanders around with thousands of others in attendance, raising issues he examines more thoroughly later-fame, race, ethnicity, the steroid scandal and the torrents of money involved in the game and its memorabilia. Chafets sketches the history of the Hall, founded in 1939 by Stephen Clark, son of Cooperstown scion Edward Clark, Isaac Singer's partner in the sewing-machine industry. The author considers baseball's preposterous creation myth involving Abner Doubleday and looks at some of the early notables involved in the Hall. He charts the rise of baseball statisticians-most notably Bill James, who was initially viewed as a crank-and discusses the so-called "character clause" (No. 5) in the Hall's rules for election. Here, Chafets sees monumental malfeasance and quite a bit of racism and cronyism. Because baseball writers-almost all of them white-are the voters, players who curry favor with them have an easier path. As Chafets notes, the Hall comprises myriad drunks, adulterers, racists, gamblers, cheaters and liars-but occasionally the writers invoke Rule 5 to prevent the inclusion of someone with a personality too crusty, a history too tainted or a skin too dark. Chafets examines the cases of JoeJackson, Pete Rose, Dick Allen, Jim Rice, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and others, concluding, in general, that Rule 5 should be eliminated. Amusing, sardonic and convincing. Author appearances in New York, New Jersey, Cooperstown, N.Y. Agent: Flip Brophy/Sterling Lord Literistic

Kirkus Reviews

Chafets brings both a fan's affection and a social critic's eye to his examination of the Cooperstown, N.Y. institution...amusing, sardonic and convincing.” —Kirkus

“Chafets briefly explores the history of how the Hall of Fame came to pass, but the real good stuff comes as he dives into the politics of the museum and how race has played a role in who has received election and who has received the shaft. He looks at the "monks" who oversee the hallowed halls, the writers who act as gatekeepers to the Hall of Fame, and explains how election can make what was once a player's worthless memorabilia into a gold mine. Much of Chafets's subject matter is sure to strike a chord with baseball fans… gives the reader a glimpse beyond what one might see at the exhibits.” —Publishers Weekly

“The Baseball Hall of Fame has long been viewed as some sort of pristine baseball palace, a hardball Mecca where the ghosts of greats walk the corridors. In Cooperstown Confidential, Zev Chafets does not merely humanize the Hall and its inhabitants—he paints a fascinating, in-depth, occasionally outlandish portrait to be hung alongside the busts of the Babe and Hammerin' Hank. Chafets knocks this one over the Green Monster.” —Jeff Pearlman, author of Boys Will Be Boys and The Bad Guys Won

“Put in a couple of dead bodies, an inquisitive professor who looks a lot like Tom Hanks and maybe a car chase or two and Zev Chafets would have sports' answer to The DaVinci Code. Oh well — we'll have to settle for a literate and provocative climb through the cobwebs, misconceptions and flat-out prejudices that exist behind the shiny exhibits at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Nice work. Maybe Tom Hanks can play Zev Chafets in the movie.” —Leigh Montville, author of The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth

“Red Smith suggested blowing up the Hall of Fame and starting over, and Zev Chafets has planted the bomb. This smart, tough, funny history uses the flawed temple of the game as a prism to examine the nation as well as its pastime - sex, steroids, stats, and all.” —Robert Lipsyte, author of Heroes of Baseball

“The story of the Hall is baseball and politics, lust for fame and gain, ridiculous ballyhoo and deadly serious business. Somehow, Zev Chafets got it all — and told it with toughness, humor, and grace.” —Richard Ben Cramer, author of Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life

“Cooperstown Confidential is not the standard collection of rosy ancedotes about Hall of Fame baseball players. It is a fascinatingly hard-edged look inside the hallowed institution, and that makes it all the more delightful and revealing.” —David Maraniss, author of Clemente and When Pride Still Mattered

From the Publisher

Put in a couple of dead bodies, an inquisitive professor who looks a lot like Tom Hanks and maybe a car chase or two and Zev Chafets would have sports' answer to The DaVinci Code. Oh well — we'll have to settle for a literate and provocative climb through the cobwebs, misconceptions and flat-out prejudices that exist behind the shiny exhibits at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Nice work. Maybe Tom Hanks can play Zev Chafets in the movie.

author of The Big Bam: The Life and Times of B Leigh Montville