Why Sooperstown?

Before there was a Sooperstown, there was an idea to evaluate Major League Baseball players and contributors to determine if they met the standards of a mythical Baseball Hall of Fame.

The genesis of this project and website goes back to the early 1970's when I was just a young lad growing up in Northeast Pennsylvania. I followed all sports at an early age, but I was mostly drawn to all things baseball, including baseball statistics and baseball history. From getting stats from the backs of baseball cards to buying baseball books at the Scholastic Book Fair for 35 cents to finding old copies of Baseball Digest to finally saving up to get a subscription to The Sporting News, I was always looking for statistics and information on players. When other kids growing up in that era wanted to be policemen or pilots or astronauts, I wanted to grow up and work for The Elias Sports Bureau, the official statistician for Major League Baseball. While that specific dream never materialized, I've never stopped being interested in what has evolved into baseball analytics.

The Baseball Hall of Fame has always held a special place in my baseball heart. I've followed the yearly elections from an early age, always wishing that they could elect more players in than they did. Over the years as I got older, the disillusionment with the HoF grew in me as I began to decide for myself that the HoF election process was clearly flawed from the very beginning. Some of the reasons being:

• There are many overlooked players from the 19th century and early 20th century, as the HoF voting began in 1936 and those individuals who played 30-60 years prior were not remembered well.

• The process for election was not well defined

  • Various election cycles (annually, every 3 years, etc.)

  • Use of special committees

  • Run off ballots

  • Eligibility requirements (20/15/10 years retired)

  • Number of players on the ballot (120 in 1938). Currently the maximum is 40.

    Player removed from ballot if less than 5%

• Voters over the last 20-30 years not electing players for non-career production reasons.

• Players compared from different eras is flawed.

So I asked myself, "Self, if you could develop a mythical Baseball Hall of Fame, how would you create it?.

• I would have selections annually from the beginning.

• I would evaluate individuals from baseball origins onward closer to the time they played or contributed, rather than decades later. A single evaluation 5 years after a player retires. There would be no being on a ballot for 10-15 years.

• I would not have a set period of years that a player needs to have played to be eligible for selection.

• I would not have a limit of the number of players/contributors that could be selected in a given year.

• I would not have a character clause. The only evaluation is what a player produced on the field. Scoundrels, cheaters, law breakers and assholes are all welcome.

• I would create multiple Halls so that those players who had a significant career but were not "Hall of Fame" accomplished could still be recognized.