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Baseball Writers Association of America
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for baseball journalists writing for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying Web sites. The BBWAA was founded in 1908 to improve working conditions for sportswriters in the early part of the 20th century. Currently, the BBWAA's major function is the election of players to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and all writers with 10 years of membership are eligible to vote. The BBWAA also votes annually for the Most Valuable Player Award, the Cy Young Award winner, and Rookie of the Year Award in each of the major leagues.
Considering the ready availability of television broadcasts for the majority of baseball games, plus instant access to information through the Internet, some have called into question why the BBWAA has not broadened its membership rules to include broadcasters and researchers.[1] (Similar arguments were made for the inclusion of Web-based journalists, before the BBWAA added Web writers to its ranks in December, 2007.[2]
Others have openly questioned why the BBWAA is involved in the award and Hall of Fame voting processes at all[3], citing in some cases journalistic integrity and the need to remain unbiased in their coverage of newsworthy events.[4]
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The BBWAA is responsible for voting on several awards annually including:
In addition, the BBWAA votes annually for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The BBWAA's Hall of Fame and award voting results are regularly criticized.[5] They are often accused of applying inconsistent standards when judging players for the Hall of Fame[6], as well as ignoring some of the rules put in place by Major League Baseball for determining post-season awards.[7] They've been further criticized, even from within their owns ranks[8], for failing to unanimously elect a single player to the Hall of Fame.[9]
On December 5, 2007, the BBWAA voted to open its membership to Web-based writers employed on a full-time basis by "websites that are credentialed by MLB for post-season coverage."[10]. The initial group of 16 writers recommended for approval, on the basis of a BBWAA vote, included writers for CBSSports.com, ESPN, Fox Sports, Sports Illustrated and Yahoo. Best represented among the sites was ESPN, seven of whose writers were voted into the association: Jim Caple, Jerry Crasnick, Peter Gammons, Tim Kurkjian, Amy Nelson, Buster Olney and Jayson Stark. Notably missing from the list were ESPN writers Rob Neyer and Keith Law; subsequent reports on Internet message boards and Neyer's ESPN blog[11] identified Neyer and Law as the only two writers whose nominations were unsuccessful among the 18 considered.
Both Neyer and Law are known for their in-depth analysis of baseball statistics -- particularly statistics like on-base percentage and slugging percentage, which have grown rapidly in prominence and general acceptance among baseball's fans, executives, reporters and broadcasters in the Internet era. As documented in Michael Lewis' bestseller Moneyball, the baseball establishment (notably scouts and reporters) were reluctant, and sometimes bitterly so, to accept changes in the means by which players and teams were being analyzed. The early part of Neyer's career was spent working with Bill James, whose writings are largely credited with fueling and guiding baseball's statistical evolution (and whom Moneyball profiles).
Both writers, especially Neyer, are known to have sharply criticized the BBWAA for many of its choices for major baseball awards, commonly suggesting[citation needed] that the voting was generally indicative of a failure to recognize value of these new statistics versus that of more "traditional" baseball statistics like batting average and RBI.
Upon release of the news that Neyer and Law were the two writers rejected by the BBWAA for membership, many commentators on baseball message boards (including those of ESPN[citation needed] and Baseball Think Factory) speculated that vindictiveness towards the writers, and bitterness over their bodies of work, were the deciding factors in their exclusion. Some decried the development as censorship on the part of the BBWAA.[citation needed]
While congratulating new members in a blog post, Neyer wrote that "personal grudges" were responsible for his "not making the cut." Neyer was more candid in a message posted on Baseball Think Factory, where he wrote, "I don't know exactly what went down and probably never will. According to BBWAA president Bob Dutton, my membership was rejected because I don't go to the ballpark often enough (not that anybody really knows how often I'm at ballpark). I believe -- based on some scraps of information I've got -- that was merely a convenient pretext for blackballing me, and today I would be a member if I'd been a bit more circumspect with my opinions over the years." [12]
Although Major League Baseball grants responsibility to the BBWAA to name its major award winners, membership in the BBWAA is something of a secret. The directory of members at the official BBWAA site is available only to members of the BBWAA. But for the list below any sportswriter who mentions that he or she has submitted, or will submit, a ballot for MVP, Hall of Fame, or any other such award, is presumed to be a member. Names of members are followed by the name of the organization for whom they write, and an article indicating membership status.
- Peter Abraham, The Journal News [13]
- Dave Albee, Marin Independent Journal [14]
- Maury Allen, New York Post, retired [15]
- Dom Amore, The Hartford Courant [16]
- Mel Antonen, USA Today [17]
- Phil Arvia, Daily Southtown [18]
- Bill Ballou, Telegram & Gazette of Worcester [19]
- Mike Bauman, MLB.com [20]
- Ira Berkow, The New York Times [21]
- Jeff Blair, Toronto Globe and Mail [22]
- Barry Bloom, MLB.com [23]
- Ron Blum, Associated Press [24]
- Paul Bodi, MLB.com [25]
- Hal Bodley, USA Today [26]
- Thomas Boswell, Washington Post [27] (non-voting member)
- Pat Borzi, New York Times [28]
- Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [29]
- Mark Bradley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution [30]
- Steve Buckley, Boston Herald [31]
- Don Burke, Newark Star-Ledger [32]
- Jim Caple, ESPN [33]
- Mike Celizic, MSNBC [34]
- Bill Center, The San Diego Union-Tribune [35]
- Murray Chass, New York Times [36] (non-voting member)
- Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [37]
- Bill Conlin, Philadelphia Daily News [38]
- Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [39]
- Jerry Crasnick, ESPN [40]
- Ken Davidoff, Newsday [41]
- Jose de Jesus Ortiz, Houston Chronicle [42]
- Mike Dodd USA Today [43]
- Mike Downey, Chicago Tribune [44]
- Rich Draper, MLB.com [45]
- Mike Dyer, Long Island Press, Retired
- Gordon Edes, Boston Globe [46]
- Bob Elliott, Toronto Sun [47]
- Mark Faller, The Arizona Republic [48]
- Jeffrey Flanagan, The Kansas City Star [49]
- Gerry Fraley Dallas Morning News [50]
- Tom Gage, The Detroit News [51]
- Peter Gammons, ESPN [52]
- Pedro Gomez, ESPN [53]
- Ken Gurnick, MLB.com [54]
- Mark Gonzalez, Chicago Tribune [55]
- Jerry Green, The Detroit News [56]
- Tony Grossi, The Plain Dealer [57]
- Paul Hagen, Philadelphia Daily News [58]
- Jim Hawkins, The Oakland Press, [59]
- John Henderson, Tampa Tribune, [60]
- Lynn Henning, The Detroit News [61]
- Jon Heyman, Sports Illustrated [62]
- Jerome Holtzman, Chicago Tribune [63]
- Jeff Horrigan, Boston Herald [64]
- Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer [65]
- Rick Hummel St. Louis Post-Dispatch [66]
- Bruce Jenkins, San Francisco Chronicle [67]
- Chuck Johnson USA Today [68]
- Richard Justice Houston Chronicle [69]
- Dick Kaegel, MLB.com [70]
- Ann Killion, San Jose Mercury News [71]
- Bob Klapisch, ESPN [72]
- Mike Klis, Denver Post [73]
- Gwen Knapp, San Francisco Chronicle [74]
- Michael Knisley, ESPN [75]
- Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [76]
- Doug Krikorian, Long Beach Press-Telegram, [77]
- Tim Kurkjian, ESPN [78]
- Joseph Liao, World Journal [79]
- Paul Ladewski, Daily Southtown [80]
- Mike Lefkow, Contra Costa Times [81]
- Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer [82]
- Seth Livingstone USA Today [83]
- Bill Madden, New York Daily News [84]
- Tony Massarotti, Boston Herald [85]
- Sean McAdam, ESPN [86]
- Hal McCoy, Dayton Daily News [87]
- Dan McGrath, Chicago Tribune [88]
- Paul Meyer Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [89]
- Bernie Miklasz St. Louis Post-Dispatch [90]
- Scott Miller, CBS Sportsline [91]
- Larry Milson, The Globe and Mail [92]
- Jim Molony, MLB.com [93]
- Carrie Muskat, MLB.com [94]
- Bob Nightengale USA Today [95]
- Mark Newman, MLB.com [96]
- Marty Noble, MLB.com [97]
- Jack O'Connell Hartford Courant [98]
- Dave O'Hara, retired [99]
- Buster Olney, ESPN [100]
- Rob Parker, The Detroit News [101]
- Jeff Peek, Traverse City Record Eagle [102]
- Mike Peticca, The Plain Dealer [103]
- Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times [104] (non-voting member)
- Joe Posnanski, Kansas City Star [105]
- Ray Ratto, San Francisco Chronicle [106]
- Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News [107]
- Phil Rogers, ESPN [108]
- Bob Rosen, Elias Sports Bureau [109]
- Ken Rosenthal, Fox Sports [110]
- Roger Rubin, New York Daily News [111]
- Jim Salisbury, The Philadelphia Inquirer [112]
- Alan Schwarz, Baseball America [113]
- Chaz Scoggins, The Sun of Lowell [114]
- Dan Shaughnessy, The Boston Globe [115]
- Bud Shaw, The Plain Dealer [116]
- John Shea, San Francisco Chronicle [117]
- Joel Sherman, New York Post [118]
- Claire Smith, The Philadelphia Inquirer [119]
- Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [120]
- Jim Souhan, Minneapolis Star Tribune [121]
- Lyle Spencer, MLB.com [122]
- Jayson Stark, ESPN [123]
- Kit Stier, The Journal News [124]
- Larry Stone, Seattle Times [125]
- Joe Strauss, St. Louis Post-Dispatch [126]
- Jim Street, MLB.com [127]
- Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune [128]
- T.R. Sullivan, MLB.com [129]
- Dave van Dyck, Chicago Tribune [130]
- Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated [131]
The New York Times [132] and Washington Post [133] writers have both stated that they are no longer permitted to vote by their employers. The Los Angeles Times has a similar policy [134], though it appears to be negotiable.