Woo hoo.

Yes, I was admitted to the BBRAA this morning. As I mentioned in a comment on a previous thread, I didn’t ask ESPN to submit my name this year, and did not intend to seek membership, but once my name was submitted, I couldn’t retract my name without getting clearance from the powers that be at the Four-Letter.

I am still unclear on why, exactly, I might need to be a member; after conversations with probably a dozen current members, I think the opposite is true – the BBRAA needed people like me, Rob, etc. as members, to try to boost their credibility as an organization in a time when they receive so much criticism for the backwardness and outright hostility towards intelligent analysis (statistical or scouting) displayed in so much mainstream writing, to say nothing of the RBI/wins fetish in BBRAA voting.

I suppose the plus side is that Tim Raines will get one more Hall of Fame vote in 2018, because Lord knows he’s not getting in any time soon.

Comments

  1. Keith – This isn’t on topic, but I’m watching a Food Network special where AB is cooking with Giada. Is the world ending? First you get into the BBRAA and now this?

  2. Seasonal awards have a really small subset from what I recall. 28 voted for AL MVP.

  3. Congrats, I suppose. It sounds like Neyer hasn’t decided if he’s going to accept, but you sound like you have to? BTW, I’m in the same boat as Mike as far as Google Reader goes. I only knew about this post because Shyster linked to it.

  4. Congratulations, Keith! It was long overdue for both you and Rob.

    Hope you got your membership in time to cast your Jim Rice HOF vote.

  5. Congrats Keith…Nate Mcclouth stands no chance at repeating his gold glove “performance”

  6. Seasonal awards are done by two writers from each city (2 for each team in NYC.) I’m not sure that any of the internet writers would be eligible to vote on those awards.

  7. *two different writers each award, actually.

  8. Congrats! Please help them have better website… It looks like they have not touched since 1997.

  9. Congrats! Ditto to the commenter who said he hadn’t gotten the last few RSS updates.

  10. Congrats Keith. You now enter an institution full of wily old farts. I’m glad there are now some people who don’t drink the RBI Kool-Aid.

  11. You and Rob getting in is like the HOF letting in Rice. Then it becomes the Hall of Very Good. The BBRAA is the Hall of Very Weak, with you guys now the standards GO UP! Way to go Keith, you big ruiner . . .

  12. Andrew in Rochester

    Congratulations, but don’t forget to vote Edison Volquez for rookie of the year next year. He’s bound to win one of these years, and it’s your duty now to get him his prize.

  13. Congratulations, they need more people like you and Rob. Now you two can go and set them straight, just remember we will always be here to keep you on your toes.

  14. I kinda wish you could say no.

    Oh well, now you have at least one column a year in the bag! Well, in ten years…

  15. I’m sure I could say no if I fought for it, but 1) it’s hardly worth it and 2) many good people in the organization are genuinely happy to have me in it. I’m starting to wonder if saying no would be selfishly making a point at the expense of some genuine friends of mine.

  16. Hey, just to be clear – you’re not going to start being nice to the BBRAA’s idiocy are you? Well placed snark is the primary reason I show up here (well, that and the book recs – just finished Jonathan Strange, which I really enjoyed).

  17. So…. will we be seeing you on “The Sports Reporters” anytime soon? Or yelling at Bob Ryan in a debate about Jim Rice’s HOF candidacy?

  18. Keith, show up to the first meeting wearing a shirt that says “If Rice, Why Not Dewey”. See if you’re asked to leave.

  19. KLAW, congrats (for what its worth). Your work deserves the recognition.

  20. Keith,

    Congrats!!!

  21. brianjkoscuiszka

    Congrats, Keith. And I think your latest point is a salient one. What do you gain by rejecting? What do you risk losing? Also, as hard as it may be, the best way to effect change on an organizational level is from within.

  22. Just read the Q on your 2008 HOF Ballot (if you had one)…

    $5

  23. Commented before reading the rest of the chat…
    Where do I send the $5?

  24. Anyone have any thoughts on eggnog? I haven’t had it in years (and remember it being kind of funky the last time around), but for some reason I feel compelled to give it another go. ‘Tis the season!

    Store-bought or homemade? What type of alcohol should I use?

  25. My bad, Keith — I meant to post that in the Cranberry Daiquiris comments.

  26. Congratulations Keith. Do you really want to join an organization that has a Schmuck as its President?

  27. H, why should that bother him? I mean, he’s been a resident of the U.S. for at least the last four years, right?

  28. That’s true, Jason, but Obama doesn’t officially take office until January…

  29. congratulations, but my first thought was that a part of me just died a little bit…

  30. congrats Keith…keep up the good work

    any thoughts on the phils signing of ibanez?

  31. This is a big step forward for the BRAA. While you might not be thrilled about associating with the likes of Shaughnessey/Hardicourt, etc. you and Rob have done just about all you can do from the outside. It sucks, but BRAA awards do matter… they matter a lot. So why not have a few enlightened minds have a say in the process?

  32. KLaw, not to criticize your employer too harshly or anything, but ever since they brought the baseball blogs out from behind the Insider “wall”, the quality of posters has plummeted. Kudos for you for continuing to engage those guys over there.

  33. Kris…Keith has a review of the Ibanez signing up on his ESPN.com blog. Suffice it to say that he was not a fan.

Trackbacks

  1. […] Update: Does this mean that Keith Law will stop calling it the BBRAA? […]

  2. […] — Craig Calcaterra @ 12:40 am Keith Law is a smart cookie, and today on his personal blog, he made a pretty sharp observation in connection with being admitted to the BBWAA: I am still unclear on why, exactly, I might need to be a member; after conversations with […]

  3. […] Belated congrats to Rob Neyer (ESPN.com’s most prolific writer) and Keith Law (possibly the most interesting baseball writer out there) on getting admitted to the BBWAA. […]