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.
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87 Responses to “Woo hoo.”
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Congrats Keith. Obviously overdue.
Congrats, Keith. Or should that be condolences?
Either way, the BBRAA just stepped up a bit in my estimation.
congrats, keith. you and rob both deserve it.
Congratulations!(?)
Seriously, no matter how backwards the organization has been recently, they’ll benefit from adding you to their membership. Whether it’s caving to outcry or sudden enlightenment, I’m glad that they (finally) made the right choice here.
Congrats! Now we get some actual voters!
Yes Keith, congrats. Nice honor.
I for one don’t think it’s much of an honor to be grudgingly admitted into the Raccoon Lodge, but just the same it’s a validation of the tremendous work you do, Keith — they couldn’t keep you (and Rob) out any longer and retain any credibility, is how I read this. So congratulations on having your years of work and open-mindedness recognized.
I wasn’t sure how you would feel about your acceptance but came to congratulate you nonetheless.
One small victory..
Russell
Congrats. The wheels of progress are slowly turning even if you are experiencing a little of the Groucho Marx feeling.
A reward and responsibility for good insight and great work.
Do you know if Rob got in too?
Congrats Keith! I will no longer completely disregard the BBRAA’s votes.
Rob got in and so did Will and Christina from BP.
Congratulations Keith! Didn’t you once quote Woody Allen, “I would not be a member of any club that would have me?” or do I have it all wrong? In any event – congrats, you’ve earned this.
congrats
Congrats Keith – You put the BB in the BBRAA.
Congrats Keith. It’s always a good thing to add more informed voters. Too bad it takes so long for you to be able to vote on the Hall. Unfortunately, Raines may be off the ballot by then.
We need you on that wall protecting us against Rice getting into the Hall of Fame.
Congrats Keith – fantastic news!
Congrats Keith. about time
Raines will be on the ballot until 2022, assuming he’s not elected by then.
KLAW in the BBRAA! It even sounds right.
Congrats Keith, hopefully they’ll ask you and Rob to give a presentation on stats beyond wins and rbi’s. Is it too much to ask to also provide the other writers with rules on rookie eligibility?
Could make for some awkward cocktail hours…congrats Keith
Congrats, Keith. Well deserved.
Guess I will be flying solo this year…:)
Congrats, Keith. Keep up the great work.
Congrats Keith. Does this mean you’ll be moving out of Mommy’s basement?
Congratulations, Keith, even if this wasn’t something you particularly wanted. As long as it doesn’t prohibit you from writing honestly, I hope you accept and make the BBRAA a better organization.
Avoid the BBWAA mixers; cast deciding HOF votes.
Way to go Keith. Fight the power from the inside.
Congrats Keith, maybe you can inspire those cavemen to stop their prehistoric thinking. Also, can you give Blyleven some love too.
Congratulations… so long as the honest writing about your (now) peers doesn’t change. It would be sad to no longer see the BBRAA tag used on this site.
congratulations! forget baseball. enlighten those bbraa guys on 5guys and in-n-out. maybe that’ll get their heads out of their asses.
Congrats, I guess… it’s a nice recognition of your work, at the least!
The “I’d never join a club that would have me for a member” quote was Groucho Marx.
PS – Congrats, K-Dog
Congrats Keith, as long as you still keep speaking your mind BBWAA and don’t become assimilated. (like thats gonna happen).
Congrats Keith.
Just to let you know – I haven’t got a couple of RSS updates (the last 3 now to be exact). I’m using Google Reader. Not sure if its the dish or me.
Congrats…but does this mean we have to retire the BBRAA abbreviation?
Congratulations.
Although it will be a little odd to think of you as part of the BBRAA.
Kudos, KLaw. Now you’re part of the problem.
Congrats Keith, if you welcome them. Now, do you get award voted right away, or are those “special privs?”
Congrats – well deserved. Take em’ down from the inside….
that should say vote, not voted
Congratulations Keith! It’s well deserved and overdue.
When can we expect the first piece with faux logic for electing Jim Rice then?
You must have reported at a lot of games this last year to convince them. I am sure Rob [Neyer] got in on your shirt tails! (spelt tales first time can I get in!)
Look on the bright side at least you can now be thrown out of it….
Congrats Keith, but dear god, if you turn into Tracy Ringolsby, we’ll gonna have to check if you’ve been put under the Imperious curse.
Absolutely right, I think, that they need you more than you need them. But with you, Rob, Carroll and Kahrl going in and the Flat Earthers generally getting old, this is just great, great news for the rest of us.
Brian – my understanding is that you need to be there for 10 years for a HOF vote (gonna be a long time to wait…but maybe they can change some fellow members’ minds in the meantime).
I don’t *think* the season awards have that (or any) sort of service requirement, but I don’t actually know.
Keith can’t comment on any of your thoughts right now, he’s wearing a hooded robe and being forced to chant “RBI, RBI, RBI” There’s got to be some kind of initiation and hazing involved…
I guess congratulations are in order, although it doesn’t seem like Keith is all that enthused to be so honored lol.
Congrats Keith, hopefully you can educate your fellow BBRAA better than some of your espn readers!
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?
Seasonal awards have a really small subset from what I recall. 28 voted for AL MVP.
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.
[...] Update: Does this mean that Keith Law will stop calling it the BBRAA? [...]
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.
Congrats Keith…Nate Mcclouth stands no chance at repeating his gold glove “performance”
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.
*two different writers each award, actually.
Congrats! Please help them have better website… It looks like they have not touched since 1997.
Congrats! Ditto to the commenter who said he hadn’t gotten the last few RSS updates.
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.
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 . . .
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.
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.
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…
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.
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).
[...] — 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 [...]
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?
Keith, show up to the first meeting wearing a shirt that says “If Rice, Why Not Dewey”. See if you’re asked to leave.
KLAW, congrats (for what its worth). Your work deserves the recognition.
Keith,
Congrats!!!
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.
Just read the Q on your 2008 HOF Ballot (if you had one)…
$5
Commented before reading the rest of the chat…
Where do I send the $5?
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?
My bad, Keith — I meant to post that in the Cranberry Daiquiris comments.
Congratulations Keith. Do you really want to join an organization that has a Schmuck as its President?
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?
That’s true, Jason, but Obama doesn’t officially take office until January…
congratulations, but my first thought was that a part of me just died a little bit…
congrats Keith…keep up the good work
any thoughts on the phils signing of ibanez?
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?
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.
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.
[...] http://www.meadowparty.com/blog/?p=415 [...]
[...] 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. [...]