Baseball Writers Association of America Totally Explained

Everything about Baseball Writers Association Of America totally explained

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. The organization's primary function is to work with Major League Baseball and individual teams to assure clubhouse and press box access for BBWAA members. In addition, BBWAA members also elect players to the Baseball Hall of Fame, which is the organization's most public function. All writers with 10 years of membership in the BBWAA are eligible to vote for the Hall of Fame. 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 hasn't broadened its membership rules to include broadcasters and researchers.(External Link

) (Similar arguments were made for the inclusion of Web-based journalists, before the BBWAA added Web writers to its ranks in December, 2007.(External Link

).
Others have openly questioned why the BBWAA is involved in the award and Hall of Fame voting processes at all(External Link

), citing in some cases journalistic integrity and the need to remain unbiased in their coverage of newsworthy events.(External Link

)

Awards Voting

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.(External Link

) They are often accused of applying inconsistent standards when judging players for the Hall of Fame(External Link

), as well as ignoring some of the rules put in place by Major League Baseball for determining post-season awards.(External Link

) They've been further criticized, even from within their owns ranks(External Link

), for failing to unanimously elect a single player to the Hall of Fame.(External Link

)

Controversy Surrounding the Exclusion of Rob Neyer and Keith Law

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."(External Link

). 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 (External Link

) identified Neyer and Law as the only two writers whose nominations were unsuccessful among the 18 considered.
   Neyer and Law were not considered individually. The new members were voted on as a slate of candidates. When asked by the BBWAA, ESPN officials said Law and Neyer didn't regularly attend games as reporters and had no reason to be members. The BBWAA has refused to identify which ESPN officials they contacted, and both Neyer and Law have stated that the BBWAA didn't directly contact them or their respective editors on this issue. The BBWAA said they'd be considered for membership again if their positions changed. A post on the Biz of Baseball website included the names and badge numbers of all known BBWAA members, the most complete public listing of BBWAA members to date. It included the names of writers and editors who are known not to attend major league games with any regularity, calling into question why this criteria was cited as a reason to exclude Neyer and Law from the organization.
   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.
   Both writers, especially Neyer, are known to have sharply criticized the BBWAA for many of its choices for major baseball awards, commonly suggesting 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 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.
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'd be a member if I'd been a bit more circumspect with my opinions over the years." (External Link

)

List of current members

Names of members are followed by the name of the organization for whom they write.Complete list of badge members

Peter Abraham, The Journal News (External Link

)

Dave Albee, Marin Independent Journal (External Link

)

Maury Allen, New York Post, retired (External Link

)

Dom Amore, The Hartford Courant (External Link

)

Mel Antonen, USA Today (External Link

)

Phil Arvia, Daily Southtown (External Link

)

Bill Ballou, Telegram & Gazette of Worcester (External Link

)

Mike Bauman, MLB.com (External Link

)

Ira Berkow, The New York Times (External Link

)

Jeff Blair, Toronto Globe and Mail (External Link

)

Barry Bloom, MLB.com (External Link

)

Ron Blum, Associated Press (External Link

)

Paul Bodi, MLB.com (External Link

)

Hal Bodley, USA Today (External Link

)

Thomas Boswell, Washington Post (External Link

) (non-voting member)

Pat Borzi, New York Times (External Link

)

Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (External Link

)

Mark Bradley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (External Link

)

Steve Buckley, Boston Herald (External Link

)

Don Burke, Newark Star-Ledger (External Link

)

Jim Caple, ESPN (External Link

)

Mike Celizic, MSNBC (External Link

)

Bill Center, The San Diego Union-Tribune (External Link

)

Murray Chass, New York Times (External Link

) (non-voting member)

Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (External Link

)

Bill Conlin, Philadelphia Daily News (External Link

)

Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (External Link

)

Joe Cowley, Chicago Sun-Times (External Link

)

Jerry Crasnick, ESPN (External Link

)

Ken Davidoff, Newsday (External Link

)

Jose de Jesus Ortiz, Houston Chronicle (External Link

)

Steve Dilbeck, Los Angeles Daily News (External Link

)

Mike Dodd USA Today (External Link

)

Mike Downey, Chicago Tribune (External Link

)

Rich Draper, MLB.com (External Link

)

Mike Dyer, Long Island Press, Retired

Gordon Edes, Boston Globe (External Link

)

Bob Elliott, Toronto Sun (External Link

)

John Erardi, Cincinnati Enquirer (External Link

)

Mark Faller, The Arizona Republic (External Link

)

Jeffrey Flanagan, The Kansas City Star (External Link

)

Gerry Fraley Dallas Morning News (External Link

)

Tom Gage, The Detroit News (External Link

)

Peter Gammons, ESPN (External Link

)

Pedro Gomez, ESPN (External Link

)

Ken Gurnick, MLB.com (External Link

)

Mark Gonzalez, Chicago Tribune (External Link

)

Jerry Green, The Detroit News (External Link

)

Tony Grossi, The Plain Dealer (External Link

)

Paul Hagen, Philadelphia Daily News (External Link

)

Jim Hawkins, The Oakland Press, (External Link

)

John Henderson, Tampa Tribune, (External Link

)

Lynn Henning, The Detroit News (External Link

)

Jon Heyman, Sports Illustrated (External Link

)

Jerome Holtzman, Chicago Tribune (External Link

)

Jeff Horrigan, Boston Herald (External Link

)

Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer (External Link

)

Rick Hummel St. Louis Post-Dispatch (External Link

)

Bruce Jenkins, San Francisco Chronicle (External Link

)

Chuck Johnson USA Today (External Link

)

Richard Justice Houston Chronicle (External Link

)

Dick Kaegel, MLB.com (External Link

)

Ann Killion, San Jose Mercury News (External Link

)

Bob Klapisch, ESPN (External Link

)

Mike Klis, Denver Post (External Link

)

Gwen Knapp, San Francisco Chronicle (External Link

)

Michael Knisley, ESPN (External Link

)

Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (External Link

)

Steve Krasner, Providence Journal (External Link

)

Doug Krikorian, Long Beach Press-Telegram, (External Link

)

Tim Kurkjian, ESPN (External Link

)

Joseph Liao, World Journal (External Link

)

Paul Ladewski, Daily Southtown (External Link

)

Mike Lefkow, Contra Costa Times (External Link

)

Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer (External Link

)

Seth Livingstone USA Today (External Link

)

Bill Madden, New York Daily News (External Link

)

Tony Massarotti, Boston Herald (External Link)

Sean McAdam, ESPN (External Link)

Hal McCoy, Dayton Daily News (External Link)

Dan McGrath, Chicago Tribune (External Link)

Paul Meyer Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (External Link)

Bernie Miklasz St. Louis Post-Dispatch (External Link)

Scott Miller, CBS Sportsline (External Link)

Larry Milson, The Globe and Mail (External Link)

Jim Molony, MLB.com (External Link)

Carrie Muskat, MLB.com (External Link)

Bob Nightengale USA Today (External Link)

Mark Newman, MLB.com (External Link)

Marty Noble, MLB.com (External Link)

Jack O'Connell Hartford Courant (External Link)

Dave O'Hara, retired (External Link)

Buster Olney, ESPN (External Link)

Woody Paige, The Denver Post (External Link)

Rob Parker, The Detroit News (External Link)

Jeff Peek, Traverse City Record Eagle (External Link)

John Perrotto, Beaver County Times (External Link)

Mike Peticca, The Plain Dealer (External Link)

Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times (External Link) (non-voting member)

Joe Posnanski, The Kansas City Star (External Link)

Luis E. Rangel, El Nuevo Herald (External Link)

Ray Ratto, San Francisco Chronicle (External Link)

Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News (External Link)

Phil Rogers, ESPN (External Link)

John Romano, St. Petersburg Times

Bob Rosen, Elias Sports Bureau (External Link)

Ken Rosenthal, Fox Sports (External Link)

Roger Rubin, New York Daily News (External Link)

Jim Salisbury, The Philadelphia Inquirer (External Link)

Peter Schmuck, The Baltimore Sun; elected President of the BWAA in 2005.

Alan Schwarz, Baseball America (External Link)

Chaz Scoggins, The Sun of Lowell (External Link)

Dan Shaughnessy, The Boston Globe (External Link)

Bud Shaw, The Plain Dealer (External Link)

John Shea, San Francisco Chronicle (External Link)

Joel Sherman, New York Post (External Link)

Claire Smith, The Philadelphia Inquirer (External Link)

Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (External Link)

Jim Souhan, Minneapolis Star Tribune (External Link)

Lyle Spencer, MLB.com (External Link)

Jayson Stark, ESPN (External Link)

Kit Stier, The Journal News (External Link)

Larry Stone, Seattle Times (External Link)

Joe Strauss, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (External Link)

Jim Street, MLB.com (External Link)

Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune (External Link)

T.R. Sullivan, MLB.com (External Link)

Dave van Dyck, Chicago Tribune (External Link)

Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated (External Link) The New York Times (External Link) and Washington Post (External Link) writers have both stated that they're no longer permitted to vote by their employers. The Los Angeles Times has a similar policy (External Link), though it appears to be negotiable.

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