Dream HOF Questionnaire

[Brad Harris]

Please answer these to the best of your ability. This is a brainstorming session to take stock of how you would like a Hall of Fame to operate.

Dream Hall of Fame Questionnaire

1. When we hear the words "Baseball Hall of Fame," we think of an institution that is supposed to honor the greatest players in baseball history. What would be a more appropriate name for such an institution?

2. Should a baseball Hall of Fame include major league players only, or players from the top professional leagues in the world (i.e. negro leaguers, cuban and japanese players, etc.)?

3. Approximately what percentage of players should a Hall of Fame represent? The top 1/2 percent? The top 1 percent? The top 2 percent? What?

4. Should a Hall of Fame treat players from all eras equally? Few would argue that today's players, on the whole, are better than the players of 100+ years ago, but if a player was great in his time, is that deserving of the Hall of Fame?

5. Should individuals be honored separately for their accomplishments in different fields of activity (ie. as players, managers, etc.)? Or should an individual's total contribution to the game be considered for inclusion?

6. Would you support a "lifetime achievement" award (for overall contributors) in addition to a "regular" Hall of Fame (for specific contributions, like a playing or managing career only)?

7. Should individuals be eligible indefinately or should their eligibility run out after a certain number of attempts to be elected?

8. Besides players, what kind of careers should be specifically honored with their own election? Managers? Executives? Umpires? Any?

9. What requirements, if any, should voters need to meet in order to participate in an election, or continue participating?

10. When would be the ideal time of year to announce annual inductees for a Hall of Fame?

[Williamsburg2599]

Please answer these to the best of your ability. This is a brainstorming session to take stock of how you would like a Hall of Fame to operate.

Dream Hall of Fame Questionnaire

1. When we hear the words "Baseball Hall of Fame," we think of an institution that is supposed to honor the greatest players in baseball history. What would be a more appropriate name for such an institution?The International Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum


2. Should a baseball Hall of Fame include major league players only, or players from the top professional leagues in the world (i.e. negro leaguers, cuban and japanese players, etc.)?Yes.

3. Approximately what percentage of players should a Hall of Fame represent? The top 1/2 percent? The top 1 percent? The top 2 percent? What? Depends on the case, such as the late Buck O'Neill, who might not be in a certin top percent but had a big historical impact on the game.

4. Should a Hall of Fame treat players from all eras equally? Few would argue that today's players, on the whole, are better than the players of 100+ years ago, but if a player was great in his time, is that deserving of the Hall of Fame? Long story short, yes.

5. Should individuals be honored separately for their accomplishments in different fields of activity (ie. as players, managers, etc.)? Or should an individual's total contribution to the game be considered for inclusion?Total contribution to the game.

6. Would you support a "lifetime achievement" award (for overall contributors) in addition to a "regular" Hall of Fame (for specific contributions, like a playing or managing career only)? No, I think that anyone who contributed to the game significantly in one way or another should be in the HOF, and be honored the same way.

7. Should individuals be eligible indefinately or should their eligibility run out after a certain number of attempts to be elected?Yes, but not a low amount of attempts (not sure exactly how many)

8. Besides players, what kind of careers should be specifically honored with their own election? Managers? Executives? Umpires? Any?Anyone who has significantly contributed to the game, although I beleve it should be VERY hard for an Umpire to get in.

9. What requirements, if any, should voters need to meet in order to participate in an election, or continue participating?Not sure, but they should HAVE to be well qualifed writers.

10. When would be the ideal time of year to announce annual inductees for a Hall of Fame? Late Jan./Early Feb., to help break up the long, boring off-season.

[-Kyle-]

1.The History of Baseball Museum-THOB Muesem for short.
2.Yes
3.I don't know the exact number. Very slim though.
4.Short answer no with an except, long answer yes with a but.
5.Total contribution to the game.
6.No
7.Indefintily
8.Players, Managers, and contributors.
9.Have to be on BBF Ok, just qualified and don't hold grudges and see through numbers, *cough*Dick Allen*cough*
10.December

[KCGHOST]

Please answer these to the best of your ability. This is a brainstorming session to take stock of how you would like a Hall of Fame to operate.

Dream Hall of Fame Questionnaire

1. When we hear the words "Baseball Hall of Fame," we think of an institution that is supposed to honor the greatest players in baseball history. What would be a more appropriate name for such an institution?

It's current name (The National Baseball Hall of Fame) is fine with me.

2. Should a baseball Hall of Fame include major league players only, or players from the top professional leagues in the world (i.e. negro leaguers, cuban and japanese players, etc.)?

It should only include people who were involved in baseball in the U.S.

3. Approximately what percentage of players should a Hall of Fame represent? The top 1/2 percent? The top 1 percent? The top 2 percent? What?

About 2% seems right.

4. Should a Hall of Fame treat players from all eras equally? Few would argue that today's players, on the whole, are better than the players of 100+ years ago, but if a player was great in his time, is that deserving of the Hall of Fame?

A player should be evaluated against his peers and the era he played in.

5. Should individuals be honored separately for their accomplishments in different fields of activity (ie. as players, managers, etc.)? Or should an individual's total contribution to the game be considered for inclusion?

I prefer people to be honored for a specific activity. I intensely dislike the idea of someone being elected because he was a pretty good player and a pretty good something else. I really don't mind a "contributors" category to catch those very few people (e.g. Buck O'Neil) who transcend a specific category, but they should be rare.

6. Would you support a "lifetime achievement" award (for overall contributors) in addition to a "regular" Hall of Fame (for specific contributions, like a playing or managing career only)?

See Above.

7. Should individuals be eligible indefinately or should their eligibility run out after a certain number of attempts to be elected?

I would like to see a person became ineligible after a give number of ballots, but we need one serious effort to go back and catch the people who got omitted previously, if any.

8. Besides players, what kind of careers should be specifically honored with their own election? Managers? Executives? Umpires? Any?

I really have trouble with this one. Only players can be objectively evaluated at a distance. All the others come down to opinion and luck. I would prefer they be put in a separate "wing".


9. What requirements, if any, should voters need to meet in order to participate in an election, or continue participating?

I think voters should be required to pass some kind of test to establish they have a knowledge of the game and the history of the game.

10. When would be the ideal time of year to announce annual inductees for a Hall of Fame?

January is fine.

[jalbright]

My replies are in bold text.

Dream Hall of Fame Questionnaire

1. When we hear the words "Baseball Hall of Fame," we think of an institution that is supposed to honor the greatest players in baseball history. What would be a more appropriate name for such an institution? Actually, the name of the current institution is the "National Baseball Hall of Fame". I'd prefer the "Professional Baseball Hall of Fame", to separate it from college, Little League, etc, but provide cover for the Negro Leaguers and, hopefully some day, international players.

2. Should a baseball Hall of Fame include major league players only, or players from the top professional leagues in the world (i.e. negro leaguers, cuban and japanese players, etc.)? Every professional player who's good enough to meet the standard set out below belongs IMO.

3. Approximately what percentage of players should a Hall of Fame represent? The top 1/2 percent? The top 1 percent? The top 2 percent? What? At this point, I'd go with the 250 we've already inducted as the target range, and keep adding players who are as good as the top 250 retired players of right now are. At this point in the proceedings, it's hard to quantify it in the terms posed. If you went back to 1880, said you can have two now and two a year hereafter, you'd be at about the same level, but it might have been better.

4. Should a Hall of Fame treat players from all eras equally? Few would argue that today's players, on the whole, are better than the players of 100+ years ago, but if a player was great in his time, is that deserving of the Hall of Fame? I wouldn't make it a hard and fast rule, but a rough equality is a useful rule of thumb IMO. If a player of the past had some of today's advantages, he may well have played at a HOF level anyway. Even if not, it's likely he discovered something that's become common practice now (say year round training is a good thing, or that hitting homers is worth the strikeouts), and deserves recognition for that.

5. Should individuals be honored separately for their accomplishments in different fields of activity (ie. as players, managers, etc.)? Or should an individual's total contribution to the game be considered for inclusion?
I can't go with the NBA style of inducting guys twice (as a player, and then as an executive). That said, I think you have to make room for the Buck O'Neils and Hughie Jennings of this world who wouldn't necessarily merit the honor in any one category, but the total contribution is clearly deserving.

6. Would you support a "lifetime achievement" award (for overall contributors) in addition to a "regular" Hall of Fame (for specific contributions, like a playing or managing career only)? Only as a second choice to my answer in #5 above.

7. Should individuals be eligible indefinately or should their eligibility run out after a certain number of attempts to be elected? I think indefinite eligibility would be preferable.

8. Besides players, what kind of careers should be specifically honored with their own election? Managers? Executives? Umpires? Any? All three specified deserve the treatment they get at present. Indeed, if a career contribution is to mean anything, contributions such as these deserve recognition. The problem becomes what standards are to be applied. Of more interest is what should we do with journalists and broadcasters, as well as less well defined situations like Buck O'Neil or Lefty O'Doul.

9. What requirements, if any, should voters need to meet in order to participate in an election, or continue participating? I'd suggest something like one writer/broadcaster, one retired player, and one executive for each team, selected by the groups in question. That would yield 90. Then have a wider election of the voters who participated in the local elections select 10 more to get an even 100. That would give broad representation to knowledgable parties, but hopefully eliminate some of the idiot ballots we see.

10. When would be the ideal time of year to announce annual inductees for a Hall of Fame? Probably January, to restoke fan interest for the upcoming Spring Training.

Jim Albright

[Murderer's Row]

Please answer these to the best of your ability. This is a brainstorming session to take stock of how you would like a Hall of Fame to operate.

Dream Hall of Fame Questionnaire

1. When we hear the words "Baseball Hall of Fame," we think of an institution that is supposed to honor the greatest players in baseball history. What would be a more appropriate name for such an institution? Heaven

2. Should a baseball Hall of Fame include major league players only, or players from the top professional leagues in the world (i.e. negro leaguers, cuban and japanese players, etc.)? absolutely

3. Approximately what percentage of players should a Hall of Fame represent? The top 1/2 percent? The top 1 percent? The top 2 percent? What? Top 2

4. Should a Hall of Fame treat players from all eras equally? Few would argue that today's players, on the whole, are better than the players of 100+ years ago, but if a player was great in his time, is that deserving of the Hall of Fame? Yes

5. Should individuals be honored separately for their accomplishments in different fields of activity (ie. as players, managers, etc.)? Or should an individual's total contribution to the game be considered for inclusion? The Latter

6. Would you support a "lifetime achievement" award (for overall contributors) in addition to a "regular" Hall of Fame (for specific contributions, like a playing or managing career only)? It depends

7. Should individuals be eligible indefinately or should their eligibility run out after a certain number of attempts to be elected? They should be eligible indefinitely

8. Besides players, what kind of careers should be specifically honored with their own election? Managers? Executives? Umpires? Any? Anything that has anything to do with Baseball

9. What requirements, if any, should voters need to meet in order to participate in an election, or continue participating? I guess they should know who the names on the ballots are

10. When would be the ideal time of year to announce annual inductees for a Hall of Fame? November
There you go.