Writers' Block: The Problem with the BBWAA

The Baseball Writers Association of America has never been known for its ability to make correct—or even reasonably defensible—decisions.

While that's not to denigrate all members of the BBWAA (which includes such intelligent and thoughtful writers as Alan Schwarz and Joe Posnanski), it's becoming increasingly clear that the institution, as a whole, is completely incapable of rational thought.

The writers have embarrassed themselves with laughable Gold Glove selections—tossing multiple awards to Derek Jeter despite his  consistently weak play in the field, and famously awarding Rafael Palmeiro a Gold Glove in 1999 even though he played all but a handful of his games as a designated hitter.

They consistently give MVP awards to players who've had the most RBI for playoff teams—note the awards given to Juan Gonzalez in the 1990s—while ignoring far more important statistics.

They hand out Cy Young awards based on win-loss totals, rewarding pitchers who benefit from strong offensive support over others who may have performed more capably. 

These foibles have been covered time and again—most recently with the awarding of the 2006 AL MVP to Justin Morneau, who was perhaps the third-most valuable player on his own team. 

All this notwithstanding, though, I believe that the past week's controversy surrounding the inclusion—and exclusion—of certain members of the Internet press proves that the BBWAA has taken the final step toward completely invalidating itself as an institution.

In a move that was certainly long overdue, the BBWAA decided to include members of the press who write primarily for online sites. 18 different writers were nominated, and 16 were rewarded with membership.

The two who were excluded were Keith Law and Rob Neyer.

Law and Neyer often disagree with the decisions of the BBWAA—as do a great many other intelligent people. They are unabashed in their criticism, but only when criticism is absolutely warranted.

Law and Neyer are journalists, and they are two of the best writers on the most respected and widely-read sports site on the Internet.

They were denied membership in the BBWAA not due to a lack of qualification, but due to the cronyism of a group unwilling to accept change—much less any reasoned, thoughtful critique of its decisions.

According to posts from both Law and Neyer, and from those in charge of the selection process, the two were excluded in large part due to the fact that neither attends enough Major League games.

The bias here is immediately transparent. Rob Neyer lives in Portland, Oregon, a town and a state without a major league team. Should he be penalized for where he chooses to make his home?

He doesn't attend a baseball game each night, but he may have written more words on baseball than any other man or woman during the past decade.

I spent some time investigating membership qualifications for current members of the BBWAA. During the course of this research, I found no mention of any sort of “games attended” qualification—notwithstanding specific references to Law and Neyer.

This rule seems to be one created solely for this occasion, as a means of excluding two phenomenal, statistically-inclined writers—who have, incidentally, been thorns in the side of the BBWAA for years.

This exclusion is not new to the world of sports journalism, as is perhaps best seen in a quick stroll through the archives of the brilliant blog Fire Joe Morgan. Mainstream journalists have long appropriated the groundbreaking work of more statistically-minded analysts like Neyer, Law, and Bill James.

What's most frustrating about these men (and women) is that they attack the aforementioned writers not on the basis of reasoned logic, but rather out of a fear of change. They're sports fundamentalists who choose to ignore the validity of revolutionary statistical work.

Rather than explain why they disagree, they opt instead to marginalize the opposition as "nerds." Stat heads are portrayed as part of some sinister agenda to suck the soul of out of baseball with their computers and calculators.

In a recent column, Peter Gammons, one of the 16 newly elected writers, mentioned attributes that "the sabermetricians, in their basements, could never understand."

This sort of useless, ignorant vitriol is unbecoming of men and women who call themselves journalists.

This isn't integrity. This is, in fact, an insult to everything that journalism is purported to stand for, to support, and to uphold.

For me, this latest flap is the final straw. What little respect I once held for the decisions of the BBWAA is gone.

The writers' choices for MVP, ROY, Cy Young, and the Hall of Fame are conversation starters, but that's it. They carry no more weight than the opinions of any other group of people.

To Rob Neyer, Keith Law, and the many other writers and bloggers with more insight and integrity than some of the recently elected scribes, I paraphrase Groucho Marx:

You should never join any club like BBWAA, especially if they consider you for membership.