A Visit to the Hall in the Fall

By Robert Palazzo

The Yankees, Joe Jackson and the 1919 White Sox, and Relief Pitching
Our SABR chapter fall meeting always is held on the Saturday that the World Series begins. The Central NY/Leatherstocking chapter is fortunate to be able to consider the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum as our home and meeting place. It was a cold, raw day and the drive to Cooperstown was nowhere near as picturesque as previous Octobers. As we entered the village, it was apparent that the inclement weather had not dampened the spirits of baseball fans who had traveled to either view the last weekend of the Boston Red Sox special exhibit or attend the World Series gala event that the Hall hosts each year. Open exclusively to 250 Friends of the Hall that had purchased tickets, the first game of the Series is televised on a large screen, complete with popcorn, snacks, trivia and raffles.

Finding a place to park was next to impossible; even my handicapped parking permit was useless. My buddy Scott dropped me off at the entrance while he searched for a spot to park. As you approach the entrance, it is immediately apparent that the Hall has under gone renovations. There is a wheelchair ramp on either side of the steps leading to the entrance. Once inside, the changes are very clear. The ticket booth is gone, replaced by admissions counters that are further down the entrance to your left, allowing visitors to wait in line inside the building as opposed to outside on the steps as was the case previously if there were a lot of visitors. The large statues of Babe Ruth and Ted Williams are still there to greet you. On the wall to your right is a large window that allows you to see the Hall of Plaques while waiting in line.

Being a Friend of the Hall, my admission charge is waived. But I had misplaced my membership card and figured I had to wait in line. Catching the attention of a staff member, I explained my situation to him and he directed me to the other admissions counter that had no line. I realized it must be exclusively for admission for Friends. After confirming my membership in the Hall's database, I next went to the Customer Service desk to get a replacement card. After all this, Scott still had not come inside. I could only imagine how far away he had to park.

Finally we made our way through the large room that is home to the plaques - this is the Hall of Fame portion of the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. After making my customary visit to Mickey Mantle's plaque, we approached the back wall that holds the plaques of the inaugural induction class. We noted that with all the renovation, there still didn't appear to be much room to accommodate additional plaques in the next 10 years or so. In addition, the plaques of the most recent classes were hung next to the first class, rather than continuing around the outer wall, in order to follow the previous years and allowing for a more chronologically correct posting of induction years.

Our meeting was to have been held in the Bullpen Theater but we were evicted by ESPN! The originators of Rotisserie Ball were holding their annual draft, including an all-time team and it was being taped, so we met in the Bart Giamatti room in the research library. A little background about our SABR chapter:

We trace our roots to the founders of SABR over 25 years ago. SABR was formed in the upstairs meeting room in the research library at the Hall and we have two chapter members that are charter SABR members. In the past we have had meetings in the same room that SABR was founded in. In fact, once while presenting at a chapter meeting. I sat on the table in the front of the room that was present at that initial SABR meeting and I saw several jaws drop; as if I had sat on the Holy Grail. In honor of one of those charter members who is still active in our chapter, we annually present a member with the Cliff Kachline Award, an inscribed bat. The Cliff Kachline Award, honors active chapter members whose contributions to SABR and baseball reflect the achievements and qualities of SABR founding member and long-time Cooperstown resident Cliff Kachline. Among contributions considered are ones connected to baseball research, baseball writing, and activities furthering the objectives of SABR in general and the chapter in particular. Cliff was the inaugural recipient and Bill Deane was the recipient last year. This year the award was presented to member Gabe Schechter, a researcher at the Hall.

The presentations at the meeting included the Yankees, Joe Jackson and the 1919 White Sox, and Relief pitching.

Mike Haupert: economics faculty member at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, has been researching the finances of the Yankees while owned by the Jacob Ruppert family. Having recently come into the possession of the financial records of the Yankees during that period, the Hall has made them available to researchers and educators. Mike shared with us some enlightening comparisons of player salaries then and now; comparisons with average player salary and the average American worker's salary; comparisons of salaries within the team itself (in '27 Gehrig was paid $8000 while Ruth was paid $70,000; and Gehrig wasn't even the second highest paid Yankee on the team); and Yankee owners' return on investment for Ruth's salary.

Kelly Sagert: visited us from Cleveland to share her insights into Shoeless Joe Jackson. Having recently authored a biography of Jackson, Kelly put a "human interest" spin on the Jackson saga, providing background about his family and the environment he grew up in. With the White Sox in the Series and the letter from the 1917 White Sox team recently discovered at the Hall alleging that Charles Cominsky owed them money, the timing of her presentation was perfect. The letter was found in the files of former National Commission Chairman August Herrmann. It was the 1919 scandal that resulted in the creation of the commissioner's office as we know it today. The letter, signed by 24 members of the 1917 White Sox (6 of whom were members of the 1919 team) said, "We the undersigned members of the Chicago American League Baseball Club, do hereby request that you rescind your action in holding out one thousand dollars, or any part of it, of our World Series money, and make full payment of same at once." The letter goes on to say " We have already bound ourselves by contract not to participate in any post season exhibition games, and fully expect to abide by the same." Since the 1918 team finished in sixth place, the 1919 team was the first to qualify for a "post season exhibition" - the World Series. The letter has been resting in boxes at the Hall for about 40 years and was only recently discovered this spring.

Gabriel Schechter: was the last presenter and his presentation was entitled "8th inning setup men: Do we really need them?" He shared with us his research covering the period 1969 - 2004 on relief pitchers who entered the 8th and finished the 8th; saves as a percent of appearances; and other stats that I admit were a bit deep for me. But he fielded lots of questions - evidence SABRites love those numbers!

While deciding where to eat dinner, we sadly learned that Clete Boyer sold his Hamburger Heaven and it is now a barbeque joint. We decided to eat at TJ's on Main Street and I ordered... what else? YANKEE pot roast