Cooperstown at the Crossroads delves into the inequities as to how the National Baseball Hall of Fame has selected members to be immortalized. Even though millions of people have been there since it it opened in 1939. The selection process has frustrated many including fans, writers and players.
If the current process continues, according to author G. Scott Thomas, there is a possibility that it could become completely irrelevant in the near future. This book Cooperstown at the Crossroads will dive into some of the bad practices used to make selections both in the past and in the present.
The author created a new formula for gaining entrance into the Hall, That take all of the personal agenda out of it. This is known at the quality score (QS), The score takes the whole on-field achievement on a 100 point scale.
The early part of the book discuses what they did well in their selections, the mistakes that were made and mentions controversies that have rocked the Hall, such as gambling and steroids.
Much of the last part of the book has a nine-points plan that will get the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown back on track.
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The book has many,many quotes dispersed throughout it from several well-known faces of baseball. Here are those quotes:
“I cannot fully express how much it means to be here as a Hall of Famer. It is the most exclusive club or at least one of the most exclusive clubs in our country.” — Tom Seaver, pitcher
“If you don’t feel an aura that’s almost spiritual when you walk through the Hall of Fame, then check tomorrow’s obituary. You’re in it.” — Don Sutton, pitcher
“It appears that the entire Hall of Fame scheme is in need of a complete overhauling.” — Sporting News, editorial
“This is my first time ever being in this room, and when you walk around, you get goosebumps.” — David Ortiz, designated hitter
“There’s nothing wrong with baseball’s Hall of Fame that couldn’t be fixed by blowing it up and starting over.” — Dave Kindred, columnist
“Every time I go to Cooperstown, I am filled with patriotic fervor, for here is enshrined the American spirit which has made us a great nation.” — Connie Mack, manager
“If the Hall of Fame’s administrators don’t take seriously their problems, something else will come along and push them aside, within the course of a few decades.” — Bill James, baseball historian
“The Hall of Fame has become more a subject of controversy than an object of veneration. The plaque gallery has failed to adequately convey the greatness of its inhabitants or the excitement of the game they played.” — G. Scott Thomas, author
”The sport and the hall have fallen considerably in public esteem. They now face stark options — evolution or irrelevance.” — G. Scott Thomas, author
