“The only Hall of Fame that inspires passionate debate is Baseball’s.” That was the claim made in a Cincinnati Enquirer column by a Baseball Writers Association of America voter explaining his ballot in 1997 — which was, sorry, a long time ago if you actually do the math.
It’s a pretty unassailable stance, just a rhetorical flourish deployed as a lede and intended as a compliment to the hallowed halls. The museum established in Cooperstown, as an homage to the sport’s apocryphal origin, dates to the 1930s, with an inaugural class of Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner.