What is Baseball Between the Numbers?
by Jonah Keri One player, one election, an avalanche of controversy. That’s the beauty of baseball. The game–its players, its teams, its history–inspires so much passion, so much heated debate, so many fun arguments. Those arguments form the crux of Baseball Prospectus’ soon-to-be-released book, Baseball Between the Numbers. Deep into the offseason, long after the winter meetings but still weeks before pitchers and catchers report, the Hall of Fame debate suddenly gave fans a jolt of interest. On Tuesday, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced its voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2006. The entire class consisted of just one player, Bruce Sutter. “Finally!” yelled Sutter supporters. A late-inning force in the 1970s and ’80s, Sutter was a star for the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, helping to define a new role for the ace reliever. From 1977 to 1985, Sutter averaged more than 30 saves a season. He won a Cy Young Award, was a perennial contender for
