The Case For: A Baseball Hall of Fame Podcast

Catchers Thurman Munson and Buster Posey had nearly identical careers in terms of statistics, hardware, and the "fame factor". Tragically Munson passed away during the 1979 season and Posey retired after the 2021 season. 

Buster Posey will be on the BBWAA Ballot this year and will likely be inducted into the Hall of Fame. No discussion of Buster Posey's career and HOF case is complete without a discussion of Thurman Munson, who is long overdue for enshrinement into Cooperstown. 

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Attorney, Judge and law professor Louis H. Schiff discusses his book “Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame: A Collection of Biographical Essays”. 

Lou co-wrote the book with fellow attorney and law professor Robert M. Jarvis and it includes essays on the 11 attorneys who have been inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame. This group comprises three players (Hughie Jennings, Jim O’Rouke, and Monte Ward), two managers (Miller Huggins and Tony LaRussa); three executives (Larry MacPhail, Walter O’Malley and Branch Rickey) and three Commissioners (Happy Chandler, Bowie Kuhn, and Kennesaw Mountain Landis). 

Lou wrote the chapter on Tony LaRussa and co-wrote the chapter on Kennesaw Mountain Landis with Robert Jarvis. The remaining chapters were written by a contributing cast of attorneys and authors that includes:

-Geoffrey Rapp, Dean of DePaul University College of Law

-Savanna Nolan, Associate Librarian For Administration and Public Services, Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law

-Stephanie Hunter McMahon, the William W. Oliver Chair in Tax Law at the Maurer School of Law, Indian University Bloomington

-Walter T. Champion, Professor of Law at Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University

-Richard D. Friedman, the Alend and Alan F. Smith Professor of Law at the University of Michigan School of Law

-Ed Edmonds, Professor Emeritus of Law at The University of Notre Dame

- Ronald Rychlak, Distinguished Professor of Law and Jamie L. Whitten Chair of Law and Government at the University of Mississippi School of Law; and

- Elizabeth Manriquez, Head of Reference and Scholarly Support at the University of Wisconsin Law School Library

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Rick Klein is the Vice President and Washington Bureau Chief for ABC News and has been a journalist for more than 25 years. A lifelong Dale Murphy fan he was recently involved in the "Murphy to the Hall" campaign to spread the word on Dale Murphy's HOF case. 

Rick and Russell discuss Dale Murphy, his HOF case, and what the future brings as we hope "Murph" makes the ballot again in 2028!

For more information go to https://murphytothehall.com

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Longtime friend of the podcast, fellow baseball fan extraordinaire, and "Baseball Twitter" personality Cullen Chapron @CChapro832 discusses baseball, the "NEPTA dashboard", and many other interesting baseball topics with Russell. A must-listen episode! 

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Attorney and baseball fan  extraordinaire Russell Christian breaks down the 2026 Baseball Writers Association of America Ballot which elected 2 members to the Hall of Fame - Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones!

How did the other players on the ballot fare? What does next year's ballot look like? Listen for details!

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Critically acclaimed singer songwriter, painter, novelist, and fellow baseball fan extraordinaire Dan Bern returns to the podcast to discuss the 2026 BBWAA Ballot with Russell! 

Dan’s songs have appeared in numerous films (“Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” “Get Him to the Greek” “The Bubble” “Zero Effect”) and TV shows (Amazon Prime’s award-winning kids program “The Stinky & Dirty Show”).  An avid baseball fan, Dan has released numerous songs about baseball including his albums "Doubleheader", "Rivalry", and his collection "Songs for Mr. Tony". 

For more information go to: https://danbern.bandcamp.com and https://danbern.com

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Russell breaks down the 2026 Baseball Writer's Association of America Ballot, giving his "yes/no" votes on EVERY player and predicting who he thinks will be enshrined into Cooperstown this year. 

If you're a voting member of the BBWAA you don't want to miss this episode, and if you're a fan of the Baseball Hall of Fame listen for your enjoyment!

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Russell recaps the 2025 Contemporary Era Ballot vote and discusses what the future brings for the fan movement to induct Dale Murphy into the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

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The 2025 Contemporary Era Ballot includes 8 players:

-Barry Bonds
-Roger Clemens
-Carlos Delgado
-Jeff Kent
-Don Mattingly
-Dale Murphy
-Gary Sheffield
-Fernando Valenzuela

Russell makes the case for all 8 players and discusses "The Faces of 1980's Baseball". Will this FINALLY be the year Dale Murphy makes the Hall of Fame? 

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During his prime years of 1992-1999 Kenny Lofton was one of the top leadoff hitters and defensive centerfielders in baseball. The speedster retired in 2007 after 17 MLB seasons with a 68.4 bWAR, 1528 runs and 622 stolen bases. 

Does Kenny Lofton deserve a spot in Cooperstown?  

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