The Case For: A Baseball Hall of Fame Podcast

Ted Knorr has been a member of SABR since 1979, has attended over 60 SABR conferences, and started Negro League Commemorative Nights in Harrisburg, Lancaster, and York, Pennsylvania. In 1997 he founded SABR’s Negro League Conference, now called the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference. A lifelong trivia fan he chased the SABR Conferences team trivia title starting in 1984 and finally won the title in 2022. He also won the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference title in 2009, the only person in SABR to have won both! Ted recently attended this year’s Jerry Malloy Conference, his 25th such conference.

Ted discuss the HOF case for Rap Dixon, who started his career with the Harrisburg Giants in 1924 and played for 12 years, retiring with a career .336 batting average and .969 OPS. His best season was 1928 with the Baltimore Black Sox when he led the league in WAR, Games played, hits, triples, home runs, RBI, stolen bases, walks, slugging, OPS, OPS+ and total bases. 

Rap is one of many players from the Negro Leagues who deserve a plaque in Cooperstown! 

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George Van Haltren played between 1887 and 1903, retiring with a .316 batting average, 1642 runs, 2544 hits, and 583 stolen bases. He is is 1 of only 5 players with 1600+ runs, 550+ steals and a career .300+ avg. The other 4 are HOFers Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Eddie Collins, and Billy Hamilton.  

Additionally, "Rip" (as he was known) was perhaps the original dual threat player, and retired with a pitching record of 40-31 with a 4.05 ERA and 281 strikeouts. 

He had what can be considered two successful "two-way" seasons long before Shohei Ohtani made it seem so easy. In 1888 Rip went 13-13 with a 3.52 ERA and 139 K’s while batting .283 with 14 triples and 21 stolen bases. In 1890 he went 15-10 with a 4.28 ERA, 48 K's, and batted .335 with 84 runs, 9 triples, 54 RBI and 35 stolen bases. 

Rip had 11 seasons with 100+ runs tied for 4th best all-time. At the time of his retirement he was in the top 10 all-time in hits, stolen bases, runs, and walks. But the first Hall of Fame class was not until 1936 and Rip's career has been lost in the sands of time. Will he ever make a HOF ballot and have his long overdue induction day in the July Cooperstown sun? 

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Attorney and baseball fan Paul Lesko aka "The Hobby Lawyer" has litigated intellectual property and class action lawsuits for over 25 years. With a background in the biochemical sciences, Paul is no stranger to litigating cases involving complex technologies. Also known as “The Hobby Litigator”, he's taken on IP issues involving athletes, artists, sports teams, memorabilia, and even trading cards. Paul is also frequently quoted in the press not only on his cases, but for legal issues in the sports memorabilia and trading card industry.

Paul and Russell talk the law, baseball, intellectual property and so much more! Fore more information go to: https://leskolawllc.com/

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Pitcher Darren O'Day spent 15 years in Major League Baseball, mostly in a bullpen role. As such Darren doesn't have the necessary Wins and/or Saves totals that most Hall of Fame candidates possess. Nevertheless, Darren put together a very impressive career! In 609 innings Darren struck out 637 batters, allowed 458 hits and only 175 runs for a 2.59 ERA and a 167 ERA+. 

Although a small sample size, (Baseball Reference does not "count" pitchers with less than 1000 innings pitched on all-time leaderboards for various stats) Darren's career ERA of 2.59 is still better than many Hall of Famers including Cy Young himself. If Darren's adjusted ERA+ of 167 were to remain through 1000 innings it would the second best all-time behind Mariano Rivera. 

Is this enough to warrant induction into Cooperstown?

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Russell reflects on the life and legacy of Dave "The Cobra" Parker  (June 9, 1951 – June 28, 2025). 

A member of the Hall of Fame Class of 2025 Dave is 1 of only 5 players in MLB history with 2700+ hits, 300+ home runs, 150+ stolen bases, 75+ triples, and a career BA of .290 or higher. During his career 7 time All-Star Parker won the 1978 NL MVP, the 1979 All-Star Game MVP, the 1979 and 1989 World Series, 3 Gold Gloves, 3 Silver Sluggers, and 2 batting titles. 

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Graig Kreindler is "The Painter of the National Pastime" whose baseball paintings have been featured in numerous museums and news outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, Fox News, and the New York Times. 

Rap icon Chuck D (himself an accomplished painter) says that Graig is "a time machine" who "puts you right there with the Cracker Jack and Beer". 

Graig's paintings bring to life bygone eras of baseball including the 19th century, the deadball era, the Negro Leagues and the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. 

Graig and Russell discuss his paintings, baseball history, and much more!

For more information or to commission a painting go to www.graigkreindler.com. 

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Critically acclaimed singer-songwriter and "baseball’s troubadour poet laureate” Chuck Brodsky joins Russell to talk about his baseball songs. Larry Groce of NPR called Chuck “one of the finest singer-songwriters in America” and the New York Times said that Chuck’s music “will appeal to everyone who likes their music with a side of thought”. Chuck is himself an inductee into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and 18 of his songs have been enshrined into the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s sound recording library. 

Chuck and Russell discuss many of Chuck's songs including "Letters in the Dirt" about 2025 HOF inductee Dick Allen. For more info on Chuck Brodsky visit www.chuckbrodsky.com 

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Jesse Orosco pitched 24 years in Major League Baseball and is the all-time career leader in games played for a pitcher with 1252. A hero of the 1986 Jesse earned 3 wins in 4 games during the 1986 NLCS and 2 saves in the 1986 World Series, including the iconic final out for the World Champion New York Mets. 

Jesse and Omar Vizquel (SS) are the only two players to hold the career games played mark for their positions who are NOT in the HOF. Jesse also has some (but not other) career stats that compare favorably with the greatest reliever of all-time Mariano Rivera. 

Are Jesse's career stats, hardware, and fame fame factor enough to warrant induction in Cooperstown? Listen to Russell as he makes the case!

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John Franco recorded 424 saves in his 21 year MLB career, the most of any left-handed relief pitcher. He is currently 7th all-time in career saves and 3rd in games played for a pitcher, but at the time of his retirement he was 2nd in both categories. 

Is this enough to earn John Franco a ticket to Cooperstown?

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In the Season 2 Finale Russell breaks down the 2025 BBWAA Ballot vote and previews the 2026 BBWAA ballot including who he thinks will be elected and who has a chance of surviving the dreaded "one and done" 5% vote requirement. 

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