Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame [Hardcover]

Zev Chafets (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 9, 2009

The first book to draw back the veil on the Hall of Fame, combining an insider’s history of the Hall and its players with a consideration of baseball’s place in culture.

The National Baseball H all of Fame is the holiest institution in American sports. It’s not just a place to honor great athletes. It’s where America’s pastime announces to the world what it is and what it wants to be. It’s not just a sports museum; it’s a mirror of American culture. As Zev Chafets points out, it’s no coincidence that the first black Hall of Famer, Jackie Robinson, was inducted in 1962, at the height of the civil rights movement. Or that the Hall is now planning a wing to honor Latino players. For a hundred years, the story of the Hall of Fame has been deeply tied up with the story of America.

For the first time, this book shows the inner workings of the Hall: the politics, the players, and the people who own and preserve it. From the history of the founding Clark family to a day on the town with the newly inducted Goose Gossage, from the battle over steroids to the economics of induction and secret campaigns by aspiring players, this is a highly irreverent and highly entertaining tour through the life of an American institution. For anyone who cares about baseball, this is essential reading.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cooperstown is a sleepy New York village with a population barely eclipsing 2,000, in a location where if you arrive by mistake, you've been lost for forty-five minutes. But Chafets explains why Cooperstown and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a must-see destination for hundreds of thousands of baseball fans each year, diving into more than just the 200-plus players that have received baseball immortality by induction into the Hall of Fame. Chafets (A Match Made in Heaven) briefly explores the history of how the Hall of Fame came to pass, but the real good stuff comes as he dives into the politics of the museum and how race has played a role in who has received election and who has received the shaft. He looks at the monks who oversee the hallowed halls, the writers who act as gatekeepers to the Hall of Fame, and explains how election can make what was once a player's worthless memorabilia into a gold mine. Much of Chafets's subject matter is sure to strike a chord with baseball fans, and many will surely disagree with his stance on steroids as it relates to a player's induction. The relationships he develops with the Hall staff, combined with his accessible style, gives the reader a glimpse beyond what one might see at the exhibits. (July)
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Review

"Chafets brings both a fan’s affection and a social critic’s eye to his examination of the Cooperstown, N.Y. institution...amusing, sardonic and convincing." —Kirkus

 

"Chafets briefly explores the history of how the Hall of Fame came to pass, but the real good stuff comes as he dives into the politics of the museum and how race has played a role in who has received election and who has received the shaft. He looks at the “monks” who oversee the hallowed halls, the writers who act as gatekeepers to the Hall of Fame, and explains how election can make what was once a player's worthless memorabilia into a gold mine. Much of Chafets's subject matter is sure to strike a chord with baseball fans…  gives the reader a glimpse beyond what one might see at the exhibits.”  —Publishers Weekly

 

"The Baseball Hall of Fame has long been viewed as some sort of pristine baseball palace, a hardball Mecca where the ghosts of greats walk the corridors. In Cooperstown Confidential, Zev Chafets does not merely humanize the Hall and its inhabitants—he paints a fascinating, in-depth, occasionally outlandish portrait to be hung alongside the busts of the Babe and Hammerin' Hank. Chafets knocks this one over the Green Monster."  —Jeff Pearlman, author of Boys Will Be Boys and The Bad Guys Won

 

"Put in a couple of dead bodies, an inquisitive professor who looks a lot like Tom Hanks and maybe a car chase or two and Zev Chafets would have sports' answer to The DaVinci Code. Oh well -- we'll have to settle for a literate and provocative climb through the cobwebs, misconceptions and flat-out prejudices that exist behind the shiny exhibits at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Nice work. Maybe Tom Hanks can play Zev Chafets in the movie."  —Leigh Montville, author of The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth

 

"Red Smith suggested blowing up the Hall of Fame and starting over, and Zev Chafets has planted the bomb. This smart, tough, funny history uses the flawed temple of the game as a prism to examine the nation as well as its pastime - sex, steroids, stats, and all." —Robert Lipsyte, author of Heroes of Baseball

 

The story of the Hall is baseball and politics, lust for fame and gain, ridiculous ballyhoo and deadly serious business. Somehow, Zev Chafets got it all -- and told it with toughness, humor, and grace."  —

Richard Ben Cramer, author of Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life

 

"Cooperstown Confidential is not the standard collection of rosy ancedotes about Hall of Fame baseball players. It is a fascinatingly hard-edged look inside the hallowed institution, and that makes it all the more delightful and revealing." —David Maraniss, author of Clemente and When Pride Still Mattered 

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; First US Edition edition (June 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596915455
• ISBN-13: 978-1596915459
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #819,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Zev Chafets is the author of eleven books of fiction, media criticism, and social and political commentary. He is a frequent contributor to The New York Times Magazine and a former columnist for the New York Daily News.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Chafets takes a controversial stand, July 16, 2009

By 

Dave Schwinghammer "Dave Schwinghammer" (Little Falls, Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame (Hardcover)

Rule Five in the charter determining who gets elected to the baseball Hall of Fame states, "Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played." Zev Chafets, a former sports columnist for the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, would like to see Rule Five eliminated, making room for such players as Peter Rose, Barry Bonds, and Shoeless Joe Jackson.

Chafets bases his argument on some of the characters already in the Hall who don't meet Rule Five standards. Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker conspired to fix a game and Judge Landis helped with the cover-up. Speaker was also a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Grover Cleveland Alexander pitched while drunk and there are several cocaine addicts in the Hall. Sports writer Red Smith recommended they blow the Hall up and start over again.

Perhaps the most entertaining part of the book is the first section, where Chafets is less belligerent. He shows how the Hall of Fame came to be. Cooperstown was supposed to be the place where Abner Doubleday originated the game. This proved to be a flight of the imagination of Al Spaulding one of the first great players in the National League and an owner of the Cubs. Cooperstown was also founded by James Fenimore Cooper's father and was home to the Clark family whose forefather was a lawyer for Isaac Singer, the inventor of the sewing machine. The Clarks still own most of Cooperstown and run the HOF.

While he's not ranting about steroids, Chafets talks to some of the members of the veterans of the women's baseball league who are sitting in the lobby signing autographs for five bucks a pop. When Chafets asks about their signatures and the HOF designation, they get all huffy, but women haven't been admitted as of yet. He also gives us a look at the memorabilia industry. Goose Gossage was just elected as Chafets was writing the book and his autograph was suddenly worth triple what it was and his speaking fees went way up as well.

To emphasize the Hall`s hypocrisy, Chafets shows us the fake ball that Doubleday used in that first game. Perhaps Chafets's strongest argument regarding steroids use is that other professions use performance enhancing drugs. Scientists use "smart" pills; surgeons and pilots use pills to improve their alertness. Even the great Hank Aaron has admitted to popping a "greenie" to help him break out of a slump.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The politics and intrigue of Cooperstown, July 23, 2009

By 

Todd Bartholomew (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame (Hardcover)

Most casual fans of baseball know little about how the Baseball Hall of Fame came into existence and fewer still have any idea of the machinations and politics involved when it comes to inducting members into the Hall of Fame. "Cooperstown Confidential" seeks to explain the politics of Cooperstown, particularly some of the more unseemly conflicts over who gets in, who is kept out and why. The picture Chafets paints is not an entirely complimentary one and it puts many of the people associated with Cooperstown in an unflattering light. Rather than being viewed as guardians of baseball's rich legacy they're portrayed as scheming Machiavellis, zealously ensuring that baseball is presented in the most favorable light, truth be damned. This is rich stuff to be mined, from the notoriously vague criteria for admission to the Hall of Fame, to the deliberately non-transparent voting process, the notable omissions from the Hall and the equally questionable admissions. Readers will find themselves asking "Just whose idea of baseball is this?" The problem unfortunately is compounded by Chafets's obvious lack of objectivity throughout the book. It's clearly a polemic and Chafets wants Cooperstown to reform for the sake of baseball's future, if not to redeem its past. But Chafets's bias has other manifestations, particularly when it comes to the subject of the use of "performance enhancing drugs" which has become endemic in baseball. Chafets is part of the minority of sports writers that feels performance enhancing drugs have gotten a bum wrap and to that end he sounds more like an apologist than a true fan of the sport. At times his anger at the management of Cooperstown and the Hall of Fame process smacks of Chafets being a conspiracy theorist and it comes close at times to histrionics. If there truly were secret conspiracies someone surely would have talked by now or news would somehow have leaked out. Certainly some of what Chafets presents here is undoubtedly true, but his lack of objectivity weakens his arguments and damages the enjoyability of the book in the process. It is interesting, but hardly nuanced, reasoned or the whole story.

23 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME THROUGH THE EYES OF A CONSPIRACY THEORIST & STEROID APPROVER", June 14, 2009

By 

Rick Shaq Goldstein "*SHAQ*" (Danville, Ca, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame (Hardcover)

This is a book about the Baseball Hall Of Fame (HOF) at Cooperstown New York... but the story starts off before the HOF even existed. In fact it starts off before baseball even existed. And right from the beginning the reader will become aware that the author's main objective... is to either dispute everything that an average baseball fan has come to accept... or share his personal beliefs of disagreement... and/or deep seated conspiracy theories... in relation to every player in the HOF... every player out of the HOF... and players that are in the HOF... but in his opinion... should be out of the HOF. From who really invented baseball... to who should vote for the players that will be enshrined... to his strongly stated... and unsettling views on performance enhancing drugs... as they relate not only to HOF enshrinement... but how they should be handled in perpetuity. The author attacks the baseball writers who vote... he attacks all the different incarnations of the veterans committee who voted in old-timers... he assaults the HOF when he feels there weren't enough black players voted in... and he attacks the HOF when he feels too many black players were voted in simultaneously. He continually quotes scorned players such as Dave Parker as if every word out of his mouth is gospel.

At times the author gives only part of the details such as when he demeans the fact that Jim Bunning is in the HOF and Mickey Lolich isn't. The author writes: "BUNNING PITCHED A NO-HIT GAME, BUT LOLICH WON 3 GAMES IN A WORLD SERIES, A MUCH RARER AND MORE IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENT." That statement is only partially true. JIM BUNNING ACTUALLY PITCHED *TWO-NO-HITTERS*... ONE IN *EACH LEAGUE*... ONLY FIVE PLAYERS IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL HAS EVER DONE THAT. ADDITIONALLY ONE OF THE NO HITTERS WAS A PERFECT GAME WHICH HAS ONLY BEEN ACCOMPLISHED SEVENTEEN TIMES IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL... AND JIM'S WAS THE FIRST IN EIGHTY-FOUR YEARS. WHEN BUNNING RETIRED HE HAD STRUCK OUT THE SECOND MOST BATTERS IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL. Don't get me wrong... I am not a Jim Bunning fan... but this is the type of off-the-cuff logic the author uses throughout the book to back up his conspiratorial allegations.

The author vehemently states that all the qualified steroid users such as Bonds and Clemens should be allowed into the HOF without a second thought. In fact... (pause... pause...) he states (I swear he actually wrote this!) "RIGHT NOW, EVERY PLAYER IS A SUSPECTED CHEATER. LEGALIZE THE USE OF PED'S (PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS), AND THE CLOUD GOES AWAY. THE PLAYERS SHOULD BE OPEN ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE DOING TO IMPROVE THEIR PERFORMANCE - *LIST THE SUBSTANCES ON BASEBALL CARDS.*"

There are times when the author seems to go off into outer space such as when he says: "BASEBALL'S DISTANCE FROM BLACK AMERICA IS EVIDENT EVEN IN THE NAMES OF ITS PLAYERS. FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL ROSTERS ARE PACKED WITH LeBRONS AND CARMELOS AND TAYSHAWNS. AT THE START OF THE 2007 SEASON THERE WERE SIXTY-NINE AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN MLB. ONLY TWO, DONTRELLE WILLIS AND LaTROY HAWKINS, HAD WHAT COULD BE NBA-WORTHY NAMES." How can you take someone's arguments seriously... when off the wall statements (which could be considered offensive) such as these are given equal weight by the author? It's hard to tell if the author wants to be taken seriously when he states: "IF THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME DISAPPEARED TOMORROW, NOBODY EXCEPT THE CANTON CITY COUNCIL WOULD NOTICE." Now I love baseball... but football has passed baseball as the national pastime... and I'm sure there are millions upon millions of people who would be quite upset if the Pro Football Hall of Fame disappeared!

The author's writing style is engaging... but his credibility... after absorbing the cumulative effect of reading many... many... more examples than I've listed above... is akin to someone who claims to have been abducted by aliens.

Note: In Appendix 2: HOF Members. He lists the years that Jackie Robinson played as 1945, 1947-1956. This at first seems incorrect. Jackie did not play in the Major Leagues until 1947... after a headsup from a reader I was made aware that they included Negro League play later in the Halls existence.