The Keltner list is a systematic but non-numerical method for considering whether a
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
player is deserving of election to the
National Baseball Hall of Fame in
Cooperstown, New York.
[James, B. ''Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?'' New York: Fireside, 1994] Developed by baseball statistician
Bill James, it makes use of an inventory of questions (mostly yes-or-no format) regarding the merit of players relative to their peers. Enshrinement in the Hall of Fame is the highest honor in baseball, with only 263 players having been inducted as of . Election to the Hall is also permanent. However, selection for the Hall is by election; no "cut-offs" or objective criteria exist (other than rules about how players become eligible for election). It can therefore be difficult for voters and fans alike to determine which former players are deserving of the honor.
The Keltner list comprises 15 questions designed to aid in the thought process. Each question is designed to be relatively easy to answer.
History
Ken Keltner
Kenneth Frederick Keltner (October 31, 1916 – December 12, 1991) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1937 to 1950, most prominently as a member of the Cleveland Indians where h ...
was a
major-league third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
who compiled a .276
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
, 163
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
s and 852
RBI in his career. A timely hitter, the seven-time All-Star was a fabulous fielder known for going to his right.
He ended
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...
's record
hit streak at 56 on July 17, 1941 before a then-record night crowd (67,468) in Cleveland.
Keltner made two stops of DiMaggio line drives, one a brilliant backhanded stab.
According to baseball historian
Bill James in the 1994 book, ''
Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?'', a movement briefly developed to elect Keltner to the Hall of Fame. James created the eponymous list in order to evaluate the qualifications of players who have not been elected to the Hall, but merit consideration. As a subjective method, the Keltner list is not designed to yield an undeniable answer about a player's worthiness; for instance, as James says, "You can't total up the score and say that everybody who is at eight or above should be in, or anything like that.
"
The list originally appeared in James' 1985 ''Baseball Abstract'' along with the anecdote of how he developed the list.
Questions on the Keltner list
Most of the 15 questions on the list are somewhat subjective, but all can be answered yes or no. For instance, the first question is "Was he ever regarded as the best player in baseball? Did anybody, while he was active, ever suggest that he was the best player in baseball?", others are "Is he the best player ''at his position'' who is eligible for the Hall of Fame but not in?" and "If this man were the best player on his team, would it be likely that the team could win the pennant?", and so forth.
Answers to the questions are often done by comparing the player's statistics to those of his peers or contemporaries. These statistics can take the form of traditional baseball measures, such as
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
and
home runs, or advanced measures, such as
Win Shares or
JAWS
Jaws or Jaw may refer to:
Anatomy
* Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth
** Mandible, the lower jaw
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker''
* ...
. Furthermore, questions 7 and 8 are often answered using two more of James' innovations:
Similarity Scores and
Hall of Fame Standards, respectively.
Uses other than baseball
The Keltner list has also been used to evaluate
NBA players in consideration for
that league's equivalent.
It has also been adapted to evaluate candidates for the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and
USA Ultimate
USA Ultimate is a not-for-profit organization that serves as the governing body of the sport of ultimate (also known as ''ultimate Frisbee'') in the United States.
It was founded in 1979 as the Ultimate Players Association, but rebranded itself ...
Hall of Fame.
Examples
Examples of the use of the Keltner list include the evaluations of:
*
Don Mattingly
Donald Arthur Mattingly (born April 20, 1961) is an American former professional baseball first baseman, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed ...
*
Dale Murphy
Dale Bryan Murphy (born March 12, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player. During an 18-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) (–), he played as an outfielder, catcher, and first baseman for the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphi ...
*
Keith Hernandez
Keith Hernandez (born October 20, 1953) is an American former Major League Baseball first baseman who played the majority of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets. Hernandez was a five-time All-Star who shared the 1979 NL MVP ...
*
Mike Mussina
Michael Cole Mussina (born December 8, 1968), nicknamed "Moose", is an American former baseball starting pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1991–2000) and the New York Yankees (2001–2008). ...
*
Fred McGriff
Frederick Stanley McGriff (born October 31, 1963) is an American former first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for six teams from 1986 through 2004. He was one of the most consistently productive powers hitters of the 1990s, post ...
*
Darrell Evans
Darrell Wayne Evans (born May 26, 1947) is a former American baseball player, coach and manager. He played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), beginning his career as a third baseman with the Atlanta Braves (1969–1976, 1989), alternatin ...
See also
*
Sabermetrics
Sabermetrics, or originally SABRmetrics, is the empirical analysis of baseball, especially baseball statistics that measure in-game activity. Sabermetricians collect and summarize the relevant data from this in-game activity to answer specific ques ...
References
{{reflist, 30em
*Keltner
Baseball statistics
Bill James