The Case For: A Baseball Hall of Fame Podcast

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...

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...

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!  Text me your thoughts on this episode!

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! Text me your thoughts on this episode!

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 a...

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! Text me your thoughts...

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.  Text me your thoughts on this episode!

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?  Text me your thoughts on this episode!

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?   Text me your thoughts on this episode!

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...

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...

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...

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 sa...

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...

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&quo...

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...

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 f...

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? Text me your thoughts on this episode!

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.  Text me your thoughts on this episode!

Russell breaks down the entire 2025 BBWAA ballot in advance of the Jan 21st announcement and makes the case for who he thinks will and won't get elected. If you're looking for a crash-course on the 2025 BBWAA ballot look no further! Featuring the exclusive Dan Bern song "That's The List" written for the occasion!  Text me your thoughts on this episode!

Episode 21 features a very special interview with critically acclaimed singer- songwriter, novelist, painter, and fellow baseball fan extraordinaire Dan Bern.  Bern's music has been compared to that of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, Phil Ochs and Elvis Costello. A prolific composer, Bern estimates to have written over one thousand songs. His music has been featured in Amazon Pri...

Listen as Russell breaks down the Classic Baseball Era Committee ballot voting and congratulates new Hall of Famers Dick Allen and Dave Parker! He'll also break down his prediction for next year's era committee ballot. (spoiler alert - it's Dale Murphy's year!) Text me your thoughts on this episode!

The Classic Baseball Era Ballot vote is Sunday, December 8, 2024. The 8 players on the ballot are Dick Allen, Ken Boyer, John Donaldson, Steve Garvey, Vic Harris, Tommy John, Dave Parker, and Luis Tiant. Who will get in? Who would Russ vote for? Listen to find out! Text me your thoughts on this episode!

Famed Cuban pitcher Luis Tiant is up for consideration on this year's Classic Baseball Era Committee ballot.  The son of famed Cuban pitcher Luis Tiant Sr., Luis pitched 19 seasons in MLB and is one of only 11 pitchers in MLB history to retire with 225+ wins, 2400+ strikeouts, 49+ shutouts and a career ERA under 3.30. The other 10 are all in the HOF.  Tiant's 49 career shutouts tie him w...

Left-handed pitcher Tommy John earned 288 Wins over a 26 year career, the second longest in MLB history. Most notably, 164 of John's wins came AFTER he underwent the groundbreaking surgery which now bears his name. A 3-time 20 game winner, John twice led the league in Win-Loss % and led all of MLB in shutouts 3 times (1966, 1967, 1980). A 4 time All-Star, john received MVP votes in 2 seasons...