whatever happened to the hall of fame?: baseball, cooperstown, and the politics of glory is a book by baseball sabermetrician and author bill james. originally published in 1994 as the politics of glory, the book covers the unique history of the baseball hall of fame, the evolution of its standards, and arguments for individual players in a typically jamesian, stat-driven manner. james drives home early on the heated and biased nature of hall of fame arguments between fans and writers alike. he states that his goal is not to serve individual players or candidates but to "reinforce the truth in what other people say" and to "serve the argument itself."