Bedford native brings baseball's Hall of Pretty Good to the world
If you have fallen down any baseball rabbit holes online, perhaps you have encountered an account called the Hall of Pretty Good.
The Instagram page boasts more than 277,000 followers and its X account adds another 55,000. It highlights the Danny Espinosas and Adam Joneses of Major League Baseball — players who weren’t perennial all-stars, but athletes whose name makes you think: “Oh yeah, I remember that guy. He hit .250 for the 2014 Detroit Tigers.”
A screenshot of the Hall of Pretty Good's Instagram page, which is inducting Jean Segura into the Hall of Pretty Good.
Once a week, the account conducts a fan vote of whether or not a randomly selected player should be inducted into the Hall of Pretty Good. To be eligible, players must be officially retired, not be in the actual Baseball Hall of Fame, must have not received a Most Valuable Player or Cy Young award — honoring the best pitcher in a certain year — must not sit in the top-15 of MLB’s saves ranking and must have 38.6 or fewer wins above replacement.
In other words, it highlights players who are … pretty good.
Bryce Whitlow, a special education educator from Bedford County, is the person behind the account. He grew up attending what are now the Salem RidgeYaks and Hill City Howlers games, and grew an affinity for the non-superstars.
“You know Aaron Judge and Shohei Othani. I get why MLB has to market them and put them at the forefront,” Whitlow said. “I came to a realization that the lower-tier guys get no acknowledgement, especially after they retire. Nobody really talks about them anymore.”
Bryce Whitlow stands on the field at Fenway Park in Boston.
Aside from managing the social media pages, Whitlow works as a special education paraprofessional at an elementary school in the area. His brother suffers from apraxia and lives with decreased motor function. That motivated Whitlow to enter the field, so once he graduated from Liberty High School in Bedford County, he completed the required tests and began working.
“Living with him my whole life, it kind of inspired me to take on that type of work in my adult life,” Whitlow said. “So, pretty much, for the last three or four years, that’s what I’ve done — and I loved it.”
An Instagram screenshot honoring father and son duo Cecil and Prince Fielder.
Working in social media and special education are arguably polar opposites. Social media induces instant gratification — “If you post something, you want 1,000 likes in an hour,” Whitlow said — while teaching requires patience. The differences in the fields have informed both his day job and side hustle (which he does not monetize).
“Online, you talk a little but differently than you would to a special-needs student, obviously, but it’s helped me have more patience sometimes with people on social media,” he said. “I’ve gone through phases where I get frustrated when people make comments criticizing or hating on my page — and some people do it just to hate. But I’ve learned just to be patient, trying to respond to them calmly and not with anger.”
The COVID-19 pandemic derailed Whitlow’s senior year of high school and the baseball season that came with it. Soon after the season was canceled, he began suffering from a genetic arthritis disorder, which took away his ability to walk and run. He went on a beach trip and couldn’t walk without a cane.
As the pandemic subsided, he saw other baseball creators make content on social media, and decided to give it a go. Whitlow established the Hall of Pretty Good in January 2024 at 22 years old. Within his first three or four months, he had amassed 600 followers. In about a year and a half, that grew to more than 100,000.
“I thought, maybe if I can’t play it anymore, I can fall in love with baseball in a whole different way,” Whitlow said.
Bryce Whitlow and his wife, Amanda, stand on the concourse of Salem Memorial Ballpark.
Around the time the Instagram page hit 40,000 followers, Whitlow was sitting with his wife, Amanda, when he was bored after work one day. They found an online random selection wheel and filled out one wheel for modern players — with the majority of their careers taking place after 2000 — and another for throwback players from before then. He selects a modern player every Wednesday and a throwback player every Saturday. If 65% of the fans in the Instagram comment section vote in favor of a player, they are inducted into the Hall of Pretty Good.
A screenshot of the Hall of Pretty Good's Instagram page.
“I don’t even know how it happened, but I would like to think it helps bridge the gap between these players and these fans,” he said. “Sometimes, you see the players in the comments. They’ll reply to people. They’ll acknowledge they're up for a vote. I would like to think baseball fans really love that these players are accessible through the Hall of Pretty Good. That has been — without a doubt — the coolest part for me.”
Bryce Whitlow throws a baseball. He's been unable to play the game he loves for several years due to a genetic arthritis disorder, but has recently received treatment that's improved his condition. He hopes to play in a men's league next year.
Plus, his arthritis is improving. Whitlow receives an injection in his knee once a week. Last month, he was able to run for the first time and he can now throw a baseball more than 30 feet. His goal is to join a men’s league in the area by next summer. Though maybe not on the same level of a Hall of Famer, or even a Hall of Pretty Gooder, Whitlow regained his love for a sport and motivation to participate in it — in more ways than one.
“I’d just love to get one more game, one more at-bat,” Whitlow said.
Sam Mostow (540)981-3251
