Alomar, Bagwell, and HOF Hypocrisy
In case you didn’t hear, Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar were voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, while Jeff Bagwell — among others — was not.
Cast Blyleven aside for a moment, and let’s focus on Alomar.
Personally, I was ambivalent about Roberto Alomar until he spit in the face of John Hirschbeck. Then, I despised him for disrespecting Hirschbeck, baseball fans, and the game itself.
Despite this, I still was able to appreciate the fact that Alomar was — hands down — the best fielding second baseman in MLB during the 1990s and first two years of the 21st century. And for that reason alone, he, to me, deserves consideration for the Hall of Fame.
However, there is the little matter of the “Steroids Era”, in which Alomar participated. Further to the point, there were many BBWAA voters who chose not to cast a vote for Jeff Bagwell because they suspected that he might have been a PEDs user — but DID vote for Alomar. What’s the problem with this? It’s hypocrisy; how could a writer not vote for Bagwell because of PEDs suspicion but DO vote for Alomar, who played during the same period of time?
