Here it comes. Here comes the mess, and it’s heading straight for Cooperstown. This January, the Baseball Writers Association of America held its annual Hall of Fame election, this time voting Barry Larkin into Co

I'm just wondering. Does anyone really care to stack up Mickey Mantle's integrity and character next to, say, Jeff Bagwell's? Or for that matter, Mark McGwire's? Or Rafael Palmeiro's? Baseball players have been exhibiting monumental deficiencies of integ

Here’s how the big-time names that are already before or soon to be before the BBWAA electorate would shake out using my “good-standing” test. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro:. In my opinion, their “off-the-field conduct si

Of those looked over by the writers that were most qualified to join Larkin in Cooperstown this year, one could make a capable argument for Jeff Bagwell, Edgar Martinez, the aforementioned McGuire, Fred McGriff and Rafael Palmeiro. While I d

Every baseball Hall of Fame voter gets this question at least once annually. “Explain something to me. How do some candidates get so much better from one year to the next when they haven’t played a game in Fill-In-The-Blank years?’’ In other words, how d

Earlier today, Cincinnati Reds great Barry Larkin was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Considering observers have long complained about the writers voting in mediocre candidates, the selection of only one might, under other circumstances, be treated