I don't generally take halls of fame seriously -- they're just museums. All the hubbub and dispute about who belongs in what hall of fame is the most base mental masturbation.
This week, however, the baseball writers made a statement. They refused to vote anyone into the Baseball Hall of Fame, even though some of the best players in history were candidates. Statistically, Barry Bonds is the best hitter of all time, Roger Clemens is among the best pitchers, and Mike Piazza is the best hitting catcher. None came even close to the 75% of voters they needed to be inducted.
As a museum, the Hall should include all three of these players, and probably also Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell (against whom I played in high school). And I have a hard time taking the morality of this kind of thing seriously. After all, Ty Cobb was a racist jerk, and Gaylord Perry only cheated through his whole career.
But I read one comment that rings most true to me: these guys made themselves rich by cheating and got to play the game at the highest level by cheating, but they did not earn honor. They'll have to live with that consequence, if none other.
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