So, what's my problem with Alomar? If you remember watching him play, then it will be quite obvious. On September 27, 1996, Alomar took strike three and went ape on home plate umpire John Hirschbeck, eventually spitting at his face. He was suspended, and after he appealed the suspension and was allowed to play again, the umpires' union threatened to go on strike. The story doesn't end there, but that's the bulk of it.
The technical criteria for the Hall of Fame voting is based on "the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played." Alomar misses the cut on three of them, and the Orioles got a lot of unwanted press coverage after the incident, which isn't exactly a good contribution, either. (A similar case can be made against George Brett, but I believe that the Pine Tar Incident probably wasn't as serious as the Alomar ordeal, and to leave a hitter like Brett out of Cooperstown would have been a bad idea.)
My opinion: Roberto Alomar is probably not a Hall of Famer.
I don't really understand that. Should Brooks Robinson be kicked out because he lied once as a kid? Is Roberto Alomar, one of the greatest second baseman ever, not a deserving Hall of Famer because he once got suspended for spitting at an umpire? I think the integrity/sportsmanship clause should only be used for extreme cases, not for losing his temper once.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, who said that Brooks Robinson ever lied as a kid? Okay, that's a joke, but Alomar's incident is quite a bit more serious than a lie that Robinson might have told.
DeleteWhat would you say constitutes an "extreme case"? Is spitting at an umpire not extreme?
Well, it's obviously terrible, but losing your temper once doesn't convince me of a player being a bad person.
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