Roberto Alomar

Robbie suddenly finds himself persona non grata

The Blue Jays -- for whom Alomar played from 1991 to 1995, winning two World Series titles -- expressed support for MLB's decision and said they would cut all ties with Alomar. A banner honoring Alomar, whose No. 12 was retired by the team, will be removed from the Rogers Centre, as will other acknowledgments of his Toronto career, the Blue Jays said.

The Baseball Hall of Fame, to which Alomar was inducted in 2011, said his enshrinement will remain in place.

So the next logical question is, if a player elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA is later proven to be a cheater for using steroids, a crime worthy HOF candidates Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield have been accused of, can / should they remain in the Baseball Hall of Fame?

It seems like hypocrisy to me, just sayin' ...

How is that the "next logical question"? What does sexual assault have to do with steroid use?

And where is the hypocrisy? To my knowledge the HOF has never removed anyone after being inducted, so they are treating Alomar the same as every other shitbag they've enshrined.

Do you mean why shouldn't juicers be allowed in the Hall if sex offenders are? I can definitely understand that outlook, but I'm sure most writers who vote against juicers would make a distinction between on-field and off-field transgressions. I personally don't find the argument particularly persuasive, but that's the distinction.

The episode does highlight the interesting and often misunderstood dynamic that being banned from MLB doesn't actually mean you're banned from the HOF.

My point is, what Alomar is accused of, if the allegations are in fact true, is more serious than PED use. Yet Alomar is in the HOF and Bonds, Clemens et al are not. Is that fair?

I hear ya. The Hall obviously doesn't want to open the can of worms of starting to remove guys that have already been inducted, but I don't see how we don't end up there eventually. Personally I oppose inducting Bonds and Clemens because they are both abusers and I would prefer to live in a society in which abusers don't get a parade thrown in their honor every summer. But for guys who were just juicing, especially before the league had any penalties against juicing, I think they should be in. The guys like Manny and Palmeiro and Cano who got popped after the crackdown are a heavier lift for me.

If, for example, Ken Griffey Jr or Derek Jeter came out with a tell-all autobiography that basically said "Ha, I fooled all you guys. I was a steroids user and abuser from my rookie season, and the only way I was able to do so well in MLB and last for so long is because of anabolic steroids, the only difference being I used a better grade of stuff that was easier to hide." Then, the self-righteous BBWAA voters would be in a terrible spot, and the Veterans Committees would be forced to hold their noses and vote in Bonds, Clemens and the rest with HOF worthy stats.

It'll be interesting to see how they are treated by the Era Committee. The same committee elected Bud freakin Selig so one might think they are not actually predisposed against the villains of the steroid era? But who knows.

So I'm curious. What are the allegations? I can't find anywhere online (and I've read numerous stories) where it lays out the allegations. The stories just say "sexual misconduct" which covers an awful lot of ground. And they are still allegations at this point, are they not?