According to the rules of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Roberto Alomar won't be eligible for election to Cooperstown until the 2009 voting later this year. The powers that be in Major League Baseball should make an exception for Roberto Alomar and allow him to get in this year if reports on his health released today in a lawsuit are confirmed to be a fact. Alomar is arguably the best second baseman in the history of the game and the league should grant him his time in the spotlight while he is still healthy enough to experience it, while also bringing a serious health issue to the forefront of the nation.

I've watched a lot of baseball in my day and if there was ever a more deserving player for the HOF, Robbie Alomar is it. Possessing both speed and power (210 HR and 474 SB) to go along with a staggering .371 On Base Percentage he would probably make it Cooperstown on his offensive numbers alone (2724 base hits with a .300 batting average). Adding the fact that he may be the best defensive second baseman to ever wear a glove just adds to his resume. Alomar brought the game to an international level leading his Toronto Blue Jays to consecutive world championships which was the first time a Canadian team was crowned World Series champions. Alomar won everywhere he went in his prime too. The Baltimore Oriloes and our Cleveland Indians were on the brink of postseason greatness with Alomar leading the charge

While Alomar certainly has baggage, there may be some explanation. When Alomar spit in the face of John Hirschbeck, it was because Hirschbeck called him a "faggot". Hirschbeck obviously crossed a line with that remark. In the lawsuit, plaintiff Ilya Dall stated that the star baseball player had been raped by two men when he was a young player in the minor leagues. Even if that isn't true, and Alomar is a homosexual as rumors have swirled for years about his sexual preference, being called a "faggot" would be a sure way to make someone act irrationally, especially in the macho world of pro sports. Hirschbeck later acknowledged that his remark was out of bounds and expressed dismay when the news broke about Alomar's alleged ailment. As for Dall's allegations that he was having sex with her while knowing that he was carrying AIDS, I think it is more of an act of denial than an out and out act of trying to harm her. The suit by Dall also looks from my perspective as more of a money grab and I openly wonder if she was more of a paid caretaker for the ailing ballplayer then a live in girlfriend as she states. Needless to say,the courts will have the final say so on that matter. Having sex with someone who, as she claims, was foaming from the mouth and sometimes didn't have the energy to get to a bathroom, doesn't sound too believable to me.

What I do believe in the lawsuit, sadly, is the fact that Alomar's health appears to be rapidly fading. For years, there had been many rumors floating around town that Alomar had been very ill and that is why he left baseball at a relatively young age in 2004. If Alomar, does indeed, have "full blown AIDS" and was diagnosed in 2006 he doesn't have much time left. Major League Baseball should see to it that he gets the proper credit for a career filled with such greatness. I think Bud Selig has a chance to get back in the good graces of American society after ignoring the steroid problem for a generation and could do the the populace a service by bringing such a tragic disease into the forefront of the public's eye. Hopefully Robbie Alomar is up to the task to deliver in his final at bat if baseball does indeed call him out for a well deserved curtain call.