Picture the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the expensive flower vase that sits in your mom’s living room.
Perched on its pedestal for all to see, it should be kept pristine and safe at all costs.
But the contents in the prized pot don’t all have to be roses — you know, the Ken Griffey Jr.'s , the Nolan Ryans, the Hank Aarons of baseball history. The sure bets.
It’s perfectly OK to mix in a few wilting lilies in the bouquet as well. I’ll explain what I mean by that soon.
On Wednesday, the HOF’s Class of 2017 was announced.
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America elected Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez, whom all most definitely deserve to be enshrined in Cooperstown.
But Bagwell’s case in particular was an interesting one.
The longtime Houston Astros first baseman’s 449 home runs and career .297 batting average weren’t the issues in question. Rather, it was steroid suspicions that have clouded him, paired with the fact that he admitted to using Androstenedione, a substance that was banned after he said he used it.
But here’s the thing: Bagwell never tested positive for performance enhancing drugs.
In a country based on the principle of innocent until proven guilty, it wasn’t fair to keep Bagwell out of the Hall for as long as he was.
Then you have Curt Schilling.
Curt bleeping Schilling.
The former starting pitcher was fired from his position as an ESPN analyst last year after sharing a controversial Facebook post that sided with North Carolina’s transgender bathroom law.
And last November, Schilling tweeted a picture of a T-shirt suggesting the lynching of journalists along with his own thoughts: “Ok, so much awesome here…”
All of that is disgusting, trust me.
But the guy is still Hall of Fame worthy.
Schilling’s 20-year career was dominant at its peak, as he recorded more than 200 wins and 3,000 strikeouts and would’ve nabbed two Cy Young Awards if not for teammate Randy Johnson.
He also cranked it up another notch in the postseason, as evidenced by his 11-2 record and three World Series rings.
Yes, it didn’t take long for Schilling to go from gritty, bloody sock-wearing ace to outspoken right-wing nut job, but Curt Schilling the baseball player shouldn’t be crucified for it.
And unfortunately, he has been.
When it seemed Schilling was gaining steam last year by garnering 52.3 percent of votes (he needs 75 percent to be inducted), that number dropped to 45 percent in 2017.
Of course character should be considered — Pete Rose can tell you all about that — but a player’s on-field performance should outweigh that by a large margin.
Patrick Pinak is the online sports editor. His columns appear on Thursdays. Contact him at ppinak@alligator.org or follow him on Twitter @pinakk12.
Former Houston Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell speaks to reporters Wednesday Jan. 18, 2017, in Houston, after his election to baseball's Hall of Fame was announced. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP)
