The Globe & Mail’s Jeff Blair, who has determined “If anything stands in Robbie Alomar’s way of a first-ballot selection, it could be his unsavoury stint with the New York Mets in 2002 and part of 2003, more than the 1996 incident with the Baltimore Orioles in which he spit in umpire Jon Hirschbeck’s face.”

This is an important issue for Toronto Blue Jays fans, since ” well, other than Alomar and maybe Carlos Delgado (with some bridge-building) who else is going to go into the Hall of Fame with a Blue Jays hat? ” Alomar should be the first to do so, now that the hall only has to take into consideration a player’s wishes when it comes to what hat he’ll wear before making a unilateral decision.

Alomar had 2,724 career hits and scored 1,508 runs and 474 steals and was an All-Star in each of the five years he played with the Blue Jays, which included two World Series appearances. His numbers are better than Joe Morgan and Ryne Sandberg.

Without challenging Blair’s assertion about the strength of Alomar’s numbers, the Hirshbeck incident and his tenure in Flushing aren’t the only black marks on a glittering resume. Alomar hadn’t lost merely one step during his stints in Chicago and Arizona, he’d lost several and never quite found them again. The second baseman had a tremendous season for the Indians in 2001, and went completely into the toilet after that. At the ripe old age of 33.

Which, in a funny way, might be an argument for Alomar’s induction. If anybody could’ve really used some PED’s, it was the Robbie Alomar of 2002.

Joliet Jake of Bucco Blog had the temerity to ask the Pirates for the odd emailed press release here and there. They told him, pretty much, to get stuffed. Jake replies,

I understand and respect the Pirates position refusing to grant bloggers any type of access. I really do. Besides, they have been kind enough to answer any questions I throw at them.

Except any question I ask Dave Littlefield, that is.

However, if the United States District Court in our nation’s capital is opening its doors to professional bloggers, maybe it’s time teams like the Pirates stopped “ignoring reality” and started to work with bloggers too?

Not opening up the clubhouse.. not allowing traditional access. Just simple, basic, communication like releases. Maybe 10 hard questions from Jake to Dave each month? Or maybe 10 questions to one player a month? Or here’s one question for Ogden Nutting.

Yeah, I know.. I’ll get the same spin every other beat reporter gets. The only difference is, beat reporters can lose their job or suite at PNC for asking questions that are too hard.