Baseball Hall of Fame

Here's a suggestion.

To make room for players who truly belong in the Hall of Fame, like Bert Blyleven, Tommy John, and Andre Dawson, let's toss out the members who, unaccountably, inexplicably, mysteriously, achieved "immortality."

How's that for a neat piece of revisionist history?

No need for comparisons between players from different eras.

No need to adjust earned runs averages or batting averages.

No need to employ a laundry list of sabermetrics to quantify a player's worthiness.

Just employ a little common sense.

Please.

Curt Schilling is a Hall-of-Famer.

Is he as worthy as Walter Johnson? 

As sure a thing as Tom Seaver? 

As deserving as Greg Maddux?

No.

However, not all "Hall-of-Famers" are created equal. 

Sport writers seem to stick to the claim about any Hall-of-Fame.

Dear Roger Clemens:

I've had enough: I'm leaving you behind. It's time to say goodbye. You chose to go the route you did and drag everyone that loved watching you compete down with you.

In the words of Fleetwood Mac, "You can go your own way." 

You were once a paragon of athleticism and hard work. You symbolized what ability, hard work and arrogance could accomplish not only in baseball, but also in life. You were an artist on the mound that mixed perfect mechanics, a blazing fastball, splitter, fear and location into 300-plus wins.

Curt Schilling announced his retirement today after a 20 seasons in the Major Leagues spent with the Orioles, Astros, Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Red Sox.

Almost immediately, ESPN and sports-talk radio was flooded with analysis of Schilling's career. It was a day-long debate about Schilling's worthiness of future Hall of Fame enshrinement.

Two or three weeks ago, I wrote an article that ranked every Center Fielder in the history of MLB, offensively. A letter grade was given to each player, and they were also put in order from 1-236.

I will do the same thing in this article, defensively—every Center Fielder in the history of MLB that played in at least 800 games.

At a later date, I will rank them overall, combining offensive and defense.

Listing the 10 best Hall of Fame (HOF) ballplayers of all time is difficult enough; to actually rank them would be darn near impossible, so the following list is not intended to be in any sort of order. In fact, ranking Babe Ruth at number one is the only certainty I can imagine.

When it is all said and done, and his career is over, Albert Pujols will be the best hitter to ever play the game of baseball. He is 29 years old, had 2 MVP awards, and World Series ring, two National League pennants, and a 7-time all star. Here are some of his career statistics-

• Batting Average- .344
• Hits- 1,531
• Doubles- 342
• Home Runs- 318
• RBI's- 977
• Slugging Percentage- .624

Most people who have an inkling of baseball history think Albert Goodwill Spalding, the old New York Knickerbockers, and Branch Rickey must be rolling in their graves right now.

In the midst of an 1870s betting scandal, Henry Chadwick, one of baseball's great founding fathers, wrote that "baseball has fallen."

That was in the 1870s. It is now 2009. Baseball is still here.

I'm not sure anyone can accurately predict what the final legacy of steroids will be, but I am sure that baseball will survive.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig is on the precipice of game changing decision...

How will the "Steroid Era" and the Mitchell Report impact future HOF stars Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds?

Normally, this question is answered with a bevy of options from suspensions to rehab. Those aren't going to be enough this time around. Yes, people have admitted they made mistakes and people have said they are sorry.