The Hall of Fame has been at a crossroads for more than a decade now due to uncertainty on how to consider what I call the PED Five, which sounds like an outlaw gang that used to rob stagecoaches and saloons in Dodge City: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro. A group that has now been extended to also include Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez.
To make the Hall of Fame debates even more disorienting, in recent years the various veterans committees have grown exceedingly -- what's the right term here? -- magnanimous in their selections.