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When the Hall of Fame ballots are sent to writers every year, a 23-word paragraph that describes the voting standards is included: Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and ...

Blog | September 12, 2010

"Character" and "sportsmanship" matter in Hall of Fame voting -- except when they don't. Cheating, betting and doping did not disqualify past players from the Hall, so why are Pete Rose and players from the steroids era held to a different standard?

Blog | Conversation | September 12, 2010

When baseball introduced the wild card, skeptics said it would hurt the integrity of the season. But no one's complaining about the wild card now.

Story | Conversation | September 01, 2005

Some players hurt their teams statistically. Some hurt them financially. And some do both, writes Rob Neyer.

Story | Conversation | August 31, 2005

Most people look to sports as an ordered universe where stratifications exist that are easy for them to grab onto.

Story | Conversation | August 29, 2003