It seems to boil down to whether one sees the HoF as a museum or shrine. Museums embrace all aspects of their subject, good and bad. Shrines honor the spirit of their subject, uphold its values. I do approve of the notion that *how* you go about your business matters more than your successes.
This is great, glad I found your Substack. It's hard to compare across different eras in baseball, with stats and with the character issues and controversy. I don't really know the answers, but this offers some great insight into why the character clause matters.
It seems to boil down to whether one sees the HoF as a museum or shrine. Museums embrace all aspects of their subject, good and bad. Shrines honor the spirit of their subject, uphold its values. I do approve of the notion that *how* you go about your business matters more than your successes.
Ty Cobb told the character clause to hold his beer.
This is great, glad I found your Substack. It's hard to compare across different eras in baseball, with stats and with the character issues and controversy. I don't really know the answers, but this offers some great insight into why the character clause matters.