Booing Alex at Spring Training

Sitting here listening to the pre-game show for the Royal's opening Spring Training game, I noticed a common question popping up in most of the interviews I'm hearing: "Does Alex Rodriguez belong in the Hall of Fame?"

My answer: Duh.

This shouldn't even be considered a serious question. The guys talent is off the charts. His numbers don't say he's a first-ballot Hall of Famer, they shout it. I looked up "no-brainer" today, and the definition was Alex Rodriguez is a future member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The hangup for many people is his recent confession to having used performing enhancing substances from 2001 to 2003, while a member of the Texas Rangers. It is very easy to forget that at that time in Major League Baseball, there was no rule against that practice. According to the rules of the day, he did nothing wrong. How can you punish him for that?

I heard that there was a mixed reaction in the crowd today when he came to bat for the first time. Some cheers, some boos. I suppose that this is to be expected. You can boo if you want. But let's try to keep this whole situation in its proper context.