Roberto Alomar Poses a Problem for Baseball's Hall of Fame

The expected announcement of Roberto Alomar's election into baseball's Hall of Fame today will be followed immediately by controversy as two women, including his wife, Puerto Rican sex symbol Maripily Rivera, have accused the former second baseman of having sex with them while knowingly being HIV-positive.

Alomar was no stranger controversy during his playing career, of course, as in 1996 he spit in umpire John Hirschbeck's face during an on field argument. For years, it was thought that the incident might hurt Alomar's chances to be elected to the Hall of Fame, but after he and Hirschbeck reconciled (with Hirschbeck voicing his support for Alomar), the memory of the incident seemed to fade.

Alomar is widely considered as one of the best second basemen of all time, and despite the ugly spitting incident, he seemed to be a lock for Cooperstown.

But in February of 2009, Alomar was sued for $15 million by ex-girlfriend Ilya Dall, who claimed that Alomar had unprotected sex with her even though he knew at the time that the was HIV-positive. Dall claimed that Alomar allegedly told her that he was raped by two men after playing in a baseball game when he was 17. Alomar denied the allegations and the lawsuit was settled out of court.

At the time of the original lawsuit, Maripily Rivera was dating Alomar. She said that the lawsuit was a 'vile lie' and said that her then boyfriend did not have HIV or AIDS.

That all changed in October of 2010, however, when Rivera, who was now married to Alomar, filed a lawsuit of her own alleging that her husband did indeed have HIV or AIDS and that he had unprotected sex with her without disclosing his illness. This lawsuit is still pending.

The Hall of Fame, in baseball and other sports, is always a murky area when it comes to morals. OJ Simpson remains in the football Hall of Fame, though he might not be if his problems had occurred before his election. The baseball Hall of Fame has shunned Pete Rose, who is banned from baseball, for gambling on his own team, though it is thought to include be former KKK members.

At this point, nothing has been proven when it comes to the case of Roberto Alomar. He has had two very similar accusations involving HIV and AIDS made about him, one by an ex-girlfriend and one by a soon to be ex-wife. The allegations are extremely serious, on both a moral and legal level.

The facts include that Alomar has denied the allegations, though did settle one out of court and not countersue for slander...all of which would give anybody pause, though likely not enough to keep him out of the Hall of Fame. But as the truth emerges, and as Alomar is inducted into the Hall, it will be interesting to see what the Hall of Fame does with the tricky case of Roberto Alomar if the worst is found to be true.

If Alomar did knowingly have unprotected sex while HIV-positive or with AIDS, he will likely find himself in huge trouble and the Hall of Fame may have a difficult decision to make.

Source:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/wife_takes_hack_at_alomar_MKZ4Wx7vUF2lX78MHe859O