For all the tools we have to assess the careers of baseball's all-time greats, the Hall of Fame selection process is always going to be subjective. That's as it should be, because determining who becomes enshrined forever in Cooperstown is as much an art as a science.
I have very few qualms about the Hall's Classic Baseball Era Committee selecting Dave Parker and Dick Allen on Sunday. I would have written the same thing had any of the eight candidates under consideration been picked. All of them played a key part in baseball history, and their stories will not cheapen the Plaque Gallery one iota.