Sportsfrog.com

Mel Hall was a fan favorite, and stayed true to his Jheri Curl when most folks had abandoned the look. So it’s awful to hear that a guy you used to root for ended up in the gutter. It sucks worse when he is allegedly involved with 12 and 14 year-olds.

Two women have come forward to say that Mel Hall did some awful things to them when they were younger. Bad enough that he could face life behind bars. This is one of those situations where you just hope that, for the sake of all parties involved, it never really happened.

But then again, when you’re a kid (and Al Gore hasn’t invented the internet yet), maybe you don’t hear all the stuff about your heroes. Maybe some minor details don’t get widely reported. Like this from Baseball Library about Mr. Hall:

“He rented an upper-level apartment in Trump Tower and would often sally across town with two pet cougars in tow. He dated a 16-year-old, drove her to school in flashy cars and even attended her prom. All of this made quite an impression his teammates, especially the young two-sport star Deion Sanders, who later asked Hall to be the godfather of one of his children. The cougars were confiscated by the City of New York in 1990, and Hall was slapped with a $10,000 fine.”

What the … ? How can someone be sitting in the spotlight, be this batshit crazy and no one talks about it? Hall might as well have rented a billboard in Times Square: “Hi. I’m a grown man dating a teenage girl. I’m the best hitter on the New York Yankees. I drive her to high school in my flashy super-expensive car. If you say shit to me, one my cougars will bite you. Pay no attention to me. There is nothing strange to see here.”

This is why the internet exists.

P.S. Deion Sanders, your sense of good judgment never ceases to amaze me. Having a guy dating a 16 year-old girl serve as your child’s godfather is up there with your decision to record a rap album.