Good news, bad news

If you're a closer, Tuesday's Hall of Fame announcement was good and bad.

Goose Gossage got in. That's good. But names like Lee Smith continue to fall farther away from election, that's bad.

Baseball has become a game that worships the specialists. Left-handed specialists. Closers. Designated hitters. Late-inning defensive replacements. The list goes on.

The problem is, the Hall doesn't want to admit there has been a shift in the game's philosophy. So expect players like Smith to suffer from that.