Michael Forster Rothbart for The New York Times  Bill Conlin is not scheduled to lose his distinctive place at the Hall of Fame until he is replaced by the 2012 honoree, Bob Elliott of The Toronto Sun, in late July.  On its surface, the portrait of Bill Conlin, a longtime Philadelphia sports columnist now being honored by the Hall, is not much different from dozens of others depicting previous award-winning writers and broadcasters at the baseball temple in this quaint village that stands as a bucket-list destination for so many fans.  Yet a convergence of disturbing accusations directed at Conlin last month has given the display a solemn and unsettling subtext, and the reactions of some visitors underline the uncomfortable situation the Hall’s museum faces.  “A person is defined both by his or her profession and personal life,” said Janine Fiesta, a lawyer from Allentown, Pa., after touring the museum with members of her family last week and noting the tribute to Conlin. “I think he’s one of the best baseball writers out there. But seeing his photo there disconcerted me. I felt like it should not be there.  “The nature of what he is alleged to have done is just too offensive.”  Four people, including Conlin’s niece, came forward last month and accused him of molesting them when they were children more than three decades ago. Their detailed stories were recounted in an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Shortly thereafter, three more people emerged with similar allegations.  The accusations precipitated Conlin’s immediate resignation from The Philadelphia Daily News. Because of the statute of limitations in New Jersey, where Conlin’s accusers say they were molested, he is not expected to face criminal charges, and he has not publicly addressed the allegations. His lawyer said last week that he and Conlin were working to clear his name.  In the immediate aftermath of the allegations, questions were raised about whether the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, which voted Conlin the 2011 winner of the J. G. Taylor Spink award, might strip him of the honor, or whether the Hall of Fame, which traditionally features the most recent honoree in a special display, would remove his display from its walls. Since 1962, the award has been presented to one person annually for “meritorious contributions to baseball writing.”  Both organizations have indicated for now that Conlin’s status will remain unchanged, and barring any other developments, the museum will remain stuck in a quandary as the 2012 baseball season approaches and more families make the pilgrimage to Cooperstown.  Conlin, 77, is not scheduled to lose his distinctive place at the Hall until he is replaced by the 2012 honoree, Bob Elliott of The Toronto Sun, in conjunction with the annual induction ceremony in late July.  By then, thousands of additional people will have visited, many of them families with children and at least some of them encountering the tribute to Conlin.  The Hall of Fame refused to make its president, Jeff Idelson, available to discuss the issue. Several prominent baseball journalists declined to speak about Conlin on the record.  “Certainly the allegations are horrific and shocking,” Brad Horn, a spokesman for the Hall of Fame, said last week in an e-mail exchange about the status of the Conlin display. “Mr. Conlin was selected as the 2011 Spink Award recipient, and his inclusion in the ‘Scribes and Mikemen’ exhibit is for that reference alone.”  Some who encountered the tribute to Conlin were left to ponder the incongruity of it all.  One visitor, Erica Reisman of Cherry Hill, N.J., said that individuals should remain “innocent until proven guilty,” but that the exhibit had inevitably left her uneasy.  “It’s kind of creepy looking at him, if you know everything going on,” she said. “It sort of becomes like a mug shot.”  Her husband, Josh, said he found the circumstances unfortunate, particularly because their son Mike, 16, the founder of Phiting On, a blog that covers the Philadelphia Phillies, hoped to have a career as a sportswriter.  “What message does it send if they leave it up?” Josh Reisman said of the Conlin display.  Others who found the tribute to Conlin distasteful nonetheless felt assured that it would not have much of an effect on most visitors. In a museum devoted to larger-than-life athletes, journalists are a secondary attraction.  Many people filed past the exhibit without pausing to consider it. Some said they had never heard of Conlin or the scandal and thus were not jarred to see his face.
The columnist Bill Conlinâs prominent portrait in the Baseball Hall of Fameâs Scribes and Mikemen exhibit preceded accusations against him of child molesting.