Should popularity play a role?

Personally I am fine with the hall of fame considering popularity and character at the margins. Asking "is baseball better off because this guy played?" is a relevant question.

If someone was very popular- the favorite player of hundreds of thousands, or millions of fans, that matters. It matters if they let down some of those fans by gambling or cheating. And it matters if they didn't.

Because of the relative reach of the Superstation in the 1980s and because he was a great player for several years, I think Murphy may be one of the most popular players left out of the Fame besides those banned formally or informally for gambling or steroids.

Of course, you still have to draw a line somewhere and excellence should be weighed more than popularity or character. Bo Jackson was awesome, super popular, but unfortunately not a Hall of Famer because he just didn't get enough years in before the injury. But, back to back MVPs, 7 time all star, favorite of many, and overall credit to the game? Let him in.