Roberto Alomar Named To Baseball Hall Of Fame Despite HIV-Related Accusations

Superstar second baseman Roberto Alomar was elected to the Baseball Hall Of Fame today, surprising some observers who had predicted that the retired ballplayer's HIV-lawsuit peppered past would keep him from the sport's greatest honor. In October 2010, Alomar's estranged wife filed a lawsuit claiming he had unprotected sex with her even though he knows he is HIV-positive. In 2009 a former girlfriend sued Alomar on similar grounds, claiming that he told her he was raped by two Mexican men at the age of 17 after playing in a baseball game in a southwest U.S. state. The ex-girlfriend said that she stayed with him for almost three years after his 2006 positive HIV test, but that she no longer had unprotected sex with him after that. Alomar settled the girlfriend's $15M lawsuit out of court for an undisclosed amount. His wife's lawsuit is still pending. Neither woman has reported being infected and Alomar continues to avow that he is not HIV-positive. He retired from baseball in 2005, citing health issues.

Wife Of Former Mets Player Roberto Alomar Sues Over HIV Exposure

The wife of former New York Mets second baseman Roberto Alomar has filed a lawsuit claiming he had unprotected sex with her even though he knows he is HIV-positive. A former girlfriend of Alomar filed a $15M suit on the same grounds last year. Alomar settled that case out of court.

"Prior to the marriage" in 2009, the suit says, Alomar assured his wife "he had been tested for sexually transmitted diseases and the tests were negative." At some point after their wedding, she discovered that wasn't true, the filing says. She "learned from conclusive proof" that he was HIV-positive, the court papers say. The discovery caused her to "suffer extreme emotional distress, fear and mental anguish," the filing says. She has "not contracted the virus to date but uncertainty still exists due to the delay in the onset of the virus." Lawyers for the Alomars did not return calls for comment. Rivera's filing says she wouldn't have agreed to "marry him if she had known of his true physical condition."

Alomar's wife, who had once denounced the claims of the former girlfriend as "vile lies" says she now wants a divorce. Alomar has consistently denied that he is HIV-positive. He became eligible for the Baseball Hall Of Fame this year, but narrowly missed induction. Some sports writers have speculated that the HIV issue may have cost him that honor as many consider him to be have been the greatest second baseman in the history of the sport. He remain eligible until 2024.