This is all happening so fast.

George Steinbrenner died on July 13. It’s now November, and he is on a short list for the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

We were just getting used to the gross plaque honoring the Sun King of the Bronx. In the heady rush of deserved respect and understandable nostalgia, we need to slow down and evaluate the Boss.

First we need to remember that Steinbrenner narrowly escaped going to prison after pleading guilty to illegal campaign contributions and that he could have been barred from baseball forever after consorting with a lowlife gambler to discredit Dave Winfield, one of his own players.

Steinbrenner has been named to the eligible list of distinguished baseball people from the expansion era, 1973 on. He will be judged by a solid group of 16 executives, writers and former players.