Henning is an old school writer who sometimes makes controversial opinions to get people to read and discuss. I think the problem is that with social media, we don't need columnists anymore because any fool can make oddball opinions publicly now.
When you hear Henning talk about the Hall of Fame, something that he takes more seriously than a lot of voters, you can see that he knows a lot about the game. As a an avid fan of baseball history, I have always liked that about him.