Steroids Scandal on Deck For Baseball Hall Voters

Former relief pitcher Bruce Sutter, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame today, stands next to a photo of himself in Cooperstown, N.Y. (By Jim Mcisaac -- Getty Images)

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y., July 29 -- They play golf and drink cocktails and tell old stories and sign autographs for the thousands of pilgrims who come to worship them, the living Hall of Famers who converge here for one weekend every summer at the place that represents baseball in its purest incarnation. On Sunday afternoon, in a public ceremony on the outskirts of town, the ranks of their exclusive fraternity will be joined by former relief pitcher Bruce Sutter and, posthumously, 17 former players and executives from the Negro leagues.

And when the ceremony ends, so will the Baseball Hall of Fame's era of innocence. Once the last speech is given, the giant stage is disassembled and the tens of thousands of fans go home, the focus shifts to the next election, in December.

And with the next election, everything changes.

The first wave of players tainted by baseball's steroids scandal hits the ballot this winter, when admitted users Jose Canseco and Ken Caminiti, and more significantly, legendary slugger Mark McGwire -- whose ties to the scandal are less defined -- become eligible following the requisite five years of retirement.

And so, the controversy that has dominated the discourse around virtually every other aspect of professional baseball for the past few years will finally reach the hallowed halls of Cooperstown -- a realization that lurks in the backs of minds here, even as the current Hall of Famers and the fans enjoy the last induction weekend untainted by the steroids debate.

"Everybody knows it's coming," said Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller, a 1962 inductee. "Some people would be upset [if McGwire is elected]. I obviously wouldn't like it. That would be very damaging to the Hall of Fame."

Caminiti and Canseco likely do not have the body of work to gain serious consideration by voters, but McGwire, the owner of 583 career homers, almost certainly will be the first litmus test of the so-called "Steroids Era" for Hall of Fame voters -- 10-year members of the Baseball Writers Association of America -- who, in later years, will also have to consider players such as Barry Bonds and Rafael Palmeiro.

"Next year's ballot will be a pretty good bellwether about how writers feel about this issue," said Dale Petrosky, president of the Hall of Fame. "A lot of people believe we are going to know a lot more information [about steroids] in a few years. But until anything is proven, the baseball writers are going to have to look into their souls and ask, 'Does this guy belong in the Hall or not?' and, 'How did he get there?' "

Said Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg, who was inducted last year: "I'm interested to see how the writers will vote. They have a chance to make a point that needs to be made about what [the Hall] represents. They are supposed to consider integrity and character [as criteria for judging a player's worthiness]. I hope they do that."

McGwire has never been proven to be a steroids user. However, circumstantial evidence has linked him to the scandal, and his testimony in March 2005 before the House Government Reform Committee -- during which McGwire repeatedly deflected questions by saying, "I'm not here to talk about the past" -- was damaging to his reputation.

"I don't recall Mark McGwire ever testing positive," said Hall of Fame third baseman Wade Boggs (class of 2005). "In America, you're not guilty until proven innocent -- it's the other way around."

However, Feller, when asked about the lack of hard evidence against McGwire, said, "I know a bum when I see one."