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)

"How do we know how many homers to subtract [from his totals]?" Hummel said. "He was always a home run hitter, even as a rookie."

Hummel, having discussed the steroids issue extensively with peers, said he believes McGwire will fall well short this year of the 75 percent threshold required for election to the Hall.

Voters have never been previously forced to consider such a controversial figure. Pete Rose, whom Major League Baseball banned from the game in 1989 for gambling on baseball, has never appeared on a ballot because of the ban. The same holds true for "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and other members of the 1919 "Black Sox."

"If anybody from this 'steroids era' gets in," Palmer said, "it seems to me you'd have to go back and take a hard look at Pete."

MLB has not taken any similar permanent action against steroids users. In March, Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig launched an investigation, headed by former Senate majority leader George Mitchell, into steroid use in baseball, although Selig has not said what he would do with information gleaned from the investigation.

To date, the Hall of Fame itself has not entered the steroids debate, but a policy could be forthcoming. Its board of directors met Saturday afternoon, but neither Petrosky nor Joe Morgan, a Hall of Fame second baseman (1990) and vice chairman of the board, would comment about the possibility of formulating a policy to deal with steroids users in future years.

"We do not have a policy right now," Petrosky said.

Barring anything unforeseen, then, McGwire's candidacy places the responsibility for judging the effects of steroids on the highest level of the game -- and the underlying question of morality -- firmly in the hands of the writers.

"It's an uncomfortable position for baseball writers to be in -- being essentially the judge and jury," said the Globe's Edes. "I dread these next few years and having to make those kinds of calls."