Still glowing over his election to the Hall of Fame, Barry Larkin was asked about next year's sure-to-be-controversial vote: the first appearances of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa on the Cooperstown ballot.
"All I know is playing and competing against some of these guys, they're the best — period," Larkin said.
The Steroids Era will be the focal point of next year's Hall ballot, when 550-plus members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America will try to assess three of the most accomplished players in the sport's history.
For all the home runs and victories, the trio is tainted with accusations that their statistics were boosted by performance-enhancing drugs during a period when there were no agreed-upon penalties in baseball for the use of steroids and human growth hormone.
"It's going to be agonizing," Jack O'Connell, general secretary of the writers' association, said after Tuesday's news conference. He repeated the phrase for emphasis.
The writers haven't elected three candidates in one year since 1999 and haven't voted in four since 1955. Next year's ballot also includes first-time eligibles Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling and Craig Biggio, along with holdovers Jack Morris, Jeff Bagwell, Lee Smith and Tim Raines.
As Hall president Jeff Idelson pointed out, only 207 of the approximately 18,000 players who have appeared in the major leagues have earned induction to Cooperstown. Some voters will keep the doors locked on Steroids Era sluggers and Clemens — and even players only rumored to have used performance-enhancing drugs.
"I'm not going to vote for any of the people that are linked to steroids," said Hal Bodley, a former lead baseball writer for USA Today who now is with MLB.com. "I could change down the road, but that's the real strong feeling I have now. I have such a great passion for the game that anything that taints it in the least way, I have a problem with it."
Mark McGwire is 10th in career home runs with 583, and he held the season record with 70 before Bonds broke it. But McGwire hasn't come close to the 75 percent needed for election in his six appearances on the ballot.
He was between 21.9 and 23.7 percent his first four tries, then failed to reach 20 percent in the two votes since he admitted using steroids and human growth hormone.
"I think the museum is very comfortable with the decisions that the baseball writers make," said Jane Forbes Clark, the Hall of Fame chairman. "I don't see it as good or bad. I see it as part of what we do. I see it as we preserve the history of baseball, and it is part of the history of baseball. And so it's not a bad debate by any means."
Larkin, who will be inducted July 22 along with the late Ron Santo, was never accused of drug use. Asked whether he was tempted, he responded: "No. No. No."
With all the focus on steroids, Morris could be next year's big beneficiary.
Morris increased his total to 67 percent from 54 percent last year and has two more tries on the ballot before reaching the maximum 15.
The vote won't be all about steroids.
"He could be an alternative for people next year that might not want to vote for Clemens," O'Connell said. "I think Morris has every reason to be encouraged."
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