My 2013 Hall of Fame ballot

Associated Press photos

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa didn't get my vote.

Let's forgo pleasantries and cut immediately to the chase: There's no right answer to this year's Hall of Fame ballot.

Anyone who tries to tell you there's a right answer to the biggest conundrum since Cooperstown first opened its doors eight decades ago simply hasn't devoted enough time and consideration to this topic. Lord knows there are a whole lot of Hall of Fame voters plenty smarter than me who have spent days, weeks and months trying to find the right answer to this problem and have been unsuccessful. How am I to believe I'm capable of solving what they have not?

Barry Bonds. Roger Clemens. Sammy Sosa. Mike Piazza. All appeared on the ballot for the first time this year. All produced careers worthy of induction into the Hall of Fame. But all have been connected to varying degrees with steroids.

What is a voter -- members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America with at least 10 consecutive years of service -- to do? Place check marks next to each of those players' names based solely on their performance between the lines? Leave them out altogether

A controversial Hall of Fame ballot

US Presswire file photo

Barry Bonds will appear on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time.

The most noteworthy and controversial Hall of Fame ballot in history was released this afternoon, one that includes several of baseball's all-time bests, many of them linked to performance enhancing drugs.

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa are the three biggest first-time nominees on the 37-player ballot released by the Hall of Fame, with Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling and Craig Biggio also making their first appearances.

Members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America with at least 10 years of consecutive service -- there are approximately 600 who qualify -- must cast their ballots by Dec. 31. The results will be announced Jan. 9, with any player who receives at least 75 percent of the vote inducted into Cooperstown next July.

Astute baseball fans and media have long known the 2013 ballot would be a major spectacle, the combination of so many great