The Baseball Hall of Fame is considered the most storied shrine in all of sports and also the hardest for players to get voted into.
This year's ballot offers more questions and difficulty than usual, considering that steroid era players Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa are eligible for the first time. The results of the voting will be announced in January.
The entire 37-player ballot was released by the Baseball Writers' Association of America Hall of Fame on Wednesday and includes "24 newcomers plus 13 returning candidates." According to the release, "the 600-plus eligible voters have until Dec. 31 to return their ballots."
Apart form the most notable names, other first-year eligible players include Houston Astros second baseman Craig Biggio, New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza, pitcher Aaron Sele, pitcher David Wells and Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling,
Many of the players are eligible for the first time after finishing their careers in 2007.
Some of the holdovers from past ballots include pitcher Jack Morris, who received 66.7 percent of the vote last year, as well as "Jeff Bagwell (56.0%), Lee Smith (50.6%), Tim Raines (48.7%), Alan Trammell (36.8%), Edgar Martinez (36.5%), Fred McGriff (23.9%), Larry Walker (22.9%), Mark McGwire (19.5%), Don Mattingly (17.8%), Dale Murphy (14.5%), Rafael Palmeiro (12.6%) and Bernie Williams (9.6%)."
For a player to be enshrined in the Hall, he needs at least 75 percent of the vote from the writers. Last year former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin was the only player to be voted in.
Bonds, Clemens and Sosa have all put up considerable statistics and achievements throughout their careers, but all three have been tainted by accusations that they used steroids and performance enhancing drugs during their playing years.
Bonds is the all-time home run leader with 762 home runs and has amassed 1,996 RBIs, 2,227 runs and 2,935 hits in his career. Bonds hit .298 in his career and won seven National League MVP awards while playing in 14 All-Star games.
Clemens ranks ninth in all-time career wins with 354 and won seven Cy Young Awards while playing with the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros and New York Yankees. He struck out over 4,000 batters in his career and won the AL MVP in 1986.
Sosa is eighth in all-time home runs and won the NL MVP in 1998 while locked in a battle for the single-season home run record with Mark McGwire.
The merits of Clemens and Bonds have been marred by legal battles about their lying about steroid use, while Sosa was connected to performance enhancing drugs and was once caught using a corked bat.
The toughest part of the vote is up to the writers. Many feel that Clemens and Bonds should get in because their career achievements outweigh their time using drugs. On the other hand, many feel any use of steroids should mean exclusion from the Hall.
ESPNNewYork.com writer Ian O'Connor wrote about his thoughts on the ballot, including about Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell.
" But Bonds and Clemens, defining players of their generation, are in a different class. It's right there on the main page of the BBWAA site, where the Hall of Fame's voting body cites them as its most decorated players and makes no mention of needles or creams. So yeah, I'm willing to vote for the bad guys. But only if they're really, really good."
Curt Schilling, who is an analyst for ESPN, added his own opinion to the debate, saying what he would do if he had a vote"
"I wouldn't vote for them ever," Schilling told "SportsCenter" when asked about Bonds, Clemens and Sosa, according to ESPN.com. "Here's the thing, it generally goes this way with people who are caught doing stuff: You generally never catch someone on the first go-around. These guys to some degree or another in different cases cheated and in some cases cheated for a lengthy period of time."
Based on how writers have voted on players connected to performance enhancers in the past, all three players will have a lot to overcome to make it into the Hall. Mark McGwire received less than 24 percent of the vote in six tries, while Rafael Palmeiro has received a high of 12.6 percent in two years.
Here is the full list of first-time candidates from the Baseball Writers' Association of America:
"Candidates who are making their debut on the BBWAA ballot include: Sandy Alomar Jr., Craig Biggio, Barry Bonds, Jeff Cirillo, Royce Clayton, Roger Clemens, Jeff Conine, Steve Finley, Julio Franco, Shawn Green, Roberto Hernandez, Ryan Klesko, Kenny Lofton, Jose Mesa, Mike Piazza, Reggie Sanders, Curt Schilling, Aaron Sele, Sammy Sosa, Mike Stanton, Todd Walker, David Wells, Rondell White and Woody Williams."
