Fame Ballot

It won't be pretty Phil Rogers Chicago Tribune Tarnished as he is, Roger Clemens could find plenty of better things to do than what he will do this weekend — pitch for the Sugar Land Skeeters. It's unclear if Clemens wants this to be the start of an attempt to get back to the big leagues or just another way to keep busy, but either way the odds are stacked against him. I remember Jim Palmer trying to make a comeback with the Orioles long after he had retired. It was not a pretty thing to see. That's my guess on this Clemens comeback.

Bonds, Clemens snubbed Dan Connolly Baltimore Sun It's not surprising that no one received the needed 75 percent of BBWAA ballots. It's also not surprising that Craig Biggio, he of the 3,060 career hits for the Astros, was the highest vote-getter with 68.2 percent. What surprised me was that suspected performance-enhancing drug users Barry Bonds (36.2 percent) and Roger Clemens (37.6), arguably the two best players in the Steroid Era, were named on barely one-third of the ballots.

Morris, Twins reunited for 1 year, $3 millionJack Morris, whose inability to land a contract from Minnesota in 1986 became a symbol of collusion in baseball, benefited yesterday from the collusion ruling by jumping from the Detroit Tigers to the Twins as a new-look free agent.Morris, whose 162 victories in the 1980s led all major-league pitchers, agreed to a one-year contract worth $3 million. And he, not Minnesota, has options for 1992 and 1993 at $2 million a season.If Morris pitches 240 innings and makes 34 starts in each of the next two seasons, the contract would be worth $11 million over three years.

So good guys really do finish first. Former Minnesota Twins star Kirby Puckett realized one of his fondest wishes Tuesday when he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and it would be hard to find a baseball fan who wasn't pulling for him. Puckett had the numbers, though the tragic loss of vision in his right eye forced him to cut short his career after 12 seasons. He averaged 192 hits a season for those 12 years. He had more hits (2,040) in his first 10 calendar years than any other player in history.

NOTEworthy Day:Turf Valley owner Nick Mangione, continuing to improve golf facilities, is about to build another nine holes, which will give him three complete courses (54 holes). . . . If you're wondering whatever happened to Gus Gribben, former sportswriter of The Sun, he is a highly respected member of the Marquette University faculty. . . . Baseball needs to have its head examined because of the salaries teams are paying, but imagine the New York Yankees signing Spike Owen, a mediocre shortstop, with little offensive punch, for $7 million for three years; he couldn't shine Phil Rizzuto's shoes.

Boston Red Sox postseason hero Carlton Fisk was overshadowed by the star-studded Hall of Fame Class of 1999, but he could be at the head of the class when the results of this year's Hall of Fame election are announced today. Cincinnati Reds great Tony Perez has been waiting a long time, but there is no guarantee that his patience will be rewarded. Neither Fisk nor Perez is a lock to gain the 75 percent vote necessary for induction at Cooperstown, N.Y., this summer, but they clearly are at the top of the list of 30 players who graced the ballot that was delivered to the voting members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America last month.

Orioles second baseman Roberto Alomar maintains that umpire John Hirschbeck swore at him, escalating a confrontation that ended with Alomar spitting in Hirschbeck's face. Hirschbeck says he never cussed at Alomar.The last time Hirschbeck umpired a series involving the Orioles, he charged into the clubhouse in a rage, screaming that he would kill Alomar. The night before, when the spitting incident took place, Alomar said he had lost respect for the umpire.What we have is a situation ripe for further disaster, a notorious history between player and umpire.

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Just a few miles up the interstate from where George Steinbrenner made his triumphant return from baseball's suspended list, Pete Rose's Baseball Cafe is filling up with the dinner crowd.The proprietor is sitting by himself in a booth, going over notes he has made for his radio show, which will air live from the restaurant in about 45 minutes. He is wearing a black parka and a teal blue and white cap with a zebra design, both bearing the logo "Hit King."Behind him, next to the bar, is a framed front page of the Cincinnati Enquirer from Sept.

The Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, which lists 26 candidates this year, is actually a series of choices that can be broken down into three categories:No-Brainers. (Players so obviously deserving that even a 6-year-old, or H. Wayne Huizenga, would know to vote for them.)No-Chancers. (Players who consider it an honor just to get nominated.)Hmmmmers. (Players who fall somewhere in between those two categories, meaning their candidacy is a worthy subject of debate.)This year's ballot, due later this week, is long on Hmmmmers.

OPINION: With 15 starters returning courtesy of Ron Vanderlinden and seven home games on his schedule, including one against mighty Troy State, Ralph Friedgen is set up to look real good in his first season as Maryland's football coach. Fact: Not to sound a discordant note, but the Ravens have one win in three tries against teams with winning records this season. (They're 4-4 against teams that are .500 or better.) Opinion: Oklahoma's Josh Heupel got my Heisman Trophy vote ahead of the winner, Florida State's Chris Weinke - not because Weinke is 28, but because Heupel played a much tougher schedule and showed tremendous leadership in leading the Sooners to a 12-0 season.