Not as great: Assessing Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens without the PED factor

THIS IS IT for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, the end of the road on the steroid-driven debate about their Baseball Hall of Fame worthiness. Or unworthiness.

It's their last of 10 years of eligibility with voters from the Baseball Writers' Association of America, and ballots are due by the end of this month. If Bonds and Clemens don't get at least 75% of votes this time, they'll need election by a select committee to join legends like Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Cy Young, let alone their own contemporaries, superstars like Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson.

By the numbers, both would have been first-ballot Hall of Famers; Bonds for being among the greatest players to don a baseball uniform,…