Gary Peterson

Bud Selig’s grand ideas have a lot in common with clay pigeons. Which is to say, they tend to be vaporized by incoming artillery before they have a chance to show whether or not they can fly.

So it has gone with his plan to investigate steroid use in baseball, starting with the period 2002 to the present. The words were barely out of his mouth before they were subjected to weapons-grade ridicule.

Now as a wise man — quite possibly Yogi Berra — once said: Be as critical as you want, as long as you’re fair. Maybe it’s not entirely fair to dismiss Selig’s folly — um, investigation — out of hand without considering the benefits it might bring baseball.

We’ll start with this: Perhaps information gathered in this investigation will provide clarity to Hall of Fame voters in coming years.

That voting is never easy. It is about to become infinitely more complicated, starting next December when Mark McGwire, his 583 career home runs and his aversion to yesteryear hit the ballot. He’s a lock if you go by the math. But voters like to tell you it’s about more than math.

In McGwire’s case, it’s how a voter feels about steroids and the likelihood that McGwire used them to enhance his already prodigious physical gifts. As we speak, that’s something of a judgment call.

MLB STEROID INVESTIGATION      Ventre: Elite players should speak out MLB launches probe of Bonds, others Celizic: Culture of cheating hurting baseball Commentary: Selig simply trying to save face Ventre: Hey, Barry, try saying you’re sorry Commentary: Stain of era will tar Bonds In Mitchell, MLB gets global troubleshooter Giambi: No regrets | Torre: Ask everyone Conte says new book ‘full of outright lies’ Risk of steroids |   Discuss | Vote: Probe OK? The 700 Club | Full section on Bonds

It’s not just McGwire. Jose Canseco will be on the next ballot as well. (Don’t laugh — Johnny Mize, Ralph Kiner, Duke Snider and Orlando Cepeda all got in with fewer homers and RBI than Canseco). And while Canseco spilled prodigiously in the book he released last spring, there’s always the chance he’s still hiding something which, if brought to light, might affect his candidacy.

Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa come due after the 2010 season. The ballots between ‘06 and ‘10 (and those beyond) will be sprinkled with players whose statistics can (and perhaps ought to) be viewed with one eyebrow arched.

If the George Mitchell-led investigation turns up dirt on (hypothetically speaking) Brady Anderson, that might help bring the 2007 ballot into clearer focus. If, on the other hand, Mitchell, despite heroic efforts, can find nothing on (hypothetically) Andy Abad, that might clear a voter’s mind as he peruses the ballot in 2009.

(And it would not in any way have anything to do with the fact that Abad concluded his career with the Boston Red Sox, the team for which Mitchell currently serves as a director. It wouldn’t, it wouldn’t, it wouldn’t — Selig has promised us this.)