updated 9:55 a.m. ET Nov. 28, 2006

NEW YORK - For one glorious summer, Mark McGwire was bigger than baseball itself. America stopped to watch each time he came to the plate, and cheered every time he sent a ball into orbit.

He could do no wrong, it seemed. Surely he would be a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame someday.

And then came that day on Capitol Hill. Over and over, the big slugger was asked about possible steroid use, and his reputation took hit after hit as he refused to answer, saying he wouldn’t talk about his past.

Now, with Hall ballots in the mail, McGwire’s path to baseball immortality may have hit a huge roadblock.

The Associated Press surveyed about 20 percent of eligible voters, and only one in four who gave an opinion plan to vote for McGwire this year. That’s far short of the 75 percent necessary to gain induction.

“There is a clause on the ballot indicating that character should be considered and after his nonperformance at the congressional hearings his character certainly comes into play,” said the Dayton Daily News’ Hal McCoy.

“He doesn’t want to talk about the past?” he said, “Then I don’t want to consider his past.”

The St. Louis Cardinals, McGwire’s last team, suggested calls for McGwire be left with his business manager, Jim Milner. A message left Monday at Milner’s office was not returned.

McGwire, who hit 583 career home runs, headlines the ballot released Monday along with Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn. Results will be announced in early January.

“Mark fits the criteria, just like everyone else,” Hall chairman Jane Forbes Clark said. “We’ve been very pleased with the judgment exercised by the writers over the past 70 years of voting.

“The ballot says a player’s record of achievement, contributions to the teams, the game, their character, longevity and sportsmanship should be considered. I think this year’s balloting will be interesting,” she said.

The AP contacted, via e-mails and telephone, about 150 of the approximately 575 present or former members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America who are eligible to cast ballots. Of that number, 125 responded, including 25 AP sports writers. Most of the voters’ names were obtained in the Major League Baseball media directory.

And the breakdown was:

• 74 will not vote for McGwire.
• 23 will vote for him.
• 16 are undecided.
• 5 refused to say.
• 5 aren’t allowed to vote by their employers.
• 2 will abstain from voting.

That means if all the undecideds and those refusing to say voted for McGwire, and everyone else voted, McGwire would need 84 percent of the rest to get into the Hall.

Chaz Scoggins of The Sun in Lowell, Mass., was among McGwire’s supporters.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Flying on the hardwood, racing on the rink, getting physical on the gridiron, and much more. more photos

“He wasn’t breaking any baseball rules during his career,” he said. “As for using performance-enhancing substances, the fact that so many pitchers have been detected using them kind of evens the playing field.”

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig wouldn’t address McGwire specifically, saying it was unclear how this generation of home run hitters will be judged.

“Time will tell. We’ll have to work our way through all of it,” he said Monday night. “All we can do realistically is take care of the present and the future.”

McGwire played in the majors from 1986-2001, the first 12 seasons with the Oakland Athletics and the rest with the Cardinals.

When he hit 70 homers in 1998 — breaking the mark of 61 Roger Maris had set 37 years earlier — McGwire became a national hero for his Paul Bunyan-like physique and feats. A year later, part of an interstate highway in St. Louis was named after McGwire. Large signs at both the current and previous Busch Stadium called attention to “Big Mac Land,” ads for McDonald’s referencing McGwire.

But his reputation plummeted following allegations by former teammate Jose Canseco, who claimed in a 2005 book and subsequent interviews that the Bash Brothers used steroids together while playing on the A’s.

And then came McGwire’s testimony to a congressional committee on March 17, 2005, when he repeatedly avoided questions, saying time after time: “I’m not here to talk about the past.”

That appearance and those allegations are still fresh in the minds of many voters.

“He won’t get my vote this year, next year or any year,” said the Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan.

When the AP conducted a survey of Hall voters during the week following McGwire’s testimony, 56 percent of the 117 voters who gave an opinion said they would support his induction.

Ballots will be mailed to voters this week and must be postmarked by Dec. 31. Results will be announced Jan. 9, and inductions will take place July 29.

Players who have appeared in 10 seasons and have been retired for five years are eligible for consideration by a six-member BBWAA screening committee, and a player goes on the ballot if he is supported by at least two screening committee members.

A player remains on the ballot for up to 15 elections as long as he gets 5 percent of the votes every year. McGwire appears to be in no danger of missing that mark.

MORE FROM BASEBALL

Baseball Section Front

Victor Zambrano's mother rescued in Venezuela   MLB blog: Mariners are bringing back Griffey ... why? Wainwright: Holliday wants to return to Cards Ex-Dodgers CEO responds in divorce battle Cuban ‘not on prowl’ for Dodgers, or any team Sosa’s skin undergoing color change Blyleven: Pitching to be had beyond Halladay Damon, Matsui and Pettitte all could return Yankees’ Jeter, Teixeira win Gold Gloves Baseball GMs pass on expanding instant replay Baseball Section Front   Add Baseball headlines to your news reader: