Let the judgments begin.

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa are on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for the first time.

If there was a Mount Rushmore for baseball’s steroid era, that trio would join Mark McGwire in comprising it.

Despite hitting 583 career home runs — including 49 with Oakland his rookie year while he was skinny as a rail — McGwire has never garnered more than 24 percent of the vote.

It takes at least 75 percent to get in.

If that’s any indication, Bonds, Clemens and Sosa have virtually no chance of induction.

One can lump Sosa — who drilled 609 home runs — with McGwire as power hitters who inflated their numbers using PEDs.

How much were they inflated?

No one will ever know. That science is way too inexact. Maybe the PEDs added 200 home runs to their numbers. Maybe they added 10.

If the suspicion is enough to keep them from becoming Hall of Famers, so be it. But that duo put on a home run race 14 years ago that brought back alienated fans from the 1994 work stoppage.

If power hitters like Tony Perez and Orlando Cepeda belong in the Hall, so do McGwire and Sosa.

Again, that’s up for debate.

With Bonds and Clemens, there should be no debate.

Put them in.

You can hate on both guys as much as you want.

Put them in.

With or without steroids, Bonds and Clemens were more than two dominant players of their time. They were two of the dominant players of all time.

Forget about Bonds’ 762 home runs if you must. The man won seven Most Valuable Player Awards. He won a batting title late in his career. He was intentionally walked more often than any player ever.

Arguably, he was the most feared hitter who ever lived.

Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards. He won 354 games. He struck out 20 batters in a game when he was young. He blew the ball past hitters a whole lot of times for a whole lot of years.

In the case of both guys, do you really think using steroids accomplished all of that?

Really?

And if you do believe it, why didn’t any of the other dozens of users during the steroid era put up similar numbers?

Simple answer. They weren’t as good.

Bonds and Clemens may have been questionable personalities off the field, but they were incredible baseball players on the field.

They belong in the Hall of Fame.

The fact MLB’s all-time hit leader has not been granted eligibility for the Hall is bad enough. Are we actually going to keep the game’s home run king and one of its most productive power pitchers out, too?

Hall of Fames acknowledge rare talents. Bonds and Clemens were rare talents.

Acknowledge it.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle.