Mark McGwire's Hall of Fame candidacy looked drastically different in December of 2006, when he first appeared on the ballot, than it did when he retired following the 2001 season. The question now is whether the picture looks that much different in his second year of eligibility. McGwire, who retired as the No. 5 home run hitter of all time (he's now eighth), looked like a stone cold lock for immortality back when he called it a career. But by '06, the question of illegal performance-enhancing in drugs in baseball had become a front-burner issue, and McGwire was the first true casualty in Hall of Fame voting. "Big Mac" was named on 23.5 percent of ballots his first time around, ranking ninth among all candidates. It was more than enough to keep him on the ballot for another year, and he's the seventh-leading returning vote-getter on the '08 ballot. The Hall of Fame announcement will be made on Jan. 8.