It was March when Baltimore Orioles' slugger Rafael Palmeiro testified before Congress and had his Bill Clinton moment.

He took an oath, stared a congressional panel in the eyes, wagged his finger and said "I did not have relations with those steroids."

Actually he said "I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never."

But Palmeiro still belongs in the Hall of Fame. He currently has 569 home runs and 3,018 hits and will likely finish with more than 600 home runs and 3,200 to 3,300 hits.

While the Hall of Fame honors great baseball players, it is not a Hall of Saints. Except to the kids who adored him, Babe Ruth was no saint.

Ty Cobb was certainly not a saint.

The big shot sports writers need to quit using virtue as a standard for Hall of Fame voting or we're going to get very few deserving players into the Hall.

There is a big question of whether Palmeiro and others in this steroid mess who testified in front of the Congressional panel -- Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa -- belong in the Hall of Fame.

I think they should go to the Hall of Fame and there should not be any asterisks or phony stat lines in the record books.

But I don't have a vote.

We already have a list of deserving players who should be in the Hall of Fame who can't get in on their abilities and stats as it is -- relief pitchers Bruce Sutter, Lee Smith and Goose Gossage, starting pitchers Bert Blyleven, Jim Kaat and Jack Morris, Cincinatti Reds' shortstop Dave Concepcion and sluggers Dale Murphy, Jim Rice, Andre Dawson and yes Roger Maris.

Buck O'Neil, a star in the Negro Leagues, still isn't in the Hall of Fame.

They are being left out because of a whole bunch of silly reasons cited by so-called experts.

Palmeiro was suspended for 10 days under Major League Baseball's drug policy for a positive test for steroids.

Palmeiro claims that he unwittingly took something to cause a positive test for steroids.

"When I testified in front of Congress, I know that I was testifying under oath and I told the truth," Palmeiro said during a telephone conference call Monday set up by the Baltimore Orioles.

"Today I am telling the truth again that I did not do this intentionally or knowingly."

The New York Times and Associated Press reported Tuesday that Palmeiro tested positive for stanozolol, a powerful anabolic steroid not available in dietary supplements.

The report was posted late Tuesday on the Web site of The New York Times.

Stanozolol is known by the brand name Winstrol, most notably linked to the Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson of Canada, who was stripped of his 100-meter gold medal in 1988.

Did Palmeiro lie to Congress when he testified in March? It sounds like he did.

But did he commit perjury? Not according to the New York Times.

Palmeiro's test was taken some weeks after he testified before Congress in March, meaning he is probably not at risk for perjury, the Times reported.

Palmeiro is the seventh player to fall under baseball's new, tougher steroids policy.

Seattle Mariners right-hander Ryan Franklin became the eighth when he was also suspended 10 days for a violation Tuesday.

Palmeiro last month joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray as the only Major League Baseball players to accumulate 3,000 hits and 500 homers.

Until the suspension, Palmeiro was considered by most of the big shot sports reporters as a mortal lock for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The suspension has the hypocrites crawling out of the woodwork.

These people can swallow their indiginity and shame. Palmeiro has been suspended, his name is in the news for all the wrong reasons and he will lose a ton of money.

He is being punished by Major League Baseball.

There's no need to punish him further by keeping him out of the Hall of Fame.

John J. Mesh is the sports editor of the McCook (Neb.) Daily Gazette. He believes that some voters are more interested in keeping players out of the Baseball Hall of Fame for all sorts of silly reasons than they are in putting them in.

E-mail him at sports@mccookgazette.com.