If you're a real baseball fan, then baseball season never truly ends.

Even when my team isn't in the big dance, I still enjoy watching (and attending) postseason baseball. Once the season draws to a close, the hot stove keeps me more than entertained. From the GM meetings, to the Winter Meetings, to the arbitration process, trades and free agent signings, I love it all.

With that being said, this time of the year is for the Baseball Hall of Fame. It used to be a time of the year that I enjoyed, but now it just gives me a headache. I went to Cooperstown, New York to see Ozzie Smith get inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002.

Around that same time, a close friend of mine, and diehard baseball fan, said that as a graduation present to ourselves, we would return to Cooperstown in 2007 to see Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Gwynn and Mark McGwire be inducted into the Hall of Fame together as first-ballot inductees.

As a kid, obviously, I had no idea what steroids were. I hit roof-balls because I drank my milk and got double lunch at school. Once the wild world of steroids came full circle within the baseball world, I realized that there would be a very slim chance that I would see McGwire enter the Hall with two of my idols growing up.

For me, the voting process was almost as exciting as induction weekend itself. I loved going over the numbers and making my own picks in computer class, when I should have been working on projects for that particular class. What once was a fun activity, has now become a headache.

I'm a big time American History buff, and when it comes to all the unexplained events of the JFK assassination, 9/11, Pearl Harbor, etc. (not that I'm comparing the magnitude of these tragedies to steroid use, but rather the frustration that comes from their unknown elements) I get that same frustration when trying to piece together what players are clean, and who are undeserving of Hall of Fame enshrinement.

Keep in mind, I don't even have a Hall of Fame vote, so I can't even imagine how frustrating it might be for the guys who actually do.

As far as who gets in for the 2011 class, try number fourteen for Bert Blyleven just may be the charm. Needing 75% for election, Blyleven tallied 74.2% of the Hall of Fame vote last year. However, his 287 wins, 3,701 strikeouts, which rank fifth all-time, 4,970 innings (14th all-time), and 60 career shutouts (9th all-time) should have had him inducted a long time ago.

Roberto Alomar racked up 73.7% in his first year of eligibility, but his infamous spitting incident likely kept him from attaining "first-ballot Hall of Famer" status. 2011 will be the year that the twelve-time All Star, and ten-time Gold Glove Award-winner joins the baseball immortals in Cooperstown.

Jack Morris is the next highest in terms of highest voting percentage from the previous ballot, but the extra 22.7% that he'd need to get into the Hall seems like too significant of a jump to make in just one year, especially after already being on the ballot for what will be his thirteenth year.

Barry Larkin picked up 51.6% of the vote in his first year of eligibility last year. He may not get the call in 2011, but his MVP, twelve All Star selections, and three Gold Gloves (all while losing out to may to Ozzie Smith) have me feeling pretty confident that he will end up in Cooperstown before he reaches fifteen years on the ballot.

Lee Smith is an interesting name. This will be his ninth year on the ballot, raking in 47.3% of the vote last year. This is a guy who would annually get a check mark from me. His 478 career saves may be 123 saves shy of the all-time record as of today, but when you retire as the all-time leader of anything in baseball history, I'd say that's Hall of Fame-worthy. Today, Smith is still third all-time behind Mariano Rivera, and Trevor Hoffman, who have saved 559 and 601 games respectively.

The same can be said for Edgar Martinez, who debuted with 36.2% of the vote in 2010. Martinez, who is highly regarded as the greatest designated hitter of all-time, and even has the award for the best DH annually handed out in his name, is the benchmark for future Hall of Fame hopefuls who made their mark as designated hitters. Martinez was a seven-time All Star, won two batting titles, and hit over .320 seven times. Most impressively, in a career that spanned 18 seasons, Martinez had a career on-base percentage of .418. He would get my vote.

Tim Raines is a guy who could gain steam and eventually sneak in during his latter years of eligibility. His 808 stolen bases rank fifth all-time, and a seven-time All Star. Though his career numbers are impressive, I'm not quite sure they are Hall of Fame-worthy. Sorry, Rock.

Mark McGwire is a guy who quite possibly may never get into the Hall of Fame, but will keep his head above water, and above the 5% needed to stay on the ballot. Other guys that fall into this same category, although not for the same reason as McGwire, are Alan Trammell, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, and Harold Baines. Fred McGriff is on the fence with me. A really good player, but I'm not quite sure he belongs with the greats.

For the first-time eligibles, some interesting names have entered the fray. And by "interesting," I mean "linked to performance enhancing drugs." Based on numbers alone, Rafael Palmeiro belongs in the Hall of Fame. Mix in some PED allegations, and it should make for an interesting first year on the HOF ballot. Same goes for Jeff Bagwell, who some believe isn't a Hall of Famer even without the speculation of PED use.

Interestingly enough, Bagwell has the second highest career WAR among all Hall of Fame eligibles on the 2011 ballot. Outside of Bagwell and Palmeiro, Larry Walker has the best shot at earning some votes as a first-ballot eligible. Will he get in? Not in his first year, but he does have an MVP, seven Gold Gloves and three batting titles on his resume.

I'm interested to see who, if anyone, gets elected this year aside from the obvious choices of Blyleven and Alomar. That being said, I'll go ahead and say what everyone else has been saying: It's going to be really interesting in two years when both Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds see their names appear on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time.

There's an induction weekend that I'd want to stay away from. I'd rather not see Doubleday Field get burned to the ground.

-Jared Carrabis