The vote for the candidates on the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot is without a doubt historical because of two salient and unavoidable facts: One is that this year's ballot is overstuffed with potential Hall of Fame candidates—presenting an even bigger logjam to entrance to the Hall—and the other is that this year's vote is an inescapable referendum on the stance toward the "Steroids Era" as even more players active during the period of the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s implicated with performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) are newly eligible.

Note: Part 1 of this two-part series goes into detail—considerable detail—to examine both the overstuffed ballot and, more comprehensively, the atmosphere of moral dudgeon surrounding the suspected and admitted usage of PEDs by players on previous ballots and especially by players eligible for the Hall for the first time this year. If you want only to read the players' evaluations, skip to Part 2.

Every time a legendary athlete gets ready to hang his or her boots, there is someone already waiting on the sidelines to take over the number one spot. Sports is all about passion and talent, and there is a lot of it to be found around the world. Whether it is a personal accomplishment, the pride of the country, or money, individuals spend their lives, practising day and night, trying to achieve fame and fortune in sports. The diversity in games allows for the young and fit to make it rich before they even reach 25, but at the same time experience plays a huge role, and there are players well into their 30s and 40s making it big in Tennis, Football, Cricket, Swimming and the likes. In the end, it is as much about mental strength as it is about physical fitness that eventually leads an athlete into the hall of fame.

A look back at this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Selections.