The Summer of '98 was baseball's feel-good campaign, a fences-clearing, please-come-back valentine to a public that had been disillusioned by labor discord and escalating salaries.

It was a season-long home run derby replete with drama, chest-bumps, celebratory fireworks and, we were sure at the time, moments of record-setting lore that would be recounted from parents to children.

And, it was a fraud.

One that, with each passing revelation, reeks like, well, an Iranian election.

With the New York Times reporting that former Cubs' slugger Sammy Sosa was among those who failed Major League Baseball's first industry-wide test for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, the two pillars of that storied '98 home run chase, Sosa and Mark McGwire are tainted.

And so, too, is their record run. Sosa, the smiling author of the two-fingered salute, hit 66 home runs, pushing McGwire, who hit 70, to break Roger Maris' mark. For his role, Sosa was voted the National League Most Valuable Player.

McGwire has been the subject of scorn for some time, of course. Sosa had long been suspected. But now, Sosa, owner of 609 homers, sixth place on the all-time home run list and the only man to have three 60-home run seasons, joins him.

The same Sosa who assured a congressional committee in 2005, "To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs ... "

The same Sosa who ritually dismissed questions about chemical enhancements with quips about his Flintstones vitamins.

If you're counting — and it is hard not to — that is five of baseball's top 12 all-time home run leaders — Barry Bonds (762), Sosa (609), McGwire (583), Rafael Palmeiro (569) and Alex Rodriguez (562) — who have had their career's work besmirched by allegations of performance enhancing substances. Not to forget Manny Ramirez (533), Jose Canseco (462) and the rest. Together, they are the shamed face of baseball's steroid era, the cloud of which widens every month.

The perception of their dishonor comes with a price tag. Three times now McGwire has been passed over in Hall of Fame voting, falling far short. Sosa, who is due on the ballot in 2013, no doubt has a similar fate awaiting him.

Just this month, Sosa told ESPN Deportes he'll, "calmly wait for my induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame."

The latest revelations suggest it could — and should — be a long wait.