Over the weekend, Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal said slugger Mark McGwire deserves a plaque in Cooperstown based on his home run prowess. The former Giants' star, the only Dominican in the Hall, implied the Veterans Committee will take care of business. "Big Mac will be chosen for the Hall of Fame," Marichal told a crowd at a celebrity golf tournament.

But does McGwire deserve the honor based on his numbers? A case can be made that McGwire was a one-dimensional player who made his name hitting home runs and did little else. To his credit, McGwire drew 1,317 walks over his 16 seasons in the majors, but his 1,626 career hits and 252 doubles aren't inspiring totals. Among all the major league players who are in the Hall of Fame and began their careers after the dead ball era, only five members have posted fewer hits and doubles than McGwire:

Roy Campanella
Larry Doby
Monte Irvin
Ralph Kiner
Phil Rizzuto

Doby, Campanella and Irvin all starred in the Negro Leagues before getting a chance to play in the majors. Doby was just 23 when he became a regular for Cleveland, but he already had established himself as a Negro Leagues star in four seasons with the Newark Eagles. Despite less than a dozen full seasons in the majors, Doby would have passed McGwire in both categories with one more year in the big leagues. Campanella spent seven years with the Baltimore Elite Giants before surfacing with the Dodgers at age 26. His career was shortened by a tragic auto accident that left him paralyzed. Irvin was 30 when he joined the Giants after an impressive career with the Newark club. He spent seven-and-a-half years with the Giants and Cubs. Rizutto is one of a number of weaker-hitting Hall members who made their name as middle infielders, but he is the only one with fewer hits and doubles than Big Mac.

Two more Hall of Famers, Chick Hafey and Jackie Robinson, had fewer hits than McGwire, but more doubles. Robinson, of course, also starred in the Negro Leagues before playing 10 seasons with the Dodgers.

Although McGwire averages more homers and RBIs per game over his career than the Hall of Famers who also hit roughly 550-600 home runs, such as Mike Schmidt, Harmon Killebrew, Frank Robinson and Reggie Jackson, he also played in a far more hitter-friendly era, known for smaller ballparks and watered-down pitching after two rounds of expansion that pushed the number of teams to 30. Robinson and Killebrew played most of their careers in one of the more pitcher-friendly eras of the game.

McGwire's numbers alone should be the source of heated debate concerning his Hall of Fame credentials. The truth is, though, whether writers believe he used steroids will be at the core of discussions of his Hall worthiness. It's an issue that McGwire must come out on top with the baseball writers who vote for induction. If Marichal believes the Veterans Committee -- made up of all living Hall of Famers -- will usher McGwire into the Hall, that seems delusional. . . at least while Marichal and his generation are still around to vote.

The Veterans Committee hasn't elected anyone to the Hall in two rounds of balloting since the committee makeup was changed to include all Hall members a few years ago. Solid candidates such as Ron Santo, Tony Oliva, Gil Hodges and Jim Kaat haven't been able to garner enough votes, and it seems unlikely a Veterans Committee made up almost exclusively of players who played prior to 1990 will elect anyone it believes used steroids.