With Barry Bonds (as of Thursday) just four homers away from tying the all-time home run record, more steroid talk will come out of every single 168-hour sports outlet, and at some point, you tire of it. There really aren’t many arguments to make at this point—the guy will have the record, and you either leave him in or out of the Hall of Fame. The same goes with the annoying Sammy Sosa discussion. Some let him in, and McGwire out. It really doesn’t make much sense, but we’re probably far from hearing the end of it.

With all of that said, there have been some really good players that have played in this particular era that have not been associated much with all of the steroid talk. Does that mean that they are all clean? Of course not, but the Top 7 would like to point out the best of those guys that are out there. Only guys with 10+ years of experience made the cut here, hence no Pujols.

7. Tom Glavine
Sometime in the next month or so, he will get his 300th win and receive a lot of media attention. Since he reached the 300-level, none of it will regard discussion on whether he is Hall-worthy or not. But he was in long before that. He has been one of the top three most consistent pitchers in the last 25 years, while simultaneously being the most frustrating guy to watch pitch against your favorite team (“GOOD GOD! THROW A PITCH INSIDE!”)

6. Vladimir Guerrero
Not only are this guy’s numbers simply amazing every single year that he has been in the league (and this is his 10th full season), but he is one of those rare cases where fans who watch him all of the time have story after story of inhuman things that he does on a regular basis, like hit 98 mph fastballs over his head for opposite-field homers, or throw a 100 mph rocket from right field to nail a guy at third base. He will probably only move up the list as he continues his destruction.

5. Alex Rodriguez
I include him here only because of the insane amount of criticism that he takes, mostly from people in the town that he plays in, about not being a “true Yankee” and not performing in the postseason. The latter part is true the last couple of years, but he has had years where he has mashed in the playoffs. I’m looking forward to the time that he hits seven homers in October and columnists across the country look for some magical solution that he found to his “postseason demons,” rather than simply saying that one of the greatest players of all-time got hot when it mattered most.

4. Craig Biggio
Biggio is going to continue to be a hot Hall of Fame topic over the next few years, because there are two separate arguments. The first one—those who say that he was never an upper-tier player and shouldn’t be in against those who believe that being able to last 20 years and accumulate milestone numbers is worth selection. The other one—sabermetricians who believe that he WAS an upper-tier player for a long time against portions of both of the previous groups. Personally, I think he is a Hall of Famer, and I am also for both of the previous arguments—at least it’s something to discuss other than steroids.

3. Greg Maddux
His streak of 15 or more wins 17 consecutive seasons has to be the most incredible of any in this era. Hell, he won 13 and 15 the following two years, so the streak could still be called 13 or more wins 19 years in a row. That’s mind-blowing, looking-at-Cy-Young’s-stats-and-wondering-how-the-hell-he-did-that level amazing. The craziest part is that he is still an effective major league pitcher, so he could Satchel Paige it and have five more seasons. Of all of the players on this list, his Baseball Reference page is probably the most fun to look at.

2. Frank Thomas
In his first seven seasons, he never hit less than .300, and always had at least 24 homers, 100 RBI, 100 runs, and 100 walks. He won two MVPs during that span also. He has had two times in his career where it looked like he was fading, injured, or both, and has come back to still be one of the better hitters in the league. In fact, he is one of the better hitters of all-time, and there should be no discussion as to whether or not he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

1. Ken Griffey Jr.
If only he and Bonds had traded 2000s, we wouldn’t have to hear much of this. Griffey was voted player of the decade of the 90s (although Bonds could have easily had that one too), but then injuries took a big chunk out of the monstrous numbers that he could have accumulated. Thankfully, a resurgence in 2007, cracking into the top six all-time in homers, and probably getting to 600 by the end of the year reminds people that Griffey is easily the best non-steroid-accused position player of the era—and it’s probably not even close.

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The Top 7 is written by Jason Major. He's ranked #1 in the Twinki Era. Email him at jason@joesportsfan.com