Until recently, players elected to the Hall of Fame could choose which team they wanted to be affiliated with when enshrined. The HOF changed that rule when it realized that teams (read: the Tampa Bay Devil Rays) could offer inducements (read: money) to players (read: Wade Boggs) to show off their hat during the ceremony and for the hat and head to be forged together, forever, in bronze.

Players tend to dig the old rule: Reggie Jackson wanted to wear his Yankee cap in, and he did. Roger Clemens wants to do the same. But what if the hat was decided primarily on merit -- on-field achievement -- instead of on sentimentality?

Clemens is not the first with a dome-piece dilemma, listed are some past players with similar quandaries:

	Don't forget that Reggie was Mr. October in Oakland, too.

Reggie Jackson (A's or Yankees?)
In terms of pure service, Reggie was an A. He played eight full seasons in Oakland, and even 35 games in his first season, when the A's were still in Kansas City. With the A's, he was a six-time All Star, the 1973 AL MVP, the 1973 World Series MVP, and even one of the top 10 AL base stealers three years. He was the star of the great A's team that won three straight World Series, a feat that the Yankees couldn't duplicate even when Reggie was there to stir. Sure, Reggie's fame was greatly amplified when he hit the Big Apple, and sure, he was Mr. October for the Yankees (he was no slouch for the A's in October, either). The HOF put him in as a Yankee, but we'd give the edge to the Oakland cap. A slight edge.

Dave Winfield (Padres or Yankees?)
Winfield played his first 7 1/2 years with the Padres, and went to the Yankees in 1981, when he was in his prime. No question about it: Winfield's best years were with the Yankees, with whom he was a perennial All Star, MVP candidate, 100+ RBI man, Gold Glover, and so on. But the young Winfield was an excellent player who led the Padres out of the expansion wilderness and helped make San Diego a decent ballclub. Add in his bitter feud with George Steinbrenner, which lasted throughout his tenure in New York, and you've got a guy who's wearing the right cap on his HOF plaque -- that of the Padres.

Frank Robinson (Reds or Orioles?)
On his plaque at Cooperstown, Robinson sports an Orioles cap. Robinson began his career with the Reds, and played 10 great years in Cincy. In 1956, he was Rookie of the Year. In 1961, he was NL MVP. His only Gold Glove came with the Reds, in 1958. But with the Orioles, he really bloomed. His first season in Baltimore, 1966, he won the triple crown, was named AL MVP, and was World Series MVP as the O's swept the Dodgers in four straight. He played well in three more World Series with Baltimore, which included one more win, against the Reds in 1971. Or course, you could make a decent argument for putting him in the Hall with an Indians cap -- it was with Cleveland, in 1975, that he became the first African-American to manage a Major League team.

	Maybe the Ryan Express forgot about his other stops.

Nolan Ryan (Angels or Astros or Rangers?)
Why's Ryan wearing a Rangers cap on his HOF plaque? It certainly doesn't have anything to do with performance. Ryan's first season with the Rangers came when he was 42 years old, and as good as he was with the Rangers, even without taking his age into consideration, he was much more valuable, and effective, with both the Angels, for whom he pitched eight seasons (1972-1979) and the Astros, for whom he pitched nine years (1980-1988).

With the Angels and Astros, he was an All Star seven times. With the Rangers, only once.

With the Astros, he led the NL in ERA twice. With the Rangers, never. with the Angels, never. His only World Series appearance was with the Mets, in 1969; he never played in the postseason for the Rangers. And so on. Overall, the real question should have been, Angels or Astros? And the clear edge goes to the Houston cap. Ryan played more years there, and has his two best seasons with the Astros.

Catfish Hunter (A's or Yankees?)
Catfish went into the Hall as one of those rare birds without a logo on his hat. But if there had been a logo, it should have been an A. Hunter won 161 games during his 10 seasons with the A's, and 63 in four-plus seasons with the Yankees, who picked him up as a free agent in 1975. His postseason performances with the A's were superior -- he pitched seven World Series games for Oakland, and five for New York. His only Cy Young award came in 1974, with the A's. For the Yankees, he had only one truly superb season, in 1975, when he pitched a career high 318 innings and had a 2.58 ERA.

	Hunter's solution when he knew he couldn't go in as a Yankee? Go in blank.

Gary Carter (Expos or Mets?)
The Hall of Fame made the right call. Even though Carter said he wanted to go in as a Met, the fact is that he played 10 full seasons for the Expos, and only 4 1/2 for the Mets. Even more important, his years in Montreal were far better -- he caught far more games per season, won three Gold Gloves, and was better with the bat in just about every category. Carter even stole more bases with the Expos, and got hit by pitches more frequently. Really, Carter had one great glorious year with the Mets -- 1986 -- but his truly great times were up north.

Carlton Fisk (White Sox or Red Sox?)
Fisk chose to go in wearing a Red Sox cap. Objectively, though, this one's a tossup. Fisk played nine full seasons with Boston, 12 full seasons with the White Sox. Seven times he was selected to the All Star team with the Red Sox; four times with the White Sox. Statistically, he was among the league leaders in batting categories often with the Red Sox, much less often with the White Sox. But those 13 seasons in Chicago created the Fisk legend, as he was still catching when he was 45 years old.

Lefty Grove (A's or Red Sox?), Mickey Cochrane (A's or Tigers?), Jimmie Foxx (A's or Red Sox?)
All three of these guys had their best years with the Philadelphia Athletics, but all were offloaded by skinflint Connie Mack. Mack sold Grove to Boston and Cochrane to Detroit after the 1933 season; he sold Grove to the Red Sox in the winter of 1935. The three played together on the A's teams that won the World Series in 1929 and 1930, and lost in a seven-game series to the Cards in 1931. Mack decimated a great team, and the players' feelings about Mack must have been reflected in their choice of HOF cap -- none chose to be inducted as an Athletic.

	A guy who grew up in New Hampshire can't go in the Hall with a Chicago cap.

Rickey Henderson (A's or Yankees?)
Rickey seems like the ultimate baseball vagabond -- he's gone from Oakland to New York (Yankees), back to Oakland, off to Toronto, back to Oakland again, to San Diego, to Anaheim, back to Oakland again, back to New York (Mets), off to Seattle, back to San Diego, off to Boston. But when you add it all up, Henderson's played 13 of his 24 seasons in Oakland. He won one of his two World Series rings with the A's; his other ring came with the Blue Jays, for whom he played only 44 regular season games. And Rickey's MVP year, in 1990, was with Oakland. Henderson should go in wearing the green and gold.

Roger Clemens (Red Sox or Yankees?)
Clemens had more great years in Boston than anywhere else, and in our collective mind-picture, he's wearing a Red Sox uni. Clemens is mad at one man -- former Red Sox GM Dan Duquette -- and he's unfairly taking it out on the entire Red Sox franchise and all Boston fans.

Clemens played 13 seasons for the Red Sox. He won three Cy Young awards in Boston. He won his only MVP award, in 1986, as a member of the Red Sox. Eight times he's been named to the All Star team; five of those times, he was wearing a Red Sox uniform.

A boycott? The Hall of Fame shouldn't give in to the Clemens threat. His five fine years in Pinstripes pale in comparison to his run in Boston.