Two Palmeiro sons, who look just like smaller versions of their dad, but without his mustache, sat on a bench nearby. The older one, asked how tall he is, didn't give feet and inches, but said, "I'm almost as tall as my dad." Papa Palmeiro said his children don't ask much about the accusations: "We don't focus on me. We focus on them. We talk about making sure their grades are good."

 But the reporters who surrounded Palmeiro that day would not change the subject. He wanted spring training to be about the spring. He spoke about his enjoyment, at age 40, in being back for another season: "Just to come out and smell the grass, with my sons here, and be out with all the guys ... it's a tremendous feeling." But then more questions about steroid use came, and the smile became forced: "I can't worry about those things. You just go on."

 Joining Palmeiro in the Orioles lineup this year is another slugger/suspect, Sammy Sosa: This will be the first time in Major League history that two players who have hit 500 homeruns -- a milestone for Hall of Fame entry -- are on the same team. Sosa, traded over the winter after gaining fame in Chicago, said in response to his round of steroid questions only: "I'm very happy here. I'm looking forward to the season." Ask anything else and, unsurprisingly, his eyes narrow.

 Some players have brought this questioning upon themselves, but many others are affected by it. Baseball needs to put the steroids era behind it by having and enforcing tough rules against all kinds of artificial advantages, so that spring can return.