December 2012 is creeping closer, which means the world will either end thanks to the Mayan prediction on Dec. 21 or the release of baseball's apocalyptic 2013 Hall of Fame ballot a few weeks earlier. With the controversial slate of first-time eligibles that includes Barry Bonds, Rogers Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Mike Piazza, the smart money should almost certainly be on the latter. Without question, there will be no shortage of posturing and preening from every camp imaginable between now and next January's announcement of the next crop of inductees (if the world doesn't implode on itself for whatever reason first). What's more, it looks like Bonds officially kicked off the politicking himself before Monday's D-backs and Giants game at San Francisco's AT&T Park. While baseball's all-time home runs leader said he doesn't want to predict or analyze the outcome of that ballot, he's more than willing to editorialize on the possibility that he won't be taking a trip to rural New York in the summer of 2013. From CSN Bay Area :