Maris' mark has been surpassed six times since 1998, but baseball's steroids scandal has called the recent records into question.

''In North Dakota when we think something has been wrong, we try to make it right,'' said Sen. Joel Heitkamp, a Democrat who sponsored the resolution. ''And when it comes to Roger Maris, and when it comes to steroids, and when it comes to how people have taken this record away . . . that's not right.''

Maris grew up in Fargo, where he was a high school star in baseball and football.

State senators approved the measure 45-0. It now moves to the North Dakota House for additional review.

Mark McGwire broke Maris' record by hitting 70 home runs in 1998, when Sammy Sosa hit 66. In 2001, Barry Bonds broke McGwire's record with 73 home runs.

The resolution is being debated as Congress explores allegations of steroid use in baseball, spurred in part by Jose Canseco's book, which alleges the muscle-building drugs were used by several players in the late 1980s and '90s.

Juan Gon gone already

Juan Gonzalez couldn't even make it to opening day with the Cleveland Indians.

The 35-year-old slugger was placed on the 15-day disabled list Thursday by the Indians, who will go north to begin the 2005 season and leave the oft-injured outfielder behind in Florida to rehab his strained right hamstring.

Gonzalez has missed 301 of a possible 486 games the past three seasons with a variety of injuries, primarily to his back.

Roberts benched

Dave Roberts, the San Diego Padres' new center fielder and leadoff hitter, probably will start the season on the 15-day disabled list because of a lingering groin injury. Manager Bruce Bochy said Roberts will be re-evaluated today.

Best pitcher ever

It was 20 years ago today that Sports Illustrated ran one of its most celebrated articles, ''The Curious Case of Sidd Finch'' - in which George Plimpton crafted a 14-page expose on a bizarre, out-of-nowhere Mets phenom who fired baseballs at a stupefying 168 miles an hour.

The story was fiction for all but one person - Joe Berton, a gangly, 6-foot-4-inch Chicago junior high art teacher who modeled for all the pictures, and to this day is recognized by dreamy fans as the actual Sidd Finch.

Alas, the enchanting details of Plimpton's story were also its downfall. As word spread over several days that the first letters of the article's secondary headline read, ''Happy April Fools','' the jig was up.