A North Dakota legislator is trying to muscle Roger Maris' 61-homer season back into baseball's record books, because of allegations that the three players who have surpassed him did so with help from illegal steroids.

"If these folks are on the juice, and I believe they're on the juice, then Roger should get his record back," said Sen. Joel Heitkamp, D-Hankinson.

Heitkamp is sponsoring a resolution that asks Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, to reinstate Maris' record of 61 home runs in 1961, when Maris was playing for the New York Yankees.

A spokesman for Major League Baseball did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

The North Dakota Senate's Education Committee, which reviewed the resolution Monday, took fewer than 20 minutes to recommend that the full Senate approve it. The Legislature's Republican and Democratic floor leaders are among the resolution's sponsors.

Maris, who was born in Hibbing, Minn., was a high school football star and American Legion baseball standout in Fargo, which has a museum displaying Maris memorabilia and a cancer treatment center named for him. Maris was buried in Fargo after his death from lymphoma in 1985.

His home run record stood until 1998, when St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire hit 70. Three years later, San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds surpassed McGwire, hitting 73 home runs.

In all, Bonds has beaten Maris' 61-homer record once, McGwire has surpassed it twice and Chicago Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa has bettered it three times. McGwire is now retired, and Sosa is beginning his first season with the Baltimore Orioles.

Bonds has denied knowingly using steroids. Sosa denied using them at a U.S. House hearing earlier this month. McGwire, who also spoke at the hearing, declined to address the subject directly.

Heitkamp said it is improbable that so many players would pass a long-standing record at one time without help from steroids, which are muscle-building drugs.

"The likelihood of this occurrence is so statistically remote as to tax the faith of any baseball fan," the resolution says.

Baseball is a game where so many fans like to discuss statistics, so maintaining a clean image is important, Heitkamp argued.

"Baseball fans are numbers freaks, and I'm a baseball fan, so I know that," he said. "In any sport where the fans dole out money for a game, they deserve to know whether athletes are using performance-enhancing drugs."

The resolution is SCR4040.

A list of major league baseball players who have hit 60 or more home runs in a season, and the season in which they did it.

Barry Bonds, 73 (2001)

Mark McGwire, 70 (1998)

Sammy Sosa, 66 (1998)

Mark McGwire, 65 (1999)

Sammy Sosa, 64 (2001)

Sammy Sosa, 63 (1999)

Roger Maris, 61 (1961)

Babe Ruth, 60 (1927)