Although the IRS has nailed only two Hall of FamersDuke Snider and Willie McCoveyalong with Pete Rose and Darryl Strawberry, there is a general feeling that the federal government can and might take down a significantly larger number of plaque-owners in Cooperstown before the smoke clears.

Have you noticed that prices of autographs at shows keep climbing? Inflation and everyday greed play a big part in the increases, but since Strawberry got caught, financial managers have been figuring the tax bite into their clients’ asking prices.

But I’m not going to name who’s the most powerful in the industry because it already has been done. According to new ratings by Pete Williams in Sports Card Trader, the title is shared by acting baseball commissioner Bud Selig and players association general counsel Donald Fehr, two men who didn’t even make the three previous annual listings.

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In leading major league baseball players and owners into the longest work stoppage in professional sports history, Fehr and Selig dealt a huge blow to a business already pummeled by declining sales and an eroding base, Williams said.

Rounding out the top five are James Beckett, whose publication is generally regarded as the bible for sports-card pricing; Judy Heeter, director of licensing for the Major League Baseball Players Association; William Bevins, president and CEO of Marvel Entertainment, which recently added SkyBox to its holdings after acquiring Fleer several years ago; and Donna Goldsmith, director and group manager of basketball cards for NBA Properties.

The top 10 also includes Ken Goldin, president, chairman and CEO of Score Board; Arthur Shorin, president of Topps; Bill Jemas, head of the trading card business at Marvel; Pat Allen, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NFL Players, Inc., the licensing arm of the NFL Players Association; and Jerry Meyer, the head of Pinnacle Brands, which recently acquired Action Packed.

Other interesting names that made the list are Michael Jordan (11); NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt (15), who wields tremendous power in the racing-card industry; player agents Scott Boras (17) and Leigh Steinberg and Jeff Moorad (tied for 19); along with pitcher Scott Sanderson (22), who has become a negotiating force in the MLB Players Association.