Major League Baseball

2005 Major League Baseball Team-by-Team Previews are in!!!!!! Click on your team's division on the left.

STEROID USERS DESERVE ASTERISKS?????

A lot has been made about the use of steroids by certain Major League Baseball players. Names such as Giambi, Bonds, Canseco, and McGwire have all been mentioned. Does this mean that all these players should have asterisks by their names in the record books? During the 2005 season, Barry Bonds should easily pass Babe Ruth for second on the all-time home run list, 714, and make a run at Hank Aaron’s record, 755. Since he has admitted to steroids, should there be an asterisk next to his name in the baseball record books? I think not.

Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt spoke up on the issue saying that, “There's a simple explanation why the home run totals are what they are, and the guys that are hitting would agree with me -- it's park size, hard baseballs and hard bats.” I have to agree with him. Looking at the size of the major league baseball parks now, you don’t see any with 450-foot walls in centerfield. We now see a 310-foot fence in left field at Houston’s Minute Maid Park.

Steroids can’t improve every part of a player’s game anyways. Even with the steroids the player still has to know how to hit a baseball and how to hit it well. I guarantee you that if the average person took steroids for an extended period of time and then picked up a baseball bat, they couldn’t hit a ball into McCovey Cove in San Francisco. But because Bonds can, he must be using steroids.

Barry Bonds is an extraordinary talent, and nobody can argue that. Right now, he is the most dominating player in the game of baseball. How much of that resulted from the use of steroids, we will never know. But we do know that he was a great player before the steroids.

This argument could continue on and on, and it possibly could. Bud Selig has already said, though, that there will not be any asterisks added to the record books. ``That would be unfair to do that. In fairness to those players, no one has been convicted of anything. And we can't turn history back.”

The statistics have come out about the percentage of positive steroid tests. After the 2003 season, the percentage was 5-7 percent. This past year, the percentage went down to 1-2. Selig has predicted that steroids will be eliminated from the game by the end of this season.

Steroids may have been part of the game in the past, and some of the records could have been partly a result of them. But as of now, it looks like no asterisks will be put in the record books alongside the names of players accused of using the illegal drugs.

BEST LINEUPS IN BASEBALL

When looking at the best lineups and baseball it is unfair to compare National League teams to American League teams. The American League has the designated hitter instead of the pitcher, which is what the National League has. So when you are deciding the best lineups in baseball you must separate it into the best lineups in the American League and the best lineups in the National League. Let’s start with the National League:

1. St. Louis Cardinals – With three players returning who each had 30 homers, 100 RBI’s, and 100 runs last year, it’s hard to argue that the St. Louis Cardinals do not have the best lineup in the National League. Although, this year they are not as far ahead of the other teams as they were. St. Louis features the power combo of Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, and Jim Edmonds. Hitting before those three is Larry Walker, who if healthy, is capable of producing a 30, 100, 100 season. The losses of Edgar Renteria, Tony Womack, and Mike Matheny do bring the Cardinals down, but they remain number one on this list.

2. Florida Marlins – Before the late addition of slugger Carlos Delgado, the Marlins lineup was a little above average. After they added him, the Marlins moved up to one of the elite lineups in all of baseball. When your middle of the order includes the names Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Delgado, and Mike Lowell, you have tons of power that strikes fear into the opposing pitcher. Not to be left out, the Marlins lead off their order with two speedsters in Juan Pierre and Luis Castillo. The combination of speed at the top of the order and power behind it, the Marlins sit right behind St. Louis in the National League.

3. Philadelphia Phillies – After two disappointing seasons people forget how good the Phillies lineup actually is. Philadelphia’s offense has two superstars who are poised for great years, Jim Thome and Bobby Abreu. Also, they have Pat Burrell who can be a great hitter at times but is known to go in severe slumps, as he did towards the end of last year. Setting the stage for those three will be Jimmy Rollins and, the veteran, Kenny Lofton. Both of those men feature great speed and should provide many opportunities for the big men to drive in runs. The only problem the Phillies have is that they strike out a ton. If they bring that down they could challenge for the best offense in the National League.

Now onto the American League where lineups differ enormously. Pitching to these teams can be a nightmare since the pitcher is not batting, as in the National League:

1. Boston Red Sox – Whenever you have a batting champ from two years ago batting in the nine hole of your lineup, it speaks loudly. A lineup that, last year led the American League in runs scored, improved itself during the offseason. They let Orlando Cabrera go during free agency and then signed Edgar Renteria, who was arguably the best shortstop in the National League. Every person in the Red Sox lineup had an on-base percentage of .370 last year. The leadoff hitter, Johnny Damon, starts the lineup off as Renteria, and sluggers, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz follow. The Red Sox take advantage of their ballpark as their lineup features several left-handed hitters who can hit to all fields. With this, the Red Sox take the top spot in the American League.

2. New York Yankees – Once again the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees are competing against each other. This time it’s for the best lineup in the American League, and Boston won. But New York comes in at second. The New York offense has been the talk of the offseason after everything came out about Jason Giambi and steroids. This year Giambi will be back in the lineup. If you took one glance at this Yankees lineup, it appears as if they have an all-star team. The problem is that these “all-stars” are becoming very old. Giambi, Tino Martinez, and Tony Womack are all coming to the end of their careers and they don’t produce as they used to. But whenever you have Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, and Hideki Matsui in your lineup, it’s potent, which is why they come in at number 2.

3. Anaheim Angels – Two words: Vladimir Guerrero. Currently he is the best player in the American League and he showed how good he is last year, in his first season with the Angels. The Angels surround Guerrero with Garrett Anderson, who should provide a good source of power after his injury last year, and Steve Finley, who has proved that he is capable of putting up great numbers. The Angels have Dallas McPherson up from the Minor Leagues this year and he had excellent numbers last year. Whether or not he is going to be able to do that against Major League pitching is yet to be seen. They did lose some pop though, when Troy Glaus was not resigned in the offseason. The Angels definitely have the potential to have one of the top lineups in the American League, but for now they are only number 3.