Baseball Almanac

Well, spring training is in full operation at presstime. The wealthy teams have spent lots of bucks, and the not-so-wealthy ones have ponied up quite a few themselves. The (I love saying this) World Champion St. Louis Cardinals are looking to repeat with more hitting power, but with a very young and/or surgically engineered pitching staff. Their division rivals the Cubs spent an astronomical amount of money to engineer a new team for new manager Lou Piniella. Barry Bonds, barring injury, will probably break Hank Aaron's home run record. Will anyone living 200 miles or more from San Francisco (including baseball's commissioner) care? Or if they do care, will they be happy? Will anyone doubt that Hank will still be viewed as a classy gentleman, a title Bonds will never attain?

As you can see, anticipation is strong. The new season is nearly upon us.

So what does a baseball fan do to whet their appetite? They go to the Baseball Almanac, today's FamilyFirst pick. Here's their mission:

Baseball Almanac has dedicated itself to preserving the history of our national pastime and has rapidly grown into an interactive baseball encyclopedia filled with more than three-hundred thousand pages of in-depth baseball facts, original baseball research and baseball statistics not found anywhere on the Internet.

Baseball is a great game. It's one that is filled with tradition. I walked away from it a few years ago in anger, but returned to it in time to watch my beloved Birds win rings last year.

Call me a traditionalist. I think the DH is an abomination that is unfortunately now demanded by the Player's Union. It would take a commissioner with a thick spine to remove it, and get both leagues back on a common ground.

Of course, a commissioner with a spine would also be protective of an all-time home run record being threatened by an admitted user of steroids and other illicit drugs.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/

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