Baseball is in the air. The fresh cut grass, the soft clay infield, and the crack of a ball on a bat… it’s everywhere! Living in Florida, we’re surrounded by spring training baseball in nearly every corner of the state. Arizona is the other lucky state to house a spring training baseball league.

Pitchers and catchers reported over the past few days, while position players report to training early this week. Time is winding down for a few star players who have yet to sign with a team: Manny Ramirez, Ivan ‘Pudge’ Rodriguez, and Ken Griffey Jr. It’s important for the remaining free agents to sign quickly so they can get workouts in and be prepared for opening day.

There are plenty of big stories that will surely make Spring Training more fun. Other than the normal position battles… we have the steroid scandal with A-Rod, will Ben Sheets be signed (a torn flexor tendon will sideline him till after the All-Star break), and Joe Torre’s new book.

In case you’re wondering what league your favorite team plays in, here’s a breakdown.

Almost 3.7 million baseball fans attended Spring Training games in 2008. I would expect numbers to be similar in 2009. If you’re going to be one of those fans, you better not show up to the stadium in your normal t-shirt. You need the best MLB Spring Training Gear you find at the best price.

Over the past few years, baseball fans have been bombarded with news of their favorite players being accused or admitted steroid abusers. Some of baseballs most treasured records are now broken by cheaters under the influence of PEDs (performance enhancing drugs).

I never intended to blog about steroids in baseball. It’s a dark shadow of the sport that I didn’t want to get into. But with the fall of Alex Rodriguez this week, I felt compelled to speak out… at least a little. A-Rod was supposed to be the savior of baseball. He was our white knight. He was going to eclipse Bonds tainted all-time home run mark and restore integrity to the greatest record in all of sports.

Now sports fans will have to wait for a new star to be born. Rodriguez admitted to using PEDs from 2001-2003 while he was on the Texas Rangers. He put up some insane numbers while with the Rangers, but was always a power hitter so no one really thought anything different. Rodriguez took the route of admitting use (like Giambi and Pettitte) rather then denying it (Bonds, Clemens and Palmeiro). Smart move in my opinion since he still has a good 6-7 years left of productive baseball.

The question that baseball faces now is no longer “are players taking PEDs” but “what to do with their records?” Major League Baseball has several options:

1. Do nothing. Let the records stand as they are.
2. Put an asterisk by the known steroid users in the record book.
3. Strike the players completely from the book.

I think most fans would favor a mix of options 1 and 2, but Roy Oswalt of the Astros would vote for number 3. “A-Rod’s numbers shouldn’t count for anything,” Oswalt said in a phone interview with MLB.com. “I feel like he cheated me out of the game.” Those are strong words coming from one of the game’s top pitchers. I just don’t see MLB eliminating everything these players have done from the record books, as if they never existed.

What’s you take on the subject? What should happen to the records and stats from the players who took steroids?

Major League Baseball Spring Training 2009 is just around the corner. Can’t believe pitchers and catchers report in just about 2 weeks. Spring Training is divided into two leagues: The Grapefruit League and the Cactus League.

Over the coming weeks we’ll be bringing you in-depth schedules from both leagues, news, player reports, and of course the best Spring Training 2009 gear available!

Check out the T-Shirts we have available.