The boys of summer hit the field for another great season

Baseball is back and Major League Baseball is beginning the 2006 season.
I am very excited and looking forward to the season but it is making me feel old this year.

The starting first baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers this season, and pre-season favourite to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award, is left handed swinging Prince Fielder.

For those of you wondering, Fielder's father is the former slugging first baseman Cecil “Big Daddy”Fielder who hit 51 homeruns for the Detroit Tigers in 1990 and won a World Series title with the New York Yankees in 1996.

Not only did I witness the elder Fielder in action at old Tiger Stadium when I was a child but I watched him since retire and now, making me feel a very old 22 years of age, I am witnessing his child begin his career in Major League Baseball.

By the way, I still have my “Big Daddy” T-Shirt that I bought from a vendor in downtown Detroit when I was 8 years old.

Despite my moment of realization, MLB is fresh off its World Baseball Classic experiment and as of April 2nd is under way with regular season contests.

Many storylines fill the MLB newswire lately, but most notably and unfortunately the Barry Bonds steroid allegations, and talk of Bonds' chasing of Hank Aaron's single season homerun record being tarnished by his supposed abuse of illegal substances dominate the majority of talk around MLB.

As an avid baseball fan, I refuse to dedicate any significant amount of time writing about this tabloid-like story, but I will say one thing: it is truly unfortunate that one of the greatest sporting records in history will likely be broken surrounded by doubt and questions.

The public will get the answers to all the steroid questions in about 10 years, when countless athletes will die at an early age, much like a steroid abuser and former MLB player Kan Caminiti did in 2004.

Ok, enough of that talk.

There is a lot of excitement surrounding the 2006 MLB season, and much of that is coming from our fellow Canadians. The Toronto Blue Jays made the biggest splash in the off-season making numerous player acquisitions, including signing the top free agent pitcher, A.J. Burnett, and trading for perennial slugging third-baseman Troy Glaus.

Much of the talk in the American League is whether or not the Blue Jays will be able to knock off the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the American league East division.

While many experts analyze this story, the defending World Series Champions Chicago White Sox quietly improved in the off-season acquiring slugger Jim Thome from the Philadelphia Phillies and starting pitcher Javier Vasquez from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The National League looks to be taken over by the St.Louis Cardinals who have fallen short the past couple seasons, but could legitimately dominate the entire league this season. Led by 2005 MVP Albert Pujols and Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter, St. Louis will be a very entertaining team to watch this season.

It is way too early on in the year to make any predictions. I will, however, make one. The X factor for the entire season will be the New York Yankees “no facial hair” policy. This means that former Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees newly acquired centerfielder Johnny Damon will be without his famous caveman beard this year.

I know this fact alone will shift the power of the entire American League and subsequently MLB.