Baseball fans are easy to please. Give them a warm summer day, a cold drink, and their favorite team in the thick of the pennant race and they feel like kings.

Watch them second guess the manager as he pulls the team's ace pitcher in favor of the young fireballer. Listen to them cheer as he strikes out the opponents' slugger with the bases loaded, securing the win. Watch them do it all over again the very next day.

Who is the best player of all time? Ty Cobb? Babe Ruth? Ted Williams? Mickey Mantle? Ken Griffey Jr.?

Should the designated hitter be abolished?

Should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame?

Ask them for their favorite baseball moment of the past and prepare to have your ear talked off.

Older fans might choose Bobby Thompson's "Shot Heard Round the World", which captured the 1951 National League pennant for the New York Giants over the Brooklyn Dodgers, or Willie Mays' over-the-shoulder, back-to-the-plate catch to rob Cleveland's Vic Wertz of an extra-base hit in the 1954 World Series.

Somewhat younger fans might take Carlton Fisk's frantic waving as his game-winning homer in Game 6 o

"Cordero arrested on assault charges." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. June 12, 1997: pp F5.

It did not take a genius to know that something was going on amongst the owners. After the players union filed several grievances, arbitrators Thomas Roberts and George Nicolau found in three separate decisions that owners had been guilty of collusion in order to keep free agents on their original teams and to maintain salary levels. As restitution for the offenses the owners were forced to pay $280 million to the players. But the distrust that had been caused would prove to be much more damaging than any monetary punishment in the coming years.

This revelation was met by the overwhelming disapproval of fans. In a 1986 poll 86 percent of those responding said they believed athletes used drugs, including heroin, cocaine, and amphetamines. They labeled baseball, along with football, as the league which they believed had the most widespread problem. 57 percent of those surveyed also admitted they were "very concerned" about drug use by athletes.2

Some common words found in the essay are:
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Free Press, Players Association, York Times, Joe Falls, William Correa, All-Star Game, Peter Spitz, Gary Wadler, Sports Illustrated, baseball players, players owners, atlanta journal-constitution, baseball fans, world series, free agency, pension fund, major league, players association, designated hitter, atlanta journal- constitution, chicago white sox, themselves baseball fans, left field designated, ken griffey jr,
Approximate Word count = 5573
Approximate Pages = 22 (250 words per page double spaced)