Let's Name Baseball's "Other 103"

This past weekend, Alex Rodriguez was named as one of 104 players who failed an anonymous test for illegal substances. Who failed was known, and it's been reported that the players who failed may, or may not, have found out they had a problem with the test.

So now, in an effort to uncover the "Other 103," we'll examine who else was doping. Here's a dozen potential players to start with; let's see how many of these players make a list some time in the future.

1. Shawn Green, OF- Green fills a similar profile to Rodriguez; a player with a ton of natural ability that may have just wanted to "take it to the next level."

In his final two seasons in Toronto, Green 77 home runs and drove in 223 runs. He then signed a big money contract to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 2000 season. His numbers fell off in that first season in the National League, to 24 homers and 99 RBI. The drop off is understandable when you consider the size of Dodger Stadium relative to the venues he hit in while a Blue Jay.

But in 2001 and 2002, he suddenly found his stroke. After 91 homers and 239 RBI, Green has cemented himself near the top of the game for young stud hitters.

Where's the story start to fall apart? Suddenly a guy who was an up-and-coming outfield star was auditioning for a starting job at first base in Arizona, and in the final five years of his career he wouldn't hit more than 28 home runs or knock in more than 86.

2. Phil Nevin, C/1B- Think anyone had something to live up to? Nevin might be the second-most hyped prospect (behind Josh Hamilton) since the strike in 1994. But he never lived up to the hype...or did he?

Nevin looked pathetic in every attempt at the big league level between three cities in four years to start his career. There may have been a hint of Tony-Mandarich to his urban legend.

But then Nevin arrived in San Diego, the same San Diego that Ken Caminiti called home, in 1999. Nevin would then find is stroke and see his home run numbers climb from 24 to 31 to 41 from 1999 to 2001, and his RBI totals jump from 85 to 107 to 126.

Suddenly, after his 41-126 season in 2001, Nevin lost the magic touch. He would drive in over 100 runs again in 2004, but would never again top 26 home runs. He was, again, a journeyman with a resume that was something for the history books.

3. Luis Gonzalez, OF- This is too easy to point out. Gonzo was a good outfielder in Houston and Chicago early in his career, but when he got to Arizona he tried to make something more out of his lackluster, above average career.

Gonzalez has his 354 home runs in a 19-year career. In those 19 seasons, he has hit more than 31 home runs once—2001, when he hit 57.

Seriously?

4. Tony Batista, 3B - Remembered as much for his unorthodox approach at the plate as he was for his pop, Batista was never someone to enter a game for defensive reasons at third base.

But, surprisingly in the same city and at the same time as Green, Batista found his stroke in Toronto in 2000. He jumped from 26 home runs to 41 and 79 RBI to 114. After 2000, he would hit over 30 home runs twice more in his career and knock in more than 100 once more, but he never displayed the power he did in his one big season north of the border.

5. Brian Giles, OF- While his move to pitcher-friendly Petco Park in San Diego might be to blame for some of his power numbers falling off, there's no denying the drop from his numbers between 1999 and 2002, four years that saw him average 37 home runs, to a run of seven seasons with a top number of 23. Playing in a big park is one excuse, but to drop from his enormous numbers in Pittsburgh to every season being in the teens for homers?

6. Ellis Burks, OF - Burks had a few nice seasons in Colorado (who hasn't?), but saw his productivity begin to drop off as his age climbed.

Shockingly, joining the Barry Bonds-led San Francisco Giants "rejuvenated" his career. Burks found the fountain of youth at age 35 and would hit 115 home runs over a four-year stretch that saw him play in no more than 138 games in a season.

7. Mark Bellhorn, INF- Bellhorn is a similar story to Gonzalez, but in a much more dramatic fashion. After being acquired by the Cubs in a trade from the Oakland A's, Bellhorn set a Cubs' franchise record by hitting 27 home runs as a switch hitter.

Consider he had hit seven career home runs in parts of four previous seasons in the bigs.

After that break out season, Bellhorn would play in five seasons with five teams. He hit 69 home runs in his career over parts of 11 seasons. Think his locker was near Sammy Sosa's?

8. Preston Wilson, OF- Again, the story of a promising young player that may have tried to surpass the Joneses instead of just keeping up with them. Wilson began his career with five seasons between Florida and Colorado in which he hit between 23 and 36 home runs. After his first season with the Rockies, in which he hit 36 homers and knocked in 141, he has not hit more than 15 homers in a season and has had health issues.

9. Richard Hidalgo, OF- Same story as Bellhorn with Hidalgo. Over nine seasons he hit 171 homers. In 2000 with the Astros, he hit 44 of them. He wouldn't hit more than 28 again.

10. Carl Everett, OF - Let's stay in the same Astros outfield. Everett played in 14 seasons in eight different cities. He would hit 202 homers over those 14 seasons. However, between 1999 (in Houston) and 2000 (in Boston), Everett hit 59 home runs and had his only two full seasons with a slugging percentage over .500.

Oh, and has he told you about how dinosaurs never existed lately?

11. Greg Vaughn, OF- I know that the 1999 Padres have been mentioned already, but let's walk back to that team again. In the same clubhouse that saw Nevin's numbers skyrocket and Caminiti's testosterone leave the building, Vaughn discovered that magic that had left his swing for a couple years.

Vaughn, much like Jeromy Burnitz, was an all-or-nothing swinger with worlds of pop. He hit over 30 homers twice in Milwaukee before leaving for San Diego during the 1996 season. In 1999, he would club 50 home runs and follow that up with 45 in Cincinnati in 2000.

But his body would begin to fail him, and, as a charter member of the Rock Em, Sock Em Devil Rays he wouldn't hit more than 28 homers in another season.

12. Jay Bell, INF- If we're looking for statistical anomalies, here's another sore thumb. Bell played in 18 seasons and hit 195 home runs. Over the three years between 1997-99, Bell hit 79 of those 195 home runs. He hit more than 18 home runs three times in his career - those three seasons. In fact, before 1997, he had hit more than 10 just three times (16 once, 13 twice).