The Top Five MLB Players Who Are Not on Steroids.....Hopefully.

Over the last decade baseball has undergone, a transformation. The events surrounding this so-called steroid era has caused even the most naive of fan to become cynical. Bonds, McGuire, Sosa, Palmiero, Clemens, A-Rod, Giambi, and Manny, were all players who once stood as goliaths of baseball.

These were the type of players whom fathers would take their sons to the ball park just to watch their heros take batting practice. The spectacle of watching majestic blast after majestic blast was worth the price of admission alone.

But now we know it was all a great farce. These chemically enhanced freaks hijacked the game and when they were done with it, stripped it of most of its integrity. Players such as Albert Pujols and Raul Ibanez are having all-world seasons this year and as much as we want to believe there success has come naturally, most fans do not want to be duped AGAIN. As the saying goes, fool me once shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me.

So that leaves us all with the question of who is it safe to root for. What players can a father tell his son to look up to and not have his faith in that player betrayed somewhere down the road? As infested as the game may have become with steroids, there must certainly be players out there who are achieving their success the right way.  But who are they?

I am going to put myself out their and take a stab at five players I believe to be clean. Granted I have no proof that they are clean, as all my assertions will be based off of circumstantial evidence, and just my gut feeling. I could very well be wrong about one or all of them. But the fan inside, who wants to again trust in the sanctity and integrity of the game, implores me to take that chance and root whole heartily for these players.

No. 5: Mariano Rivera

The great Yankee closer has been one of the most consistent pitchers of his era. He may have the most devastating pitch of the last 25 years with his cutter.  Despite the effectiveness of his pitches, he also weighs only 170 pounds.

Rivera is now 39 years old and during his career he has maintained relatively the same weight and physique. He did not develop shoulders resembling the Incredible Hulk, like Clemens neither did, nor did he increase the effectiveness and arsenal of his pitches in the twilight of his career.

He is to this day is a great closer who may has a step but the greatness of his career can not be denied, especially if he did it all by himself, which I believe he did.

No. 4L Hanley Ramirez

This young star possesses something that many great sluggers, clean or not, don’t have: Supreme athletic ability. You could put Ramirez on a basketball court or a football field and he would probably be the best player at any local pick up game around the neighborhood.

Ramirez is fully capable of achieving 30 HR, 100 RBI, and 50 SB seasons. He has a lot of pop in his bat to go along with his blazing speed. He is 6’3” and weighs 200 pounds.

While his jack of all trades style of play may lead some to question the validity of his numbers, I believe his maintained physique and his reliance on speed make him a poor candidate to improve his game through steroids. His game is very balanced and I don’t see his sacrificing multiple facets of his game just so he can hit a few more long bombs. I’m sure he would rather be the next Hank Aaron then the next Andrew Jones.

No. 3: Dustin Pedroia

The Red Sox’s second baseman, and reigning AL MVP, must be a direct descendant of the small-ball gods. He hits for average, steals bases, does not strike out often, and for a guy with not a lot of power, is on his way to a 60-walk season. Pedroia is only 25 years old, and is probably the second best player at his position, behind Chase Utley.

A player this young with this many tools to work with has little use for steroids. What part of his game would benefit from taking them? I can’t find any, and I hope he never does either.

No. 2 Tim Lincecum

Tim Lincecum may be the best young pitcher in the game. He stands at 5’11” and 170 pounds. If you saw this guy out of uniform, you may question if he is a major league pitcher, let alone one on steroids.  Despite his feeble frame, his fastball registers in the high 90s and his curveball has nasty written all over it. He garners his effectiveness from his extremely violent delivery.

Baseball scouts and experts alike had cautioned that his delivery could lead to arm troubles in the future. But for now, he is as dominant as any pitcher out there and it seems preposterous to assume a 170-pound pitcher with a delivery like his is juiced up.

No. 1 Ryan Howard

Ryan Howard parks balls in the upper deck like Obama signs off on bailouts. His monstrous frame of 6’5”, 260 pounds lends him the ability to hit moon shots like no slugger since Willie Stargell. Since his arrival Howard has accumulated more HR’s and RBI then anyone else in the NL. And only A-Rod has more RBI overall over the same period.

This season, despite losing more than 20 pounds to help improve his average and fielding he is still fifth in both HR’s and RBI. Anyone who follows Howard knows there is still his annual August and September power surge to come. The Phillies probably would have missed the playoffs and never became the World Series champs if it were not for another miraculous September from Howard last fall

So how can it be deduced that Howard is clean? Just look at his career. His game is tantamount when is comes to defining the word slugger. He does not hit for much of an average, every season he seems to break his own strikeout record, he is a dead pull hitter if he does not get under the ball, and above all, he is a monster of a man. The only use this guy would have for steroids is if he were to venture into the world of “professional” wrestling.

While I do strongly believe that all five of these players are clean, knowing what era they are playing in, I know it would be a fool’s errand to bet the rhetorical farm any one of them. Baseball and its players do have a black cloud hanging over them, and as dictated by the constant reappearance of steroid’s ugly head, it does not seem it will be going away any time soon

That said there are fans that love this game and desperately want to root for and put their full support behind their favorite players. With the use of a little perception and some common sense, I believe we can find those players who uphold the integrity of the game.

Hopefully, rooting for players such as these we will eventually be able to let go of the fear that we have been beguiled into rooting for another cheat. Here is to hoping we can get there, players and fans alike.