Somehow, this baseball season doesn&8217;t seem the same to me. I like to think it&8217;s because I&8217;ve matured. Or it could be because the events of the past year &8212; the Mitchell Report, Barry Bonds vs. Hank Aaron, Joe Torre leaving the Yankees &8212; have knocked some of the luster off game.

Still, I&8217;m a fan, and I&8217;ll always be a fan &8212; at least until MLB starts using instant replay.

So then I got to thinking &8230;

This time of year is all about the unknown. Find out my top questions for the 2008 baseball season when we go down &8220;The List.&8221;

4. What about Yankee Stadium? &8220;The House that Babe Ruth built&8221; will be out of commission this time next year. I wonder how many grown men will cry during the last All Star Game. I also regret, after having a handful of opportunities, never seeing a game in that yard.

3. Who will win the NL East? Talk about your loaded questions. Even if Pedro Martinez stinks or never pitches at all, the Mets have Johan Santana and probably the best offense in the National League. The Phillies have reigning MVP Jimmy Rollins and some other guy named Ryan Howard. The Braves brought back Tom Glavine and replaced Andruw Jones with Mark Kotsay.

2. Will Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee kiss and make up? Let&8217;s hope so. Two grown men cat fighting is not a dignified scene. More importantly, is anyone going to do jail time? Guarantee you, if an average Joe like me lied to Congress, I&8217;d spend 3-5 getting to know a cross-eyed cellmate named D-Mob.

1. Where will Barry Bonds land? No quick-witted comment here. I just want to know if he&8217;s still going to lick his own bats or if his new contract will stipulate a batboy do it for him.

Also List-worthy: How well will Randy Johnson pitch and for how long? Ditto for Greg Maddux? Can we ban baseball cheerleaders? How many molecules are in a rosin bag? How good can Dusty Baker make Cincinnati? Can Detroit really make it back to a World Series? How good will the newest Japanese superstars be?

George

Jones is the Times-Journal sports editor and may be reached at 410-1744 or george.jones@selmatimesjournal.com.