Baseball stars used to be worshipped through small pieces

of cardboard, dusted with a fine powdered sugar that had

fallen from a sharp piece of gum. Their faces adorned the front,

while their life story, at least in baseball terms, was printed on

the back. Children's collections of the cards grew enormous and

as other things began to interest the children, the cards were

soon neglected. Today, baseball cards are very popular. Not

because of the simple idolatry that fueled them in the past but for

the financial rewards of collecting the cards themselves.

Andy Arnold , 14, of Fayetteville had a better way to celebrate

his baseball heroes, he entered the USA Today Baseball

Weekly Clubhouse Fantasy Contest.

The contest called for the selection of five players. A

hitter was awarded one point for each homerun he hit and a

pitcher was awarded two points for every win. The person who had

the most points at the end of the season won. Arnold selected

Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez

and Greg Maddux.

Andy is a freshman at Fayette County High School and

will tryout for the basketball team this year. He used to play

baseball but he says he can't hit. There must be ice water in his

veins though because despite leading the contest for 10

straight weeks, he claims he felt no pressure. Every day Andy

would check the newspaper, Sportscenter and Baseball Weekly

to check on his players and how they were doing. His dad

had participated in a fantasy baseball league before and Andy

had learned to score from him. He knew which players

were producing and what their trends were year to year.

Andy believes in the simplicity of the contest though "Pick the

guys who hit the most homeruns or get the most wins."

He was five points ahead of Mike Miller of Las Vegas

until the last substitution period. Miller selected Greg Vaughn of

the Padres over Jim Thome of the Indians. Thome had broken

his hand the week before and Miller took his chance to drop

him from his roster. There were three chances for the participants

to change their selections but Andy remained true to his

choices. "Those guys have been the most consistent," Arnold

said. "Each year McGwire hits over 50 homeruns and

Maddux usually leads the league in wins." Not this year though. In

the last six weeks of the season, Maddux hit the worst slump of

his career and lost eight consecutive starts.Andy dropped from

first place to second place,where he would stay for the remainder

of the contest. Andy's father, Kevin Arnold, jokingly suggests

that there may be a conspiracy because Greg Maddux lives in

Las Vegas.

Andy says he will participate in the contest again next

year and most likely pick the same players. "McGwire, Sosa,

Maddux and Gonzalez, they are all-stars every year and Palmeiro has

hit at least 35 homeruns for the past four years." When asked

what the best part of the whole experience was, Andy replied

"Getting my name in the papers." Since the kid is hot with his

picks, this reporter couldn't help but ask for his ideas on the

World Series and the Super Bowl. "The Yankees and the Broncos

and I've said those all along."

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