Baseball fans foresee another good year for the World Champion Boston Red Sox even before the start of Spring Training. A recent Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found 31% of fans believe the Sox will win the American League Championship and 17% think they will win the World Series for the second consecutive year.

The New York Yankees aren’t far behind, with 14% fans believing they will be the World Champions this year and 19% who believe they will win the American League pennant. The New York Mets are seen as the National League team with the best chance of winning the World Series, with 8%.

The Mets are also the team 26% of fans expect to win the National League Championship. The Chicago Cubs come in second with 19% of fans who expect a league pennant.

This time last year, 16% of baseball fans picked the Yankees to win the World Series and 11% chose the Red Sox.

With the recent controversy surrounding Roger Clemens and the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball, the question has been raised as to whether potential Hall of Fame players should be stripped of their records if they are found guilty of using steroids. Nearly half (45%) of baseball fans believe players should not be stripped of their records or banned from the Hall of Fame. Another 38% disagree and say that they should, while 17% are not sure.

Women seem to be stricter than men on the subject. More women feel guilty players should be punished in this way (41%) than not (38%.) Meanwhile, half of men (51%) feel these players should not be punished in this fashion and 35% do.

A survey conducted in mid-January found that 75% of adults think Congress should not be spending time on the steroids in baseball issue.

Only 13% of adults say they watch baseball on television at least once a week. The majority (70%) say they rarely or never tune in.

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