Now that I've examined the best infielders of the 2003 MLB season, with the AL having a 4-1 advantage so far, it's time to move to the best of the rest: Left Field:

AL: Manny Ramirez, Red Sox. A cancer in the clubhouse and a tourist (or should that be tortoise) on the base paths, but one of the best pure hitters in the game. I hate it as a Yankee fan, but he was the best left fielder in the game this season (though I hesitate to label him as a left fielder with his suspect defense). He was in the top-seven in batting average, runs, OBP, OPS, homeruns, walks and slugging percentage. His late-night rendezvous with a Yankee after complaining sickness led him to criticism by fans and ownership, but even though he was put on irrevocable waivers, his contract will most probably bring him back to Boston next season. (Honorable Mention: Garrett Anderson, Carlos Lee and Shannon Stewart-but only while on the Twins)

NL: Albert Pujols, Cardinals and Barry Bonds, Giants. This is most probably also the race for NL MVP. Two amazing players on different end of their careers as Pujols is just starting his dominance and Bonds is at the end of his. Pujols hit .359 with 212 hits, 43 home runs and 124 RBI's. Bonds hit .341 with 148 walks, 45 home runs and 90 RBI's. Bonds' team won their divisions cleanly while Pujols played other positions for the Cardinals. Both players deserve to win this position individually, but it's only fair to give it to both of them (Honorable Mention: Chipper Jones).

Advantage: NL (4-2 AL)

Center Field:

AL: Vernon Wells, Blue Jays. Great breakout season for Vernon Wells. Really showed he can rake with the best of them. And with him and Delgado, provided one of the best middle of a lineup in the majors. Top 10 in the league in batting average, RBI's, slugging percentage, homeruns and runs scored. Batting average was most surprising of those and should lead to an impressive core of Hinske, Delgado and Wells in that lineup for a time to come. (Honorable Mention: Carlos Beltran)

NL: Andruw Jones, Braves and Preston Wilson, Rockies. Jones would have won this outright had he either not struck out so much, hit for a higher average, or used his lightening speed to steal more than a putrid four bases in seven chances. But Preston Wilson struck out even more and no one plays centerfield (maybe ever) like Jones does. One of the few players that year after year makes a huge impact on his team with his defensive contributions. Really helped out that pitching staff. Wilson was really helped by Coors Field - 42 points higher at home than the road. Both players hoping this season springboards them into the category of superstardom, though Jones has a much better chance of staying there. (Honorable Mention: Juan Pierre and Jim Edmonds)

Advantage: AL -Wells' bat superceded Jones' glove in the end. (5-2 AL)

Right Field:

AL: Magglio OrdoSez, White Sox. Slow start, but turned up the heat as the heat turned up in July as he batted .429 with seven homeruns, 24 RBIs - and a ridiculous 1.245 OPS - in the month. Hit .346 after the All-Star break, but it wasn't enough to propel his team into the playoffs. Not his fault his team got killed by Minnesota to lose their lead in the division as he batted .329 against them with five homers and 10 RBIs. Ichiro would have won this but a horrible .259 average after the All Star break buried him and his team's chances. (Honorable Mention: Aubrey Huff and Ichiro)

NL: Gary Sheffield, Braves. It's amazing what the incentive of money can do to a player. Both Lopez and Sheffield in their walk year, approaching the money of free agency, had monster years. Sheffield batted .330 with 39 homers, 132 RBIs, a ridiculous 1.023 OPS and an even more ridiculous 86/55 walk-to-strike-out-ratio. Would have been the MVP - and still should get really close consideration - had it not been for the two left fielders mentioned. Still not convinced? He was in the top-seven in EVERY offensive category except for walks and hits (though with that great ratio and great average, it hardly mattered). Overall, a great season for "Sheff" who may be in Tampa or New York or Baltimore next season. (Honorable Mention: Sammy Sosa)

Advantage: NL (5-3 AL)

Starting Pitcher:

AL: Roy Halladay, Blue Jays. Top-five in EVERY major pitching category. He was a workhorse too, leading the league in innings pitched and complete games. Won 15 games in a row at one point. Would have been given serious competition by Esteban Loiaza, but Loaiza lost his team's two most important games of the year in September. Halladay was the Blue Jays pitching staff and his ability to pitch with power and keep the walk total down will make him a mainstay on the top AL pitchers list for some time to come. (Honorable Metion: Pedro Martinez (except for Game seven of the ALCS), Andy Pettitte and Esteban Loaiza)

NL: Jason Schmidt, Giants. Not a great year for NL starters, so the Cy Young may go to Eric Gagne, a closer. But if it does go to a starter (which it usually does), it should go to Schmidt. Also top-five in EVERY major pitching category, but still not that impressive win total at 17 (seven players in the AL had 17 wins-including three Yankees). But still, he carried the pitching staff for the top National League team, and really proved to be a nemesis for opposing hitters holding them to a league leading .200 batting average. (Honorable Mention: Russ Ortiz, Mark Prior and Dontrelle Willis' during about a two month stretch)

Advantage: AL (6-3 AL)

Closer:

AL: Mariano Rivera, Yankees. For his manager, Joe Torre, Rivera is the ultimate safety net. Nine-inning games become seven-inning games when he's healthy and rested in the bullpen. He may be the greatest all-time closer once he retires. But for right now, he's the best postseason pitcher with a 7-1 record and a 0.84 ERA in 96 innings pitched. And this year it was no different as he disabled Boston hitters, winning the ALCS MVP. And besides one bad week in the regular season, he had a great regular season too. He seemed like he was struggling this season but had another 40 save season after missing a huge chunk of the beginning of the season with a 1.66 ERA. His performance in Game 3 of the ALCS further entrench him into postseason lore. (Honorable Mention: Keith Foulke and Eddie Guardado)

NL: Eric Gagne, Dodgers. He may be the Cy Young this year. He gave up three runs in the All Star game and then one run in the final three months of the season. He had one hundred more strikeouts (137) than hits. He saved 55 games with ZERO blown saves. One of the most dominant seasons ever by a closer. Held opponents to a .133 batting average and walked only 20. Saved 55 games for a team that only won 85. Set the record for consecutive saves without a blown save. Simply amazing. (John Smoltz and Billy Wagner)

Advantage: NL-though closer than some may think (no pun intended) (6-4 AL)

Manager:

AL: Tony PeSa, Royals. Led a team that most picked to be the worst in the AL and almost got them to the playoffs. Only one starting pitcher had starting pitching experience before this year and he had 2 career wins. Got tremendous contributions out of rookies Angel Berroa and All-Star closer Mike MacDougal, as well as Ken Harvey. Didn't have enough gas left in his team's tank to fend off the Twins and White Sox second half surges, but still impressed many by how he led that team (Honorable Mention: Grady Little for his Game 7 ALCS heroics).

NL: Jack McKeon, Marlins and Frank Robinson, Expos. Neither team was expected to compete in a very competitive NL East. Robinson took a team owned by MLB and made them competitive for the wildcard. If Guerrero would have been healthy, they might have won it. The Marlins began the season 16-22, fired manager Jeff Torborg in May, and it seemed like they were headed for the NL East basement. But they decided to hold on to Mike Lowell and others and started to rally around such players as Willis and Juan Pierre. McKeon got this team to believe so much that they came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Cubs and then finished off the mighty Yankees for the World Series. (Honorable Mention: Felipe Alou, Dusty Baker and Bobby Cox)

Advantage: NL, McKeon got his team not only to the playoffs, but won a World Series (6-5 AL)

Injury of the year:

AL: Carl Crawford, Devil Rays. He was shagging fly balls before an Aug. 9 game when he accidentally collided with Charlie LaMar - the 10-year-old son of GM Chuck LaMar. Crawford stepped on Charlie's foot, turned an ankle and missed the game. (Honorable Mention: Kaz Sazaki for breaking ribs while carrying suitcases and Buck Showalter for pulling a hamstring jumping out of a dugout to argue a call)

NL: Scott Sullivan, Reds. He cut his cheek during a July photo session. He was at the Cincinnati Zoo and got accidentally clawed by an ocelot. (Honorable Mention: Ron Santo, while announcing an exciting play jumped up and singed his toupee on a heater)

Advantage: NL-though both were equally embarrassing

So it ends up 6-6. It was a great baseball season from Miami, to New York (but only on one side of town), to Boston, to Chicago (again, only on one side of town). There was heartbreak and the mention of curses and clutch plays coming from the most unexpected places (see: Alex Gonzalez of the Marlins, Aaron Boone of the Yankees and Ramon Hernandez of the A's). Fans (see Chicago/Florida) and coaches (see New York/Boston) got more involved with actions on the field than ever before. This winter should bring many interesting moves from both free agency and trades. Overall, it was a fun baseball season that can only be topped by one thing: 2004.