BALANCE OF POWER THE END OF THE STEROID ERA SEES THE TRADITIONAL PARITY BETWEEN HITTING AND PITCHING RESTORED.

Byline: JOHN KLIMA

BASEBALL

The late scout Bob Zuk wasn't the most popular man in the game, but he was good, and this annoyed his competitors as he antagonized them with methodologies and philosophies they resented.

Zuk didn't care what others thought, wouldn't think twice about lying for a player he believed in, and he thrived on his unique skill to view baseball differently.

The first half of the 2007 season has shown us that we, too, can again look at baseball in different ways.

The steroid era might symbolically end the moment Barry Bonds passes Hank Aaron, but in truth, there are many signs that if it is not completely over, then it has significantly slowed down. This is not to say that there aren't guys trying to break the rules, because cheating is a core value of baseball. But it is July, and the signs that appeared in April remain, and now it is safe to discuss. The meaning of power, in both hitters and pitchers, is being re-centered to a balancing point the game had abandoned in the past 15 years. This should have never been a morality issue. This was just another case of players adjusting to the game.

Watch batting practice. Notice how many players are focused on hitting line drives now rather than lifting the ball. Some baseball people will suggest, as they told Zuk, that batting practice swings can't teach you anything. Zuk, who signed Willie Stargell, Reggie Jackson and Gary Carter, did not agree with that thought.

Watch in-game swings. Note the inside-out and defensive swings. That is a sign of a balance, between a pitcher getting the inside-half of the plate back, regaining confidence in pitching low-and-away, and the hitter not having the same muscle to drive the ball to the opposite field.

Note the number of big-name sluggers who had slow starts this season and the question arises: Did they start slower because they were adjusting, not only to their new bodies, but to new pitching?

Look at the home run leaders, and what is striking is that these are hitters who posses natural power. There are no surprises. Prince Fielder, Ken Griffey Jr., Ryan Howard, Alex Rodriguez, Vladimir Guerrero, yes, even Bonds, all have natural power. You can ridicule the home runs Bonds hit from 2000-06, but it doesn't change the fact that he always had strong hands. There's a reason that his power was coveted in the pre-steroid era.

It's because only the rare had strong hands. They can, as Zuk would say, wring a bat with their bare hands.

Throw peanut shells at Bud Selig if you must, but inside major-league locker rooms, everyone can see the difference between torsos this year and torsos in the past few years. It's OK to be a bad-body ballplayer again. Somehow it's become an unpopular opinion to believe that the game is off the juice. What the first half has shown us begs to differ.

To argue that the surge of pitching is only due to so many good arms at onetime runs counterintuitive to the thought process of the game. Isn't this the business where everyone whines that they have no pitching? It's not that there's more good pitching. It's that about 20pitchers in their 20s have matured. It's also that many pitchers, who were as guilty as the hitters, have come down. This means pitching-to-contact is back.

This means getting away with a few more mistakes than facing gigantic hitters allowed.

The college pitcher who could bump to 95mph is now working at 88-90. The veteran who was pitching at 95 is now working at 92-93. Somewhere in there is the line between pitchers who know they don't have to throw as hard anymore and pitchers who can't throw as hard as they used to.

It leads to a basic equation: A reduction of velocity across the board levels the game and makes those with explosive out-pitches -- Dan Haren's splitter, John Lackey's curveball -- twice as effective. It helps command pitchers -- Jamie Moyer, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine -- defy age.

These philosophies are unpopular, just like Zuk.

The steroid issue has become so distorted that it's easier to say more players are on than more players are off. Zuk's lessons are accurate as the game cycles back to a balance between power, skill, and competition.

Meanwhile, Selig, who brought competitive balance, may be bringing another balance. The car dealership skills in Bud are evident. His stiff penalties on minor leaguers essentially forced the franchises to govern their inventories. As a result, minor leaguers are browbeaten, while older players (well, except for Sammy Sosa and Bonds), drift from the game, and active players revert to what they were supposed to be in the first place.

In many ways, Ichiro's inside-the-park home run Tuesday at the All-Star Game signified something that only last year could get you scoffed at.

Ichiro has always been a technician, a self-absorbed perfectionist. He isn't exactly beloved inside the Seattle clubhouse, but nobody in the dugout cares how you treat others when you hit .360. His power is an extension of skill. Only last year, the notion of a complete offensive threat being anything less than a home-run hitter was considered obsolete.

You can evaluate power as power again. This is wonderful. Zuk believed in the distinctly unscientific method of the sound of contact, which means he'd never get a job working for the Oakland Athletics.

On the contrary, Zuk never had much love for evaluating pitchers, and this year may prove to be one of the best in recent times. There are already fifteen 10-game winners this season and nine more with ninevictories each. That means at least 24pitchers have a chance to win 20 games.

The steroid era made the 20-game winner an endangered species. It bottomed out in 2006 when there were no 20-game winners for the first time since 1995, perhaps coincidentally, the first year after the strike wiped out the World Series. There have been only seventeen 20-game winners in the past five years, compared to 22 in the five years before that and 23 in the five-year period before that.

Despite all this, steroids is still a dirty word in a baseball clubhouse. Players have Roid-ar, and if you mention that nasty little word, the room goes silent much, like a classroom when a kid in the back of the room steals the teacher's keys.

There are pitchers with multiple put-away pitches at the big-league level, and frankly, a lot of the pitchers on this list would win if hitters came to the plate with IV drips of human-growh hormone taped to their back pockets. But the fact that only the powerful seem to have the power now -- and that goes for pitchers as well as the hitters -- is the greatest sign that the game has reclaimed much of the balance that it lost.

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SEEDS ON THE DUGOUT FLOOR

A look at some of the most intriguing players of the second half of the season:

Milton Bradley, OF, San Diego: There's a scouting term for players like Bradley, and it's not a good one: interesting. That means you don't know what you're going to get. Talent-wise, there's no reason Bradley should be a question mark. But he's what you call a 'demeanor 'tweener.' If Friar Bud can get Happy Milton, he's got himself a great addition. If Grumpy Milton gets news reporters instead of us kindly baseball writers talking to him, chances are this won't help the Padres as much as he can.

Sammy Sosa, OF, Texas: Sosa has hit. I didn't think he would. But his 14 home runs and 63 RBIs make him a nice spare part for the Rangers to dump. If Sosa is traded to a contender, he could make an impact, especially to an American League team in need of an extra right-handed power bat.

Alex Rodriguez, 3B, N.Y. Yankees: This can't have a happy ending. Rodriguez could become the first player to hit 50 home runs in a season and leave town as a disgraced hero. But there's more drama. What kind of season will he have this year? Or where will he play next year? Or what T-shirt will his wife wear next? Or what is his favorite color of shoes? This is old. Trade him already. He likes red anyhow.

Torri Hunter, OF, Minnesota: Having a great season you don't hear too much about, he just watched Ichiro sign for $90million. Hunter is beloved in Minnesota, much like Kirby Puckett before him. Will Hunter, like Puckett, take less to stay where he's loved?

Rich Harden, RHP, Oakland: The A's had the best AL team ERA in the first half without Harden around for much of the time. He would clearly bolster the A's and could give them the required spark to make their normal second-half run.

Orlando Hernandez, RHP, N.Y. Mets: What's more amusing? The fact the Mets think he's a No. 2 starter or the fact that Hernandez says he's 41? A more amusing question: Who is older, Hernandez or new hitting coach Rickey Henderson?

Hunter Pence, OF, Houston: Can the rookie finish the job and win a National League batting title?

Bartolo Colon, RHP, Angels: Can Colon reinvent himself? This all goes back to the fateful start against the Mariners in September 2005, when his back went out and he ruined his arm trying to compensate. If he can learn to contribute with what he has available to him now, the Angels will benefit.

James Loney, 1B, and Matt Kemp, OF, Dodgers: Power is at a premium in Los Angeles. If the two young major leaguers can become solid everyday players, this club gets a lot better, a lot faster.

Albert Pujols, 1B, St. Louis: OK, April is over. So is May and June. It's time to show us that you're still a power hitter.

-- John Klima

SEVENTH-INNING STRETCH

Difficulties for Ankiel

Rick Ankiel continues to make his comeback as an outfielder for the St.Louis Cardinals, having a solid season at Triple-A Memphis. However, despite pretty good numbers, Ankiel might have a hard time finding a spot as a major-league outfielder. A pro-side scout who had a look this week reports that Ankiel, who was a good amateur hitter, is going to struggle to become a fourth outfielder. Ankiel has gap power at best, but not true power despite decent home run numbers. He's an average runner at full steam. Most disturbing is the fact that Ankiel is a fastball hitter who has little patience or aptitude for adjusting to secondary pitches. That set of factors might make it difficult for Ankiel to become an every-day player, but look for the Cardinals to give him a shot to save face with a bonus player they rushed and ruined.

Ichiro in, Hargrove out

The Mariners had been working quietly for months in the front office to negotiate a worthy extension with Ichiro Suzuki, left, because they feared losing him if the season ended without an agreement. Ichiro is known to be a self-absorbed player in the Mariners' clubhouse, but baseball sources said Ichiro was not a factor for Mike Hargrove's departure.

Hargrove, it should be noted, also managed Manny Ramirez and Albert Belle in Cleveland had success leading the Indians. While Hargrove finally had enough, Ichiro put on his best sales pitch at the All-Star Game.

Look for the Mariners to promote outfielder Adam Jones before rosters expand in September. Jones, a true center fielder, is reminiscent of Mike Cameron in terms of body build, athleticism and combination of speed and power.

Gwynn, Texas Ranger?

While his father will be inducted into the Hall of Fame later this month, Milwaukee outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. might find himself as a part of a trade package to strengthen the Brewers' bullpen. According to baseball sources, the Brewers have talked to Texas about acquiring right-hander Akinori Otsuka to become a primary set-up man for closer Francisco Cordero. This is largely because the Brewers seem to have grown weary of reliever Derrick Turnbow's inconsistency. The price for Otsuka, however, could be Gwynn, who returned from Triple-A last week.

-- John Klima

CAPTION(S):

6 photos, 4 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- 2) There are signs that the balance between pitchers, such as C.C Sabathia, top, and hitters, such as Barry Bonds, is being restored in the major leagues.

Photos by Getty Images

(3) Detroit Tigers manager, left, on arguing with umpires, after catcher Ivan Rodriguez, center, was suspended a game for making contact with an ump.

(4) ICHIRO

(5) no caption (Tony Gwynn Jr.)

(6) HARGROVE

Box:

(1) SEEDS ON THE DUGOUT FLOOR (see text)

(2) SEVENTH-INNING STRETCH (see text)

(3) DAILY NEWS POWER RANKINGS

- John Klima

(4) ON DECK