Baseball in a America is undergoing a mini crisis. The brawny sluggers are hitting more home runs than ever before and the franchise is worried that the balls are being doctored in some way.

Last year Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa both swung their way into the record books with record home runs, McGwire with the aid of andro, an anabolic steroid which is banned by the International Olympic Committee.

But as a result of the crowd-pleasing hitting, top officials have been jetted to the baseball factory in Costa Rica where the company Rawling make over a million balls a year. Rawling vehemently deny they have done anything to affect the pace of the delivery or the distance the ball travels, leaving most people mildly confused.

Broadcaster Tim McCarver had his own view. "The reason the ball has been carrying so well is the deforestation of the Amazon basin down in Brazil," he said.

That's a new one.