The pennant races have disappeared like Mark Sanford's dignity. This may be good news for football fans, but not for the 21 teams that were out of the race by Labor Day. (I included the Giants among the living, because they could accidentally catch Colorado or LA for the wild card if 1. everyone in Denver catches Swine Flu or 2. the Cardinals trade them Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday for a player to be named later.)
For a rabid baseball fan, particularly one like me who roots monolithically against the Yankees, the last month of the season has been somewhat disheartening. But I'm holding out hope that it will make for a thrilling post-season, which has acted like it's seen a ghost the last few years. The last great World Series was Arizona's dramatic seven-game triumph over NYY in '01, and though we've had a handful of wild LCS and LDS since then (think Red Sox '04), the baseball gods have largely frowned on October.
Besides, baseball needs some autumnal drama to counteract football's WalMarting of the American sports scene. It's as if a football eclipse blocks out the World Series every year. It'd be nice if baseball could leverage some nail-biting to sneak beyond the pigskin shadow for a few minutes.
At this point, the two most successful franchises in history -- New York and St. Louis -- appear to be the favorites to meet in the Fall Classic. But it seems like every playoff entrant save Detroit is capable of having something to say about that.
Between my state's esteemed "Luvenor" and our Congressman, Screamin' Joe, and our worst-in-the-nation schools and our still-flying Confederate flag and our legislature's inability to outlaw texting while driving, we need a diversion. We need a seven game Series that goes walk-off three times with extra innings in the finale.
Hey, I'm not asking for much.
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