Let me state up front, I love baseball. Grew up with the Dodgers, shifted loyalties to the Red Sox when I moved to New England, enjoyed the cool of the fountains at Kauffman Stadium -- oh yeah, and the Royals -- when I lived in Topeka, never really got into the Braves when I lived in Atlanta, and have been with the Phillies since 1987.
Let me add that I hope the Royals win it all this year. Tough, scrappy team that finds a way to win. Cinderellas all! But, at the same time, I must say that the Giants and the Royals are what's wrong with baseball these days.
Here is the greatest series in baseball -- the World Series -- played between two wild card teams, neither of which won 90 games during the regular season. By rights, by best-record-in-baseball-rights, we should be watching the Angels and the Nationals. That's why the game is played 162 times a year, to come up with a winning record and a spot in the playoffs. Now, none of that counts if you run into a team that got hot in the playoffs. And it always seems a cheat to me when I see wild card teams in the Series. For example, the Marlins won TWO World Series as wild cards. See what I mean? The Marlins, for God's sake.
I may sound like my grandfather here, whippersnappers, but I really do think the old way was better. You play 162, you win more than the other guys, you punch your ticket to the Series. Then you have a true championship game, played between the two best teams in the sport. That would be nice.
