Vinnie at the Bat #2

If you missed this year's World Series--don't worry, I'm sure it'll be an upcoming new release at Blockbuster. The Florida Marlins became debutantes and prom queens at the same time, crashing the 1997 postseason party. Weird, wild card stuff. Wayne Huzienga put himself in the red, as he made his players see the green.

Sure, the Marlins might represent all that is evil in baseball -- a team built on multimillion dollar free agency, an expansion team, a team that couldn't win its own division.

But can you take away the fact that when the season was on the line, they jelled for the challenge? The Marlins chopped up the familiar Atlanta Cy Youngs. And the Cleveland Indians beat the defending world champion Yankees and the frontrunning Orioles in crunch time -- do they deserve to be knocked for hovering around 80 wins?

What if there were no playoffs in sports--then we could just award the title to the team with the best record. There would be no "Broadway" Joe with his guarantee for victory. Those Mets would cease to be Amazin'. Everybody would be talking about the Mistake on Ice. How about this year's Arizona Wildcats in the Final Four? And in the NCAA's, it's a one-game series, and they have tons of "wild card teams" -- but no one complains about that? The four greatest words in sports are "on any given day."

On several given days, the Marlins and Indians proved themselves. They are not responsible for what divisional changes baseball makes. That doesn't make the game itself impure. It's still nine innings and batters do still have to hit pitchers. Interleague brought excitement -- mainly with its classic World Series rematches, like Boston and the Mets, Cards Vs. Royals, Brewers and Twins.

Now to deal with the real impurity--the Disgusting Habit--oh, I'm sorry, I mean the designated hitter. More like the designated sitter. While his teammates are working their butts off in the field, the closest he comes to leather is a glass of milk in the dugout. The DH is job security for over-the-hill sluggers that don't know when to hang up their mitt--oh, I'm sorry, I mean their bat. People cite that DH's actually are competent hitters, while pitchers are automatic outs. That's because the DH exists on all minor league levels. Pitchers never get to hit after high school anymore.

Hey, it's great for the owners, too--without a DH, it's a few million they can use to pay a better pitcher instead. They say pitching and defense wins pennants, anyway. It's a funny thing that the DH does neither. Edgar Martinez consistently hits well above .300, but only spends about ten minutes in the actual game.

Sure, some of that offense will be lost. But if you rely too much on one guy to carry your offensive load, the team will lose anyway. There's also more incentive for players to work harder in quest of the everyday lineup, without the DH job on which to fall back. A fourth outfielder in the NL is just that, until he can outperform someone else.

Why do I enjoy the Wild Card and Interleague, and yet not accept a rule that's been around since the 70's? Rule changes that affect the course of the game bother me--not seasonal and divisional decisions.

I've avoided the topic of football, although we are halfway through both pro and college seasons. Let's just say that when your favorite teams struggle, it becomes a sore subject I won't touch. Maybe I'll try to deal with my frustrations next time. For now, I'm still beaming from America's pastime.