Baseball

The two best teams in baseball will meet in the World Series, and oddly enough each is similar to the other. 

Both have dynamite, strike-at-any-moment lineups loaded with former MVPs and future Hall-of-Famers. Both have lefty aces that were on the Cleveland Indians only a season ago. Both have inconsistent fireballers who, if on their game, are unhittable. 

So, I’ve been trying this week to actually write some insightful columns and conduct some interviews, both for the folks over at CBS and here. In addition to that, I’ve been accumulating a tremendous amount of notes that I’ve slipped into various columns or interviews.

However, not everything made the cut, or fit, or whatever. So, just for the sake of having everything in one place, or in case this is the only Web site you go to on your Internet machine, let’s review the events from the last few days:

Amidst a court struggle that will decide if Frank McCourt owns the entirety of the Los Angeles Dodgers, his soon-to-be ex-wife Jamie McCourt alleges that she owns a share of the ballclub.

Frank, owner of the franchise, fired Jamie from her post as CEO last week for reasons he cited as “insubordination.”

Like not wanting to be married to you anymore, Frank?

Tonight, if the rain lets up, the World Series will begin between the Phillies and the Yankees. While on paper this seems like a great matchup, featuring the teams that have been the best in their respective leagues all season, I'm completely uninterested.

At the risk of sounding like a whiny blogger, this is not a World Series that captivates my interest.

Perhaps it's the story, or lack there of. While A-Rod's rise from a playoff failure to juggernaut has been interesting, I honestly can't get into it.

Now with the World Series set to begin, people have started to talk about the Yankees winning their 27th World Championship and "Mr. November", Derek Jeter, will help the team once the World Series gets that far.

However, I completely disagree with the term "Mr. November" for Derek Jeter and I argue that Randy Johnson should instead be called Mr. November.

To tell you about my argument, I will turn back the clocks to 2001 and how this entire event concerning Mr. November unfolded.

Put on your old Donnie Baseball jersey, pour a cold beer, and get out your Tim McCarver voodoo doll...it's time for the World Series!

River & Sunset has 11 reasons why the American League champion Yankees will topple the National League champion Phillies in the annual Fall Classic.

11. Home-field advantage

In a move that should come as a surprise to nobody, SI.com’s Jon Heyman is reporting that Manny Ramirez will exercise his $20 million player option for 2010.

Nobody in the Los Angeles Dodger organization should be surprised by this. This was a no-brainer decision for Ramirez. At the end of the day, Ramirez didn’t have any other options.

What was he going to do? Back out of his contract and test the free agent market?

I love the crack of the bat, the stolen base, and the hot stove, but the aspect of baseball that keeps me hooked is the numbers.

The numbers are what separate baseball from other major sports. Sports fans don’t tend to get too excited when a quarterback breaks a touchdown record, and they hardly notice a basketball player making dozens of consecutive free throws.

But baseball is different. The numbers 714, 755, 762, 56, 4,256, .400, 2,632, 59, 191, 130, 61, and 73 are ingrained in the minds of every baseball fan.