MLB

The current story about ESPN analyst Steve Phillips making the rounds is a prime example of what’s truly wrong with this society, and how web sites purporting to report news and instead dealing in little more than salacious gossip pollute the Internet like so much toxic waste.

It’s not about what Phillips did.

Rather about the hysteria in following a story where one thing is inescapably apparent to anyone with a single  brain cell firing.

You practically can feel the loving wealth, spreading around the streets of Philly. At a point when Philly cheese steaks aren’t as tasty or lovable as the Philadelphia Phillies, the rabid town has again gone nuts, not over the Eagles or Michael Vick’s craze, not over the Sixers season-opener next week, and definitely not over the Flyers.

This segment is taking forever, but I’m having a good time so I’m going to stick with it.  Here we go, part five.

The fighting Philadelphia Phillies eliminated the Dodgers in the NLCS 4 Games to 1 and await the winner of the Yankees and Angels in the ALCS.

The Yankees currently lead the Angels 3-1 and could wrap it up tonight. Let’s not count the Angels out just yet, but with some some heartbreaking extra inning defeats to the Yankees early in the series, I think the Angels can not recover.

So that leaves us with the heavyweight showdown between the Yankees and the Phillies in the World Series. Let’s look at some of the points of interest for the possible upcoming World Series.  

Professional baseball is at a crossroads. I truly believe that. I don't have any data and no one has conducted a study on the sport that I know of. It's just a gut feeling.

We're learning that Manny Acta and Terry Francona's bench coach Brad Mills are among the finalists for the new Houston Astros managerial job.

Article originally posted on www.stadiumjourney.com

Many long-time White Sox fans continue to refer to the park as Comiskey, but when U.S. Cellular Field is referred to as “The Cell,” it conjures up images of a dark and foreboding fortress.  This image does not do the park justice.  It is a wide open structure with great sight lines and large concourses that will be enjoyed by most fans of the great sport of baseball.

FANFARE Score: 25

There were four references to the 2004 ALCS in one hour of SportsCenter this morning. Your friends who are Red Sox fans have joked about the series on Facebook and Twitter since Tuesday. If you step outside your home or office, there's probably a single-engine plane flying overhead with a "2004 ALCS: You Blew It" message tailing behind.

You had to expect this. This is the Yankees' first opportunity to clinch an American League pennant since the team's infamous collapse against the Red Sox five Octobers ago. It would be weird if it didn't come up.

Everyone who has had the good fortune to read Alan Moore's "Watchmen" knows that it is one of the greatest literary works of all time. Entertainment Weekly called it the 13th-best book since 1983. Time Magazine called it one of the 100 best novels since 1923. "Watchmen" is the only comic to appear on either list. What makes "Watchmen" special is its incredibly complex characters. Most of the so-called superheroes have no actual powers. They are human, with regular human flaws and weaknesses, albeit somewhat exaggerated because of their circumstances.

The 1950 Boston Red Sox infield produced one of the greatest offensive seasons in baseball history, but let's get one thing straight.

The Boston infield of Walt Dropo at first base, Bobby Doerr at second base, Johnny Pesky at third base, and Vern Stephens at shortstop was not the greatest infield of all time. But for one season, the unit was unrivaled as a hitting machine.

No infield has ever matched its production.