A baseball version:

1. Minor league baseball is the best entertainment value out there. Fans get to see AA and AAA players make the same great plays (though not as often as MLB players, and the admission and concessions are much more economical. Also, many of the minor league parks, though smaller than their MLB counterparts, are much more charming.

2. This year's College World Series may be the best I've ever seen. I'm taking LSU to top Texas for the championship even though Arkansas and Arizona St. have been reslient. If the MLB draft were held next week, instead of last week, some team would have gobbled up Kole Calhoun, the stout, baby-faced lefty slugger.

3. I'm really looking forward to the return of John Smoltz, who's been one of the fiercest competitors I've ever seen. That at 42 he can miss a year with a serious shoulder injury and work his way back speaks of the fire that burns within. He is without a doubt my favorite player outside of Philadelphia.

4. Speaking of old pitchers on the Red Sox, the pitch that Tim Wakefield threw to strike out a frozen Cody Ross the other night was one of the nastiest pitches I've ever seen. Ross thought the pitch was above his eyes, but it ended up a strike at below the waist on the inside corner. It was amazing that the catcher caught it. It couldn't have dropped more if it had rolled off a table.

5. If I had to put together a lineup among the players I remember seeing play from about 1973 to the present, it would be:

1. Rickey Henderson (LF)
2. Joe Morgan (2B)
3. Ken Griffey, Jr. (CF)
4. Mike Schmidt (3B)
5. Reggie Jackson (RF)
6. Alex Rodriguez (SS)
7. Willie Stargell (1B)
8. Johnny Bench (C)

I would round out the position players with Pete Rose (3B, 2B, 1B, LF, RF); Ozzie Smith (SS); Dale Murphy (OF); Ivan Rodriguez (C); Barry Bonds (OF); George Brett(IF).

My rotation in no particular order would be:

Greg Maddux, Steve Carlton, Pedro Martinez, Tom Seaver, and Randy Johnson (I picked Johnson over Schilling and Smoltz because I wanted another lefty).

The bullpen would be Bruce Sutter, Dennis Eckersley, Mariano Rivera, Rich Gossage, and John Hiller.

Who better to manage the team than Sparky Anderson.

6. I'd subtract a couple years off my life to be able to view live games in every decade. I'd most be interested inthe 1900s -1930s.

7. Youth baseball leagues, especially travel teams, have been exploding. My sons play ball and my 14 year old son plays on a travel team that does about 4 tournaments within a 120 mile radius when his regular season ends in July. It's almost scary listening to some of the parents of 12-14 year olds, talking about moving and changing schools or missing school so that their kids can play more baseball.

8. I think the Reds and Giants have the best teams that nobody (except Blibbleblabble) knows about. I think the Giants have the pitching to stay in the playoff race. I think the NL Central is going to have the most fascinating pennant race in baseball.

9. Joba Chamberlain may be the most important player on the Yankee roster. Sabathia's the ace, but Pettitte seems old and fading, Burnett has had more failures, disappointment and injuries than successes in his career, Wang is farther out of orbit than david Ortiz ever was this year, so Chamberlain has to be the consistent, dependable guy to prevevent losing streaks and eat innings.

10. I'm a big believer that baseball teams should be built around pitching and defense with the most important position players being catcher, SS and CF. It is far easier to find good hitting than it is to find good pitching. I don't believe in guarding the lines in the 9th inning with a lead, but I nevertheless believe in the "no-doubles outfield" when leading by 1 with a runner on base in the ninth. I think too much is made of "pitch count", and too little of the hit-and-run. I also believe that the most underrated manager in baseball is Jim Tracy; the most overrated is Lou Piniella. And now for the shocker...George W. Bush would be an excellent Commissioner of Baseball.