Look, it's baseball

A pretty good World Series concluded this evening, although not with the winning team I adopted and cheered on in person this postseason.  The Texas Rangers will have to wait at least another year to get their first title in franchise history.

Last night's Game 6 was sloppy before transforming into the sort of game destined to become the stuff of legend.  Folks were tripping over themselves this morning to declare it the Best Game Ever.  It was a dramatic game, no doubt, but let's not rush to judgment.

As Octobers go in baseball, this was a terrific one.  The playoffs featured a healthy amount of excitement.  This World Series was probably the best one in awhile. 

A recent tradition at this point in the year is for sports commentators to be poised to point out how baseball's TV ratings aren't as strong as in prior decades and note how this means the game is hurting.  OK, fine, baseball has ceded it's status as America's favorite sport to football, but the number of people watching on broadcast television, say, thirty years ago versus now isn't a worthwhile comparison.  Think of how many other channels and entertainment options are available now.  A hundred or more cable channels, not to mention DVD/Blu-ray, streaming video, and the internet, are there to pull away viewers versus the four broadcast channels that dominated home entertainment back then.  Of course the ratings don't measure up now, and i should care that they don't because why?

Of all the professional sports, baseball is the one that's there almost every day while it's in season for seven months.  It's fitting that as this season ends the weather has just changed to colder temperatures, when it's time to change the type of clothing one wears.  As baseball steps aside for a bit, so too do the warm months.  They'll be back before we know it.