A Smattering of Intelligence--Wild Card Races, Political Races, and Bull Durham

So who has the advantage between the Brewers and Mets, who are currently locked in a flat-footed tie for the National League wild card? Both teams will be at home for the final weekend, but both face potentially annoying competition. The Brewers will host the Cubs, the best team in the league this season, in a three-game weekend series at Miller Park. Even though they've already clinched a division title, the Cubs will field their A-lineup against the Brewers, but they really have no tangible incentive to play all-out this weekend. The same could be said of the already-eliminated Marlins, who will engage the Mets in their Shea Stadium swansong, but would love nothing better than to play the role of spoiler against New York. No one needs to remind the Mets that it was the Marlins, angered by the showboating of Jose Reyes, who eliminated them on the final day of the season in 2007. I see a different outcome this time, with Jerry Manuel providing a calm hand, Carlos Beltran delivering at least two big hits, and Luis Ayala emerging as a bullpen savior over the final weekend...

It's amazing to me how many baseball bloggers--some of whom I enjoy reading frequently--simply can't resist talking politics on the eve of the November elections. Will Carroll and Scott Long of Baseball Toaster, along with Steven Goldman of the YES Network, have regularly included political commentary relating to the Obama-McCain race for the White House. On the one hand, their decisions to mix politics with baseball talk are understandable; the blogs belong to them, and they can do what they want. On the other hand, they do bill themselves first and foremost as baseball writers. In a sense, it's a kind of false advertising, creating an expectation of baseball conversation for the reader, then using a bait-and-switch and turning the talk over to politics. My opinion on this issue remains the same. There are plenty of avenues for political discourse across the Web, ranging from the Keith Olbermann side of the equation to the Bill O'Reilly perspective. I believe that the large majority of people want baseball from a baseball site, which is why I will continue to refrain from offering political sermons at MLB.com. I'm not pretending to be Ariana Huffington or Sean Hannity here. Besides, I'd much rather discuss the merits of Rico Carty, Tommy Davis, Robinson Cano, or David Wright...

Speaking of politics, there was no discussion of that topic--absolutely none--at last week's Hall of Fame "Voices of the Game" event featuring Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Robert Wuhl and Bull Durham director Ron Shelton. After film critic Jeffrey Lyons interviewed the four film notables, the Hall solicited questions from fans, who were asked to write down their questions. Several fans submitted written questions about the Hall's 2003 boycott of Robbins over his anti-Iraq War stance, but those queries were not used during the program. There was also no opportunity for fans to converse with the actors one-on-one, since no photo session was held afterwards, as has often been the custom at such Hall of Fame events. Instead, Robbins, Sarandon, and company were whisked away to their cars immediately after the program.

I think the decision to avoid political discussion during the program was a smart one, but the Hall should have at least broached the subject at the beginning of the event. A Hall of Fame spokesman could have briefly explained the reasoning behind the 2003 boycott and how that rationale changed in 2008--and then be done with the issue. I believe that such an announcement, which would have effectively served as a disclaimer, would have satisfied most reasonable fans.