It was, I painfully recall, the '80s when baseball took an arrogant tumble from its 100-year throne as America's ultimate sport, getting blitzed by football and outflashed by basketball.
But now, with a captivating script, played out by an intriguing cast, on extraordinary stages, we're blessed by a flashback October, rekindling the pure and passionate old game of Ruth, Williams and Koufax, and the sporting love of my own youth. Even to the point of Yankees-Red Sox beanball combat.
Check the faces in dugouts that bubble with Cubs, Red Sox, Marlins and Yankees. Sadly, it will be temporary, seeing gifted jocks play with the trophy zeal of boys, not the insolence of millionaire mutts.
Derek Lowe, eschewing historic pressure, hammering two called third strikes past Oakland batters when a mistake could've made Boston a loser again, creating a Red Sox shot at their first World Series joy since 1917.
So many, playing really hard. Repetitive heroism from Pudge Rodriguez, getting critical hits and throwing around a hunky body, exuding behind-the-plate artistry, as the Marlins came back from the midsummer near dead, turning South Florida, for a while, into a hardball cauldron.
Among the tingles of a rare October, nothing has been saucier than the Cubs, scratching to bring the Friendly Confines a first World Series since 1945, fantasizing about even one shiny jewel more ... first since '08.
Oh, Sammy ...
Always, it seems, the Yankees are there, in October; chaps from Joe Torre's house showing classic drive, exhilaration, plus a rich-boy kind of hunger. Like it was a chase of the Bronx's inaugural World Series championship, not a mind-numbing 27th.
Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium ... has there ever been more of a misfit in a foursome than Pro Player Stadium?
It's like mixing diamonds, emeralds and rubies on a string with cubic zirconia. But how sweet to have the darling old three, reminding of stirring Octobers in bygone places called Ebbets, Polo, Forbes, Tiger, Municipal and Connie Mack.
Why can't baseball be like this in modern Aprils and Julys? Why must money overloads, petulant players, low-class showoffs and greedy owners foul a sport with precious history and unique charm?
Those are questions with no attainable 21st century answers. So let's just enjoy, if only for now, the game as it ought to be, be you rooter for Cubs or Marlins or Red Sox or Yankees, or a sporting observer, seeing the wonderfully eager ballplayer faces, willing bodies and focused minds, showing us again how great baseball can be.
* * *
KICKS: As the Bucs were in a 38-35 splintering against the Comeback Colts, I kind of expected ABC voice Al Michaels to bellow, "For the second time in my life, let me ask, "Do you believe in miracles?' " ... 'Tis time for college football to cease being so small time and protective, mandating that referees publicly address uniform numbers of players penalized. ... Speaking of NCAA games, how about playoff possessions commencing not at the 25-yard line but at least the 40, forcing teams to make at least a first down to get into field-goal range? ... Dustin Colquitt is a Tennessee punter worth drafting high in the first round. ... Dusty Baker should get a toothpick endorsement. ... Love ya, Emmitt Smith, but going to Arizona was the second-worst move of this NFL season, behind ESPN's hiring of Rush Limbaugh. ... Even oft-concussed old QBs Troy Aikman and Steve Young are wailing on TV about zebras' overprotection of passers that borders on the ridiculous. ... Brightest new prospect in Capitals camp is a hockey import from Germany, John Gruden. ... Overexposure? ABC showed 33 MNF shots of Warren Sapp, none of him making a tackle, but there was a roughing the passer.
* * *
Whatever happened to Joe Cribbs?
* * *
SNACKS: New Orleans is home to the finest gumbo, best jazz and most underachieving team in the NFL. ... Lance Armstrong got a $3.2-million bonus from his U.S. Postal Service sponsor for winning a fifth Tour de France, which will make me suspicious for any increase in the cost of stamps before 3001. ... Max Schmeling, winner of a memorable, politically charged 1936 heavyweight title fight with Joe Louis and loser in the rematch two years later, is alive in Germany at age 98. ... Helmet shaking has become football's new arrogance. ... Too bad he's a receiver, because it would be cool to introduce a Michigan player (first name Jason) as, "Avant, guard." ... Kansas City unquestionably has the NFL's finest offensive line. ... Alas, the defeat-infested Tigers did something right, refusing to allow the sham of golfer Phil "Majors Not" Mickelson pitching for their Triple-A farm team in Toledo. ... Where is ex-Baylor basketball scum Dave Bliss hiding?
