Take the time to watch The Tenth Inning on PBS if you haven't already. It's interesting to look at baseball history that I've seen, that I remember, and see it as a retrospective. I think Ken Burns did a pretty good job of handling fairly complex and controversial issues - like the 1994 strike or PED usage - in an even-handed manner. This is absolutely the right thing to do.
It's much more interesting to talk about Barry Bonds as a complex individual with deep seated issues and motivation, rather than as an evil villain. It's also interesting to view the 1998 home run chase with a backdrop of the Clinton impeachment. The point is, as easy as it is to point the finger or pontificate about PED usage, it's much more difficult (but meaningful) to ask why this happened. And we've been doing far too little of that.
- For all the worries about this year's postseason rotation, I find it funny how similar it is to last year's - CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, and a pitcher with an ERA+ around 105. It worked once, and it can work again.
- It's About The Money takes a look at the Rays and why the current system of revenue sharing is broken. And they're absolutely right. If anybody's funding should be cut, it's the Pirates, or the Royals, or some other lousy team that isn't trying to put a competitive product on the field.
- River Avenue Blues sets the Yankees priorities straight for the remainder of the season, which probably means accepting a Wild Card berth. And this isn't a bad thing. 1 out of 4 champions in the post-strike era were Wild Card teams, and coincidentally or not, 1 out of 4 playoff teams is a Wild Card.