What If They Held A World Series, and Nobody Cared?

OK, that's not fair: fans of the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers almost certainly cared about this year's World Series. But anyone else? Anyone? Bueller?

I was primed to get right into the Series this year, despite the Mets not getting there to complete what I'd hoped would be a classic match-up. But it just didn't live up to.. well, anything!

The rain delays and rain-out certainly didn't help. SportsNet did a viewer poll after the rain-out, asking whether people were losing interest in the series because of the weather problems, and the results were more than 2-to-1 in the affirmative. In the midst of an exciting playoff match, no amount of delay will de-rail most fans' enthusiasm, but that's hardly a description of this one.

Ironically, the last couple games of the series were the best. It was just starting to get interesting, what with the unbelievably bad throws to third base by the Tigers pitchers combined with great offensive bursts by both teams. Leads were actually changing hands during the game! Had things gone just a little better for the boys from Detroit, they could've won either or even both of Games Four and Five, and we could've travelled back to Motown for... who knows? Maybe some thrills?

The one player who I'm likely to remember from this year's World Series is Curtis Granderson of Detroit. Among the first comments I heard about Granderson was one of the Tigers coaching staff quoted as saying, "I don't have a daughter, but if I did, Curtis is the kind of young man I'd want her to marry." That caught my attention, not the least of which because Van Slyke's white and Granderson's black, but also because you don't normally make comments like that about athletes if you think they're liable to get charged with drunk driving, assault, or discharging a firearm sometime in the near future (you know: the typical extracurricular activities of today's young athlete). Then I saw him interviewed at the start of Game Five, with the Tigers facing elimination. He'd been all over the highlight reels the game before, when he slipped and fell on the wet outfield and allowed a fly ball to hit the ground and get the Cards back in the game. But in the interview, he was gracious, enthusiastic, every inch a gentleman and way too mature to possibly be only 25 years of age. In fact, he reminded me of another favourite of mine: Derek Jeter. Only time will tell if he'll have the sort of career Jeter's had (to date) but if skill and a good head on his shoulders counts, he should do well.