On Baseball and Elections

I don't remember which columnist said it in which paper, but back as the regular season was coming to an end he wrote that this is October. That means a reprieve from bad economic news and endless political campaigns. It's October and that means only one thing- baseball.

First there was the Division Playoffs.

Now we are in the midst of the Championship Series.

Then the great October Classic- the World Series arrives. If it hangs in to a full seven games it will end on Thursday, Oct. 30. Yes, only 5 days from the election. Only 5 days to put up with all the final insanity of this seemingly endless campaign cycle.

Now don't get me wrong. I am still a political semi-junkie (which may be like being only a little pregnant, I realize.) And the news of the economic crisis has been important. But at the end of the day we need a break. We need to sit back and relax with something that has all the importance of the election without the consequences. We can root and cheer and feel good or bad- and nothing will change in the world in the morning. But we will have gotten away from the super-seriousness and crisis and name-calling. (Name calling, by the way, may be more appropriate in baseball than elections.)

Tonight's the final debate- and the Phillies will be trying to end the Dodgers' season. The pundits will let me know what happens at Hofstra. It will be much more fun watching the game.

Anyway, maybe I can consider all this TV watching as being in-training for election night.

BTW, Mental Floss Blog had a post about 7 Famous Baseball Pitches and some of the science behind them. Not a bad article.