Baseball Gets Good

written by Ted Sullivan

Phillies, looking to repeat.

My friends are often surprised when I tell them that I don’t watch that much baseball. As a kid I always preferred to be out on the field rather than on the couch watching on TV. And now that I’ve sat through enough meaningless minor league games to fill three lifetimes, I’d rather watch  The Wire, The Office or even 60 Minutes instead of a regular season MLB game.

I still love the game. I enjoy the highlights on SportsCenter and spend many spring / summer hours on the field coaching kids. But with the exception of the All-Star game I can honestly say I haven’t watched more than two consecutive innings on TV all season.

However my indifference to major league baseball on TV will end this weekend as the NLCS and ALCS begin.

I’ll tune in for these games because playoff baseball — when every pitch matters, when each decision by a manager is make or break, when stadiums are exploding with energy —  is the second best sports entertainment on television. (Duke hoops in March in a not-so-photo finish.)

I’m especially excited about this year because I think all four remaining teams have a legitimate chance at winning it all. The Yanks’ lineup is silly, the Angels are starving for a championship, the Phillies are consummate pros and the Dodgers have Torre, Manny and a legit pitching staff. If we’re lucky we’ll see Pedro vs Manny, Mo vs Vlady, an LA “freeway” series and all of NYC on suicide watch if the Yankees choke.

Let the games begin.