The Mariners' new big bopper, Raul Ibanez, is already paying huge dividends.



Here he can be seen trying to move a runner into scoring position for the formidable Dan Wilson.

I've been receiving plently of suggestions regarding improvement of the Suck Ass statistic. David at S & B's has even proposed his own "End-All Suckass Factor Calculation". Before this turns into a Flaming Homer - Flaming Moe situation, I think it best if I reveal now, to all sixteen readers of our humble blog, the inspiration of the Suck Ass.

My brother Matt graduated from WSU last May, and in his four years at this fine institution of higher learning, he came to realize that the WSU Cougar men's basketball team did a lot of things over the course of a game that, well, sucked, and weren't reflected to his satisfaction in the stat sheet. So he created the "Suck," which he defined as any play that most scrubs playing ball at the Rec Center would be ashamed to make in front of an audience. Not every negative play was a Suck. A turnover, for example, is not always a Suck. Dribbling into a trap, picking up the ball, then weakly handing it over to the defense and watching them pack it on the other end is at least one Suck, probably two. Missing a dunk doesn't have to be a Suck. Missing a dunk on a breakaway, where it's just you and the rim, and then having the opposition rebound the miss and bust a three at the other end is a Suck. Getting crossed over so bad that you fall down is a Suck.

For a while Matt kept track of all the Cougs' Sucks (which was a LOT). Before too long, having a definitive record of Cougar Suckiness got to be too much for his fragile Coug psyche to handle, and he gave up his record-keeping. The Suck was lost, but not forgotten.

Given the feedback on my creation, the SA (see yesterday's post), it seems I should clarify: the SA is not a measure of the average abilities of an offensive player over the course of a season; rather, it simply counts the number of times a hitter has sucked. It was pointed out to me, rightly, that in 1997 Jay Buhner certainly did not Suck Ass, as he hit 40 homers with over 100 walks. Excellent numbers by any measure. It just so happens, though, that the number of times in 1997 that he, according to my definition, "Sucked Ass," puts him among baseball's all time leaders for a single season.

Sammy Sosa has posted three of the top ten SA seasons. Sammy does not suck any ass whatsoever.

Today, amidst the boredom that rears its ugly head every Thursday morning, I created a new baseball statistic, the Suck Ass, or SA. In creating the SA, I am attempting to quantify the number of times over the course of a season that a given player Sucks Ass. I have identified three offensive outcomes that Suck Ass, and are readily available on your favorite baseball statistics website: strikeouts, times grounded into double plays, and times caught stealing. A player's Suck Ass total is defined as follows:

SA = K + CS + 2*GIDP

(The GIDP term is doubled because a GIDP creates two outs)

In creating the Suck Ass, I had in mind a particular type of player that I figured would dominate the all-time highest Suck Ass seasons. He'd be really slow and strike out a lot (specifically, I was thinking of Pete Incaviglia). Here's the 10 seasons that Sucked the most Ass:

1. Jose Hernandez, 2002 Brewers: 231 SA
2. Preston Wilson, 2000 Marlins: 223 SA
3. Richie Sexson, 2001 Brewers: 222 SA
4. Jay Buhner, 1997 Mariners: 221 SA
5. Sammy Sosa, 1998 Cubs: 220 SA
6. Sammy Sosa, 1997 Cubs: 218 SA
7. Sammy Sosa, 1999 Cubs: 213 SA
7. Cecil Fielder, 1990 Tigers: 213 SA
9. Jim Presley, 1986 Mariners: 212 SA
10. Bobby Bonds, 1970 Giants: 211 SA

As you can see, while there are a couple of slow sluggers on the list (Buhner, Fielder), there are a lot of pretty fast players also (Bonds, Wilson, Sosa), a testament to the relative importance of being caught stealing to Sucking Ass.

As the season progresses, check for SA league leaders, and for Mariner team SA leaders.

Note: Incaviglia's 1986 season with the Rangers was good enough for 16th place, with 205 SA

Check out Ichiro's photo in today's P-I, taken as he auditions for the role of "Kyle" in the Japanese remake of the 2000 film classic, "Road Trip."

...so I'll let this one speak for itself:





Yes, that's Red Sox outfielder Johhny Damon.

There's a new M's blog out there, Olympia Mariner. They take a decidedly anti-stat stance, and, frankly, it's a refreshing new perspective. Well written, too. Give it a look.

I just checked out the 2004 MLB lines on Betonsports.com. No surprise, the Yankees are favored to win the World Series, but right on their heels are the Red Sox and Cubs. Worst odds to win? Tigers, you say? Wrong. Milwaukee. Followed by Pittsburgh, then the Tigers. And you thought signing Pudge wouldn't make a difference. In fact, they give the Tigers better odds to win their division than the Rangers theirs.

Here's my completely unthoroughly researched prediction:

AL WEST:
Oakland
Seattle (with 75 wins)
Anaheim
Texas

AL CENTRAL:
Chicago
Minnesota
Kansas City
Cleveland
Detroit

AL EAST:
Boston
New York
Toronto
Baltimore
Tampa Bay

NL WEST:
San Francisco
Arizona
Los Angeles
San Diego
Colorado

NL CENTRAL:
Chicago
St. Louis
Houston
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Milwaukee (110 losses)

NL EAST:
Philadelphia
Florida
Atlanta
New York
Montreal

Jose Canseco is available to anybody that wants him. He says he'll play for the minimum. He says he can play first (I know, he says a lot of things). Even as just a pinch hitter, it makes sense to pay Canseco the minimum. And he's old as dirt, and a Proven Veteran. Qualities the M's find irresistable. Of course, the M's would offer him a $2 million deal, because that's the kind of tight ship they run.

Make this happen, Goat Boy. Trust me. It will work.

There's an article today on ESPN.com about how baseball does a crappy job marketing itself compared with other major sports. Well, duhhhhh!

One line got me though:

Jim Thome is a genuine pinup.

Uhhh, yeah.

Former Mariner (and Washington State Cougar) Rob Ramsay is in Orioles camp this spring, attempting a comeback from two brain surgeries (Washington Post article, registration required). Ramsay last pitched at the Major League-level in the 2000 ALCS against the Yankees. He had a "baseball-sized" tumor removed from his brain in 2001, and a blood clot removed from his brain in 2002. Things are stacked against him making the big club, as the O's have about as many "crafty lefties" as our M's trying out for the roster, but he certainly will be competitive for the job. Best of luck to him.

If you follow the link, and look at the picture, you'll notice Ramsay pitching with a John Olerud-style fielder's helmet. Baseball needs more men with helmets.

I love Pullman. I just saw a Ron Jeremy look-alike speed down my hill on a little BMX bike. Thought I'd share.

A seven-game series vs. the Cubs would have a team facing:

Game 1: Mark Prior
Game 2: Kerry Wood
Game 3: Greg Maddux
Game 4: Carlos Zambrano
Game 5: Prior
Game 6: Wood
Game 7: Maddux, with MARK PRIOR IN THE BULLPEN!

Money can buy a lot of things, but it can't buy the World Series.

Maddux is goin' to the Cubs!

Jim Hendry (knocks on the outside window of Baskin-Robbins): Do you like apples?

George Steinbrenner (looks in disbelief at his party, then): Uhh, yeah, sure.

Hendry (slams a contract against the window so Steinbrenner can see): Well I got Maddux! How you like them apples?

Pete, you ever heard of Francis Beltran?

Thanks to the 2/15 post on Ball Talk, which points to this "Jared" Rosenthal article. An excerpt:

Cubs Class AAA RHP Francis Beltran was a revelation pitching for Licey in his native Dominican Republic, going from unreliable middle reliever to closer...

"He's come up with a split-fingered fastball from hell," one scout says. "From what I saw, I don't know how you can keep him off their team." Beltran, 24, was shut down at Class AAA last July because of biceps tendinitis, but he is expected to compete for a spot in the bullpen -- there will be one or two openings, depending on whether the Cubs sign free-agent RHP Greg Maddux. Beltran throws 95 to 98 mph, and the Cubs project him as a closer in the future. . .

Sounds like the Northside version of Robocop to me.

He's not a scout, or an executive, so his opinion doesn't hold a lot of weight with the Goat Boys of the world, but Bryan Smith at Wait Til Next Year, in today's post, ranks baseball's 50 best prospects.

The M's made a respectable showing, with pitchers Clint Nageotte (#23) and Travis Blackley (#37) making the cut.

Oakland's got shortstop Bobby Crosby (#18) and pitcher Joe Blanton (#32).

As for Texas:

INT. DEAN WERMER'S OFFICE - DAY

DEAN WERMER

The Texas Rangers... have no prospects.

That's right. No Ranger in the top 50. Condolences to baseball fans in the Metroplex.

Anaheim is scarry now, and for the future. Five guys. Catcher Jeff Mathis (#12), first baseman Casey Kotchman (#19), pitchers Ervin Santana (#21) and Bobby Jenks (#31), and third baseman Dallas McPherson (#33).

Of note: Giants prospect, pitcher Merkin Valdez (#44). In a couple of years, when Felipe Alou goes to the mound to relieve Valdez, I hope to God that Jon Miller says, "It looks like Alou's jerkin' Merkin."

2004 Yankees that are locks for the Hall of Fame:

Derek Jeter
Greg Maddux (still in the rumor phase)
Mariano Rivera
Alex Rodriguez

2004 Yankees that have a shot at Cooperstown:

Gary Sheffield
Jason Giambi
Jorge Posada
Mike Mussina
Kevin Brown
Bernie Williams

...and they can be defeated. Their starting pitching, with the exception of Vasquez, is OLD, and I wouldn't be surprised to see any member of their rotation have a terrible season. Remember, the Sox are stacked too. Schilling and Pedro didn't just disintegrate into thin air when Alex was traded.

According to Ken "Jared From Subway" Rosenthal, A-Rod is going to push for the shortstop position on the Yankees. If this "race" is even remotely close I'll be shocked. I wonder how many times new Yankee pitchers allowed a ket base hit that squeaked through their sieve of an infield and noticed that their old infield would of had the out.

This is just terrible. I have nothing to say for myself.

It looks like Maddux will be a Cub after all. This is a great move by the Jim Hendry and the Cubs, and while they are paying more than what they originally wanted to, they're getting a great veteran pitcher who can teach a thing or two to Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, and Carlos Zambrano. Goat Boy's trying to make this type of move, but instead of bringing back veterans capable of contributing to a championship team (Raul Ibanez is definitely NOT a championship-caliber outfielder), or who can impart valuable knowledge to the youngsters (there are no young players on the Mariners, nor do they have openings likely to be filled by AAA players), he's giving us Ron Villone and Terry Mulholland.

Three very important words for Goat Boy to familiarize himself with:

REPLACEMENT LEVEL PLAYERS

A-Rod is a Yankee! For now, it's said that Jeter will remain at short, with Alex playing third. One untimely error on Jeter's part, and you know that won't last too long. You just don't move 28-year-old, Gold Glove shortstops. It's simply not done!

This makes the Yankees really, really scarry.

Here's a good post about the 2004 Mariner uniform #'s from Bavasi Stinks. Wiki Gonzalez is no #1, certainly. But Scott Spiezio as #23? Ryne Sandbeg's number? I know Ryno played for a different team, but Spiezio is a disgrace to everything that defined Ryno. This puts Spiezio oh so close to surpassing the infamous Paul O'Neill as my Most Hated Player Ever. I'm sure watching Spazzio play third about 120 times or so this season will put him over.

Hey, that make me think: Raul Ibanez's nickname should be Dead or Alive.

Remember when, a few years ago, it was hip to listen to 80's pop songs for a while? Eighties radio stations starting popping up across the nation, and all of a sudden it was a feather in your cap to know all the words to "Come On Eileen." Then people starting catching on. We all remembered why no one had heard Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Relax" in ten years: that music blew then, and it blows now.

Fast forward to 2004. The Mariners sign Raul Ibanez, Ron Villone, and Terry Mullholland (Bill Bavasi is looking up Mike Kingery's digits as we speak). People start reminiscing. "I remeber Raul Ibanez! I always liked him!" and so on. Reality will set in, and when he's hitting .260 with five home runs at the All-Star break, we'll all be reminded why he was let go in the first place. As history takes its course, Raul Ibanez will be the "You Spin Me (Like a Record)" of Mariners baseball.

It's 1:45. The bouncer's kicking everyone out of the bar. Bill Bavasi's been working his game all night, but none of the good players are buying his sales pitch. But wait! Who's that, standing alone in the corner? I think it's Terry Mullholland! Hey, at least he went home with somebody.

I was a little harsh (but only a little) in my criticism of Scott Spiezio's ability to field the hot corner. I compared Spiezio's lifetime 3B fielding stats to Russ Davis's as a Mariner, and found that Davis was actually quite a bit better, statistically. What I didn't consider, however, was the likely improvement Spiezio will show as a third baseman. Spiezio's lifetime 3B stats consist of the sum of all his spot appearances at the position. As the regular 3B this year, he will be (and hopefully already is) undoubtedly working very hard to learn the nuances of the position. Will Spiezio be as bad as his 1.66 range factor at 3B? Probably not. Will he be as "good" as Russ Davis? Only time will tell.

After the 2001 season, I thought the Seattle Mariners had exactly one advantage over the other 29 Major League baseball clubs: the ability to sign Japanese players. I was starting to expect a steady stream of All-Stars from the Land of the Rising Sun, but that's turning out to not be the case after all.

After Sasaki starting mowing 'em down during his rookie 2000 season, I looked in to the Japan League to see what scouts were saying about other stars there, and I came away with three predictable names: Ichiro, Hideki Matsui, and Kazuo Matsui. Then we signed Ichiro. The Matsuis must be right around the corner, I thought. I was, of course, wrong, and Gillick was unable to obtain either player, but in a moment of pure conjecture, let's look at what our lineup might look like today:

Ichiro, RF
Kazuo Matsui, SS
Edgar, DH
Boone, 2B
Hideki Matsui, LF
Olerud, 1B
Spiezio, 3B
Winn, CF
Wilson, C

The M's had a golden opportunity to corner a potentially valuable market, and blew it. Just like it's worth overpaying Ichiro in his contract extension, it would have been worth overpaying for the Matsuis.

As it stands today, the Mariners have no advantages at all over the other clubs, and with Goat Boy and Gump (sounds like a 70's detective action-drama, picture Bob Melvin sliding across the expansive hood of a '78 Crown Victoria) at the controls, don't expect too much from this group.

Of course, all that is just a bunch of wouldda, shouldda, couldda. Who cares? Play some baseball already.

Ron Villone is officially part of YOUR 2004 SEATTLE MARINERS! Fie! Several things bother me about this, most of which have already been covered by my esteemed M's blogland neighbors.

Villone's contract brings one question I haven't seen elsewhere: Why is a lefty in the pen a necessity? Soriano and Hasegawa are going to mow down righties, and do just fine against the lefties they're called to face.

To me, this signing means that Everyday Eddie is a lock as the closer (nothing wrong with that if it stood by itself), with Soriano in short relief. This must mean that a lefty in the pen is unimportant, because if it had any importance at all, Soriano would be the closer and Everyday Eddie would be that lefty. But then we sign Villone, whose only strength is that he can't use normal scissors, and I don't know what to think anymore! I'm as confused by this as you.

Whitey Herzog called Ryne Sandberg the best player he'd ever seen in 1984. In a People Magazine article that same year, Ralph Novak speculated, "If Theodore Roosevelt were alive, he'd probably be a Sandberg booster too, admiring as he did people who speak softly as well as carry a big stick." Evidently, thirty-nine percent of the ten-year members of the Baseball Writers Association of America see something that Herzog missed, and, presumably, Teddy Roosevelt would have overlooked. As early as 1991, writers in such respected sporting publications as Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News hailed Ryno as a sure-fire, first-ballot inductee into the Hall of Fame. Cooperstown's loss, however, is Sox-1918's gain, and I am proud to introduce Ryne Sandberg as the first member of the At Least The Red Sox Have 1918 Hall Of Fame.

Sandberg's road to Sox-1918 immortality began in the 1978 Amateur Draft, when he was chosen in the 20th round by the Philadelphia Phillies. A star quarterback at Spokane's North Central High School (the baseball field there has been named after him for years now), Sandberg's draft position was without a doubt effected by the numerous Division I football scholarships being presented to him at the time, including offers from Nebraska, Oklahoma, and eight of the ten Pac-10 universities. Sandberg showed that he could hit for average at the minor league level in subsequent seasons, but his lack of power and high strikeout totals had the Phillies' management convinced he would be no more than a utility infielder in the big leagues. After only six at-bats in thirteen games for the Phillies during his September call-up of 1981, the team decided Sandberg was expendable, and on January 27, 1982, he was traded to the Cubs, a mere throw-in to go with shortstop Larry Bowa, for shortstop Ivan DeJesus. DeJesus wasn't terrible (he led the NL in runs in 1978 for the Northsiders, although he didn't do too much for the Phillies), but Sandberg became a legend as a result of one of baseball history's most one-sided trades.

Sandberg will surely be remembered as one of the best-fielding second basemen of all time, winning the National League Gold Glove award at the position nine times (Nine times? Niiiiiiiiiine tiiiiiiiiiiiiiimes). Although his approach in the field was far from textbook, Sandberg compensated with a strong arm for his position and remarkable hands. Despite his unorthodox last-second stabs at ground balls with his glove, Sandberg broke the consecutive errorless games record at second base twice. Don "Gerbil" Zimmer once said of Sandberg, "For him to field like that he must have outstanding hands, outstanding hands." An entire generation of kids growing up with me in Ketchikan, Alaska (and certainly in other locales as well), with the only regular baseball broadcast being the Cubs on WGN, mimicked Sandberg's glovework, much to the chagrin of our Little League coaches.

As amazing as Sandberg was as a fielder, how he will always be remembered will be as a great hitter, one of the best in the National League in the 1980's. From his 1984 National League Most Valuable Player season, when he hit nineteen triples to go with nineteen home runs, to his 25-homer comeback season of 1996, Ryne Sandberg put up numbers comparable to just about any middle infielder Cooperstown has honored.

Ryne Sandberg will always be remembered by fans of my generation as not only a great ballplayer, but as a model citizen as well. He has touched Cubs fans, Spokanites, and casual baseball fans alike in ways no one has quite duplicated. For these reasons, Sandberg leads the list of Sox-1918 Hall Of Famers. Stay tuned until opening day, as we will be inducting several other members of the inaugural class of the At Least The Red Sox Have 1918 Hall Of Fame.

The Pirates have signed Jose Mess-Up to a minor league deal. The best line of the article:

Mesa, who doesn't speak to the media...

Mesa, along with Quinton McCracken, make up that select group of ballplayers whose production on the field could likely be duplicated by the Tuba Guy. Every time McCracken grounds weakly to second, I'll be thinking, "It could be worse. Jose Mesa could be warming up..."

The Cougs swept the LA schools in LA this week. Those of you that do not follow Cougar Basketball my not fully appreciate just how monumetal this turn of events is. The Cougs had never, ever, EVER won at Pauley Pavillion (UCLA's home gym). Did I mention never, ever, ever? They won on Thursday. At Pauley. Against UCLA. Holy freakin' crap.

Stanford-Arizona was about as amazing a finish as I'll ever see. Wow.

That's all the basketball talk for now. Back to baseball...

Over the next few weeks, Pete and I will be inducting the inaugural class of the At Least The Red Sox Have 1918 Hall Of Fame, or "ALTRSH1918HOF" for short. For consideration, players must be:

-retired from baseball
-not a lock for the real Hall Of Fame
-active in the Major Leagues during Pete's and my time as baseball fans (from about 1985 on)

Hopefully the first few players we induct will suffice to establish what we're looking for. Comments about our selections are welcome and encouraged. Or if you think we're overlooking someone, let us know.

I would like to recommend to any readers out there who are not already doing so to check out Baseball Primer's Clutch Hits. It's a great summary of the day's baseball news, from a bunch of different sources, from sports sites like ESPN.com and The Sporting News to local newspaper coverage.

In today's edition of Clutch Hits, there's a link to a good article from the New York Post about Mike Cameron, one of those "hype up the new player" bits.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: letting Cameron go was a HUGE mistake. It'll be interesting to see if fewer people hang out on the landing in center field at The Safe this year.

Jasyson Stark has an article on ESPN.com outlining the leaders in many statistical categories for the first four years of this decade. He spends most of the article explaining how Todd "Highway To" Helton has a reasonable chance to be the third player ever to average over 200 hits over an entire decade (Ty Cobb and Pete Rose are the only two so far). Certainly an impressive feat if Helton is lucky enough to make it. Incidentally, Ichiro is only about 50 hits from the top ten, despite playing the 2000 season in Japan.

The really impressive stat, however, is that Alex Rodriguez has a real shot to average 50 home runs over the decade. 50! No one has even come close to that. Maybe if he averaged 75, the Rangers could finally contend.

The YES Network's web site is running an opinion piece about how the Yankees should release Aaron Boone because of his participation in the basketball game that cost him his ACL the other day. Two things come to mind in reaction to the article. One, there are a lot of stiffs worse than Aaron Boone that could be the Mariners' 2005 third baseman. Two, if the Yankees cable network is publishing an "opinion" that Boone should be released, it's probably right around the corner.

John at Sodo Oh No got a good jab in on Goat Boy in his post the other day:

M's should be concentrating on Maglio Ordonez and/or Carlos Beltran but I have a sinking feeling that Bavasi is all tied up reading the manual for his new electric pencil sharpener.

"Bill, it's a pencil sharpener. Pens don't need to be sharpened." said Bill's exasperated administrative assistant.

Signing Beltran, by the way, would make my year; go get him, Goat.

Here's a fun little toy: Alta Vista's Babel Fish Translation Service. Just because, I entered the title of this blog, "At Least The Red Sox Have 1918," which though a series of translations into Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Portugese, Japanese, Korean, and Italian, came back as:

To the little red o of sulfuration that it is become fullfilled in 1918

Here's another: "Sodo Mojo" comes back as:

Under inside desiring anxiously the origin of spremuta 1

Looks like we can close the book on that one!

Here's some of the titles of the other M's blogs run through the translations:

U.S.S. Mariner - "Great sheep of U.S.S."
Mariner Musings - "It disappears the inactive fancy of the group"
Sports And Bremertonians - "Sports And Bremertonians"
Mariners Wheelhouse - "House of the civil official of the great sheep"
Mariner Optimist - "Opportunist of the great sheep"
Cracking The Safe - "It apprehends the crack of the box"
Trident Fever - "Inside of ten 3 of the defect"
Fire Bavasi - "Suddenness Bavasi"
The Safest Blog On The Web - "The majority is pure in the Blog that is safe"
From Basketball To Baseball... - "In baseball that it cultivates the tool..."
Just Another Mariners Blog - "Almost different great ambition of Blog"

I could spend hours doing this. It's funny, the translations at least convey some of the original meaning until you run them through Korean; for some reason "Mariner," "Sailor," or "Marine" seems to end up as "Great Sheep" at that step. I'll leave that one alone for now.

Bill Simmons and Sal Kimmel played a hand in John Kasay's miscue that helped cost the Panthers the Super Bowl. Or maybe it was just the socks.

Pitchers and catchers:
REPORT!

If you live in the Milky Way Galaxy, you know that today the NFL crowns its champion in Super Bowl XXXVIII. Every year on Super Bowl Sunday (or, as I like to call it, The Most Anticlimactic Event In Modern Western Society), I cap off a week of watching the excruciatingly detailed Super Bowl Week reports, which I view with intense dispassion, by sitting through four-and-a-half hours of a sloppy football game about which I care even less.

I've always figured my apathy is because neither team is "my team." If I was forced to declare an No Fun League team, it would be the 'Hawks, in a by-default sort of way; the Cougs have always been and will always be "my team," as far as football goes. If the Seahawks had a miracle run and made the Super Bowl, I'd be excited, for sure. But as I tried to kill time between getting up this morning and this afternoon's kickoff, I had an epiphany of sorts: Even if the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, my reaction wouldn't be "Yes! Super Bowl champs!" Rather, I'd probably be thinking, "Too bad the Mariners can't do that."

The World Series has always captured my interest, from the time I was eight years old and I watched Bill Buckner let one go right through the wickets to keep the Mets alive in '86. There's 100 years of history behind the World Series, from Cy Young and the 1903 Boston Pilgrims to Josh Beckett and the 2003 Florida Marlins, that the NFL simply can't approach, let alone rival. The Series has thrived through war, depression, racial conflict, and countless other hard times in this country, and will continue to do so. The Super Bowl is, and always will be, a made-for-TV drama that we all pretend to care about just to have something to talk about when the weather sucks and we have nothing to do.

The Super Bowl calls its winner the "World Champions." In what other country is football played? Isn't this like the Inuits calling their best igloo builder the World Champion? Baseball is truly an international game, and the World Series showcases its best two teams, made up of players from North and South America, Asia, and Australia. The "World" in "World Series" is both relevant and appropriate.

If the Seahawks win the Super Bowl, I'll be happy for a day. When the Mariners win a World Series, I'll be happy for years.

That's it, gotta go. The pre-pregame show's about to start. I'll take New England and give up the points.