Smudge becomes THE story

Did anyone hear the sigh of relief echoing across the country Sunday?

That was the national media when Fox cameras caught sight of a shiny brown smudge on pitcher Kenny Rogers' palm.

Since they had all been dreaming of a big city World Series, they came into the game ill-tempered and searching for anything, anything at all to talk about other than baseball.

They found it.

The reaction to the discovery that Rogers earned a degree from the Gaylord Perry school of goop-ology was nothing short of joyous.

Here's an excerpt from an Associated Press story on the incident the writer called smudgegate:

"Hey, this aint so bad!

"Turns out, the World Series that nobody wanted has been pretty entertaining so far. In the first two games alone there was enough controversy, questionable strategy and conspiracy talk to keep Oliver Stone AND Michael Moore happy."

Great. Glad we could provide some entertainment.

I won't speak for Tigers fans but as a proud Cardinals partisan I can only respond with some advice for the writer: Go watch "Desperate Housewives."

Because if all that smudge stuff floats your boat maybe baseball isn't your thing.

I know, I know the national media would love for us corn-fed Midwesterners to apologize for inflicting our dull fan base and Nielsen-killing sportsmanship on the rest of the country, but I won't do it.

I don't think we need to apologize for a World Series the coast-dwellers see as dull.

Because if you're into good baseball and compelling storylines, this series has what you want in spades.

It's a series with a Detroit team that lost 400 games over four seasons trying to erase their status as league punch line.

It's a series with a Cardinals team trying to erase the memory of losing seven games in seven days to come within a hair's breadth of the worst collapse in baseball history.

It's a series with Leyland and La Russa, two of the game's grittiest, winningest managers.

You know the story, La Russa hired Leyland in Chicago in 1982 to give him his first shot coaching in the big leagues.

The two profess to be best buddies, but a certain look in their eyes tells me they'd draw daggers if it meant getting a second World Series ring.

And there's history. The teams played in 1934 and 1968. Both series went seven games.

The first ended with Detroit fans rioting and hurling garbage on the field. The second ended with a relatively unknown pitcher, Lolich, outdueling Bob Gibson, then the best in the game.

You say it's stars you want?

Albert Pujols is simply the best hitter anywhere. Chris Carpenter is making a case as the National League's best pitcher.

Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds are perennial all-stars and gold glovers.

On the Detroit side, Ivan Rodriguez is the game's best catcher and a future hall of famer. The Tigers also have four great starting pitchers and two relievers who regularly touch 100 mph on the radar gun.

All this is interesting if you're a baseball fan.

If you're not and you're more interested in advertising dollars for Fox or soap opera drama, you probably wish the Yankees and their traveling circus were still playing.

Me, I like the teams we've got. Go Cards!

TJ Greaney is a staff reporter for the Southeast Missourian.