FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME: BASEBALL: THERE'S SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT

Like the old joke says, baseball is God's favorite sport because everything was created in the Big Inning.

Baseball is my favorite sport too.

Sure football and basketball seasons serve as entertaining time fillers November through March.

But there's something about this time of year that lifts my spirits more than warming temperatures, budding trees and growing Easter Lilies.

It's spring training.

A lot of people have told me that they don't like baseball because there's not enough action. There's too many pauses. The games last too long.

But that's the great thing about the Grand Game. Its a sport to be savored, not gulped.

It's a sport that invites conversation about its history -- we wonder how Babe Ruth would hit today and ask ourselves what Roberto Clemente would've accomplished had he not had his career and life shortened in an airplane accident.

In baseball, second guessing is second nature. Do you bunt the runner over, try to steal a base or try a hit and run? Is batting the pitcher eighth really a good idea?

You just can't carry on such discussions during a basketball game, unless it's during a time out -- a full one. (Twenty seconds just isn't enough to pronounce Mike Krzyzewski's name, much less discuss his coaching strategies.)

There's plenty of time for conversation in football, but what's there really to talk about? There's strategy involved, but not to the point where the average fan can discuss it throughout an entire game.

And unlike any other sport, baseball is a game that is probably more entertaining on the radio than on television. To me, the sound of Jack Buck's voice is as synonymous with summer evenings as chirping crickets.

Yes, baseball is more than a game, really. It's an aura, an experience.

That said, I'm once again anticipating the start of the Major League Baseball season.

My Cardinals have already suffered a major blow with the loss of Matt Morris for the entire season.

I really don't think the Cards have what it takes -- Donovan Osborne, a No. 1 starter? -- to win the Central Division. I think they'd be lucky to wind up as a Wild Card team and they'll only do that by outslugging a lot of teams.

I think the Cards could -- if their starting pitching turns out to be respectable -- wind up competing with New York, Cincinnati and Arizona, perhaps, for the Wild Card. The Braves, as usual, will come out of the Eastern Division and I think the Dodgers will win the West. Houston -- although it's not as potent as last year's squad -- will probably take the Central again.

In the American League, the Yankees will dominate again in the East, although the early signs are that they won't as many games as last year. I think Anaheim will come out of the West and Cleveland from the Central. I think Baltimore and Seattle will rebound from disappointing seasons a year ago and compete for the Wild Card with Texas.

My World Series pick? As much as I hate to admit it: Yankees over Dodgers in five. Personally, I can't stand either one of those teams.

At the high school level, it's hard to tell who will be doing what this season.

So far, I've seen only a handful different teams play.

It's early, but Notre Dame's ballclub looks pretty impressive, with three wins over three Class 4A teams.

From top to bottom, the scrappy Bulldogs have a formidable lineup. They've got good speed, adequate power and solid pitching.

Just watching them in warmups gives me an indication that these guys know what they're doing.

Kelly -- a team that I haven't seen yet -- played the Bulldogs to a 6-6 tie in eight innings on Monday. The game was called due to darkness.

That game, though, leads me to believe that the area's best baseball teams this year are 2A schools.

As long as Kelly has Jim Hulshof and Jason Glastetter, I wouldn't count out the Hawks. After watching them both lead Kelly to its first basketball district championship in 16 years, I wouldn't put anything past these two gamers.

Chaffee, another 2A squad, downed Cape Central (4A) 4-3 in both teams' season openers.

Come to think of it, that district is almost as unpredictable as the Cardinals' starting rotation.

Who knows what will happen in baseball this year. But one thing is certain: we'll all have something to talk about for the next several months.

By the way, it's been nice talking baseball with you.

Bob Miller is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.