October has rolled around again and everyone knows that this football season. Or hockey season, I guess. But mainly football season. So why hasn’t that been the subject of conversation lately? One word:

Baseball.

Yes, baseball — the sport that everyone says is dead, that nobody watches, that’s boring, that’s slow, and that’s any other complaint people have come up with. For the past couple years now, come October, baseball rules. Classes are let out early to watch the games, professors check scores during class, strangers stand around the TVs in the Cyber Café discussing the games. For a sport that no one cares about, people seem pretty interested.

These dorms are a hotbed for baseball during the postseason. Last year, there would be a dozen people in my room, glued to the TV, screaming and cringing at every play. Up and down the hallway, the anguished cries of fans could be heard, as their teams went blow for blow.

I will concede though, that this boost in popularity may be due to the apocalyptic series that the Yankees and Red Sox have fought in the past few seasons. If it was the Royals and Devil Rays, I’m guessing most people would be checking out that great Outdoor Life Network programming instead. I guess we’ll find out if that’s the case since this year both the Red Sox and the Yankees have already been eliminated (well, look at it this way, Boston — only another 85 years until the next championship now).

Without the Yanks and the Red Sox, fans of the other teams, of the Cardinals and of the Angels, will have a chance to see postseason glory. This could prove to be a good thing for baseball. Different teams will mean that more fans can be drawn in. I know that there are White Six fans on this campus who love the fact that they get to play this October. The new, young stars of the small market teams’ll finally get some exposure.

Maybe a postseason battle without the Yanks will be a good thing for the game. The Yankees have won their fair share of World Series and it’s someone else’s turn. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go make a sacrifice to the Baseball Gods to assure them that I don’t actually mean that.

Originally published in the Cardinal Courier (Volume 5-Issue 3; Oct. 19, 2005).