A Lot to be Excited About

One day into the baseball post season and it seems that we are picking up right where the regular season left off.

America's team the...ROCKIES...won yesterday. Though I have both the Cubs and Angels winning, it was good for baseball to see Josh Beckett throw his second straight shutout in the post season. As much as I disagreed with pulling Carlos, the late game was all in all a good game as well...objectively. But there is one thing that was the most pleasant surprise.

I HATE watching the Red Sox. Not as much as the Yankees, but the Red Sox thing is really getting old. However, yesterday, when I got home from work and turned on baseball...the best thing could have happened. STEVE STONE WAS IN THE BOOTH.

Steve Stone knows more about baseball than anyone. This is not up for negotiation. It is a fact. If I was starting a baseball team tomorrow, Steve Stone would be my manager. He has the ability to anticipate every teams just about every move. There were times when he was announcing with the Cubs that it seemed like he would tell Harry something as a joke like..."The Hawk is going to run here...the wind is moving northeast." Sure enough, there goes Andre. Steve Stone may be the most boring person of all time...but when watching the Angels/Red Sox games, make sure you listen to him. He is more valuable than anything on your iPod.

Along with Stone, there is a reason I am also looking forward to the Yankees series. I was listening to Jim Rome yesterday and he had arguably the biggest class act in modern baseball history who just happens to be doing the analyst role for the Yankee series: Tony Gwynn. Tony Gwynn is probably my favorite player that isn't a Cub. I mean, just about every Cub comes before everyone else, accept Chico Walker, I hated that guy. But Gwynn was such a great player who went about his game the right way and listening to someone who studied the game and prepared mentally to play at such a high level is just a joy.

Most notably in his interview, Rome asked Tony how he felt when Tony Jr. had a key hit against the Padres to tie a game this past weekend which put them in the playoff situation against the...ROCKIES. Tony Sr. responded that he was proud of his kid and he jumped out of his chair in excitement. It didn't matter that it was against his Padres, but the joy he had as a father seeing his son playing in the bigs, and making a great play is what really matters most.

If all athletes today, or even half of them could be like Tony Gwynn, we would really have something. He's a class act, and could still probably hit .315. If there has ever been a reason to watch the Yankees, Tony Gwynn, in the booth, is it.