Incites | 9-game World Series muse-worthy

Some good messengers get shot because folks don't like the message.

Last week, a good idea got shot down because fans hate the messenger.

But give Scott Boras credit. His idea of a nine-game World Series is worth considering.

Boras' basic idea is to have the first two games of the Series at a neutral site, and to encourage cities to bid for the opening weekend gala the way they bid for the Super Bowl or the NCAA Final Four.

After the opening weekend - which would include a live telecast of the announcement of every major award - the Series would revert to its traditional format.

The idea needs some refinement. Perhaps cutting back some earlier series.

But the idea deserves serious consideration.

Trivia time. Among the original major-league cities, which has been absent from the World Series the longest?

Who's on first? There's always room for argument over who should or should not have made the All-Star Game.

But some snubs are harder to understand than others.

Milenko Martinovich of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram recently listed some of the most mystifying all-star omissions of all time.

Fearsome slugger Hank Greenberg of Detroit had 103 RBIs at the all-star break in 1935 but was left off the American League all-star team.

Greenberg finished the season with a .337 batting average, 40 home runs and a staggering 183 RBIs.

The AL starter at first base that year was Lou Gehrig.

In 1947, Pittsburgh's Ralph Kiner led the National League with 51 home runs and 361 total bases but did not make the All-Star Game.

The NL outfielders that year were Dixie and Harry Walker and Enos "Country" Slaughter, all established stars. The backups were Phil Cavarretta and Andy Pafko of Chicago, Willard Marshall of New York and Cincinnati's Bert Haas, who aren't even on valuable baseball cards.

In 1956, Brooklyn's Don Newcombe had his most dominating season, finishing 27-7 with a 3.06 ERA. He not only won the Cy Young Award, but was voted the National League's MVP.

Pittsburgh's Bob Friend, who finished the season an undistinguished 17-17, started the game for the NL.

Newk didn't make the team.

Things I hate:

Tennis players whining about rain - in England.

Golfers whining about rain - in Ireland.

Four-hour baseball games.

The nightly police blotter that used to be the NFL.

A thing called the "America's" Cup, held in Spain, with a host team from Switzerland, owned by a guy from Italy, and sailed largely by a crew from New Zealand.

Just wondering. How many fans will watch the All-Star Game on Tuesday night just to see whether Barry Bonds sustains a career-ending injury and finishes four homers shy of Hank Aaron's career home run record?

Trivia answer. Washington last hosted a World Series in 1924, but was without a team from 1972 to 2005.

Among cities with continuous baseball from 1903, the city absent from a World Series the longest is Pittsburgh, which last made it in 1979.

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