I'm glad they're getting this one in. In the back of my head I have this terrible feeling that if the World Series was delayed for long enough, Fox would decide that they could do better in the ratings showing "Prison Break" reruns or something and baseball would be relegated to OLN for the rest of the year. Hey, it happened to the NHL.

It's hardly the most objectionable thing about the Holiday Inn "Look Again Player of the Year" award, but the Rockies' representative among the nominees shows the usual disdain MLB pays its seat-filler teams. Garrett Atkins? What about Garrett Atkins makes you think he is one of the "role players who sacrifice for their team in often unrecognized effort?" Garrett Atkins was the best offensive player on the team last year. How is he "lurking in the shadows" hitting .329 with 29 homers? What's especially weird about the choice of Atkins to be in line to get what's basically the David Eckstein award is that the Rockies have a guy who's uncannily Ecksteinlike and had a career year in Jamey Carroll. He's pint-sized, powerless, and everything. It's peculiar. Oh well, the award is stupid anyway, neither Colorado player would have any chance whatsoever at winning the fan voting, and at least they didn't nominate Vinny Castilla.

All this talk about rain delays has to make you wonder. What if the Rockies did ever make a World Series? It snows here this time of year. A lot. However, Denver weather has a noticeable pattern. A day or two after it snows two feet, it's usually mid-sixties and beautiful. It's pretty uncommon to see days and days of precipitation one after another the way the midwest sees with rain this time of year. Still, it might raise some travel issues. I wonder if it's worth looking into finding a way of getting the playoffs over more quickly. Shortening the regular-season schedule is completely out of the question as I understand it, but there are other ways of approaching the problem. More doubleheaders is not one of them. The players' union hates doubleheaders. Michael Wilbon was talking on "PTI" about starting the season a week or so earlier, in late March instead of early April, and just having all the cold-weather teams start their seasons on long road trips. Having attended some hideously cold early-April games in Denver and Chicago, I would not be against this. The Rockies, given their historic tendency to play on the road like the 1962 Mets, might disagree.

My mean thing to say about Jim Leyland for today was sadly rained out. But you guys know the score by now.