Publicity trumps results!

Even if it is not fair, if you can get people to watch that is the only thing that matters in modern society.

Major League Baseball is the latest example of this modern fact. I watched the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox play over Memorial Day weekend. I find it odd I would be watching two teams that are tied for second in their division play. That is correct the two "marquee" teams in baseball are, for now, in the Baltimore Orioles rear view mirror. Four games back of Baltimore? The picture gets more bleak when you consider that the Chicago White Sox have the best record in the bigs with 34 wins. (Followed by St. Louis with 33 and San Diego with 32.) The two media darlings have a total of seven teams with more wins and two (Florida and Toronto) that have equaled their mark of 27.

So why are we focused on New York and Boston? I thought the whole "curse" thing had been lifted. Boston had excised its demons and New York was entering the non steroid, aging free agent, completely gutted farm system era. So why do we still focus on them with the intensity of Kenneth Starr investigating President Clinton's love life?

I realize we aren't even to the All Star break and both of these teams can come out on fire. I know that the Orioles could phone in the last half of the season, leaving these two media darlings slugging it out for the divisional title. What I don't understand is why baseball is allowing so many compelling story lines that would broaden the appeal of the game today to take a back seat to Boston/New York.

What about the Twins who just keep winning. What about the Tigers, who signed Pudge Rodriguez two years ago when they were the worst team in ball. Rodriguez had to defend himself against charges that he left the world champions to get a pile of cash in Detroit. They aren't out of the race yet. The Chicago White Sox are a stark contrast to the troubled Chicago Cubs, who labor with indifferent ownership and questionable mangement.

So many stories are out there. What about a comparison of Bobby Cox and Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire? Cox has done a stellar job with a big payroll and then without all those stars from the 90's. Yet Gardenhire's team was on the chopping block but is fielding one of the great defensive teams in the game today. What kind of variety do we get? We will follow the Yankees and Red Sox OR the Red Sox and the Yankees.

Yet we will continue until someone in the media realizes there are more than two stars in the baseball universe. That cannot happen until the viewing public realize there are other teams worth watching.