World Series

From start to finish, the Minnesota Twins-Atlanta Braves World Series was packed with drama, great pitching, clutch hitting, no-name heroes rising to the occasion, decisive homers and plays at the plate -- with three of the games going into extra innings and five decided by one run.But was it the greatest World Series of all-time?Or was it the Reds-Red Sox in 1975? Or maybe Bill Mazeroski's home run winning the Series for Pittsburgh in 1960? Or does some other Series come to mind as the greatest?

LAS VEGAS --The hallways that lead to the World Series of Poker are packed with people. The meeting rooms that line the path are, to use modern-day sporting parlance, like corporate suites, each one assigned to some poker Web site or some poker publication. But right outside the gigantic poker room that houses the final-event table is a booth for Sapphire Gentleman's Club and the soundtrack couldn't be less appropriate. Out of a pair of tiny speakers is Justin Timberlake's computerized voice.

There was nothing phony about the way Alex Rodriguez and his teammates celebrated their World Series title Wednesday night, Tribune Newspapers columnist Phil Rogers writes. PG 6

Even at the depths of a drug addiction that cost him a fortune and dulled his world-class poker skills, Greg Merson believed he could do something great. "He always had a lot of faith in himself," said his father, Stan. "I never saw him lose that. " Wednesday morning in Las Vegas, the North Laurel native showed the world that his faith was well-placed, winning the $8.5 million first prize in the World Series of Poker Main Event. "He's been through a lot, and a lot of people have told him he wouldn't make it at poker," said Stan Merson, still running on emotion as he watched a television replay in his hotel suite a few hours later.

WERE IT NOT for the major-league baseball strike many of us would be eagerly anticipating the outcome of the World Series by now. Would the Orioles have made it? Since that's impossible to know, let's go back 50 years ago this week when the Baltimore Orioles (the minor-league version) won a championship the old Municipal Stadium. The world was still at war in 1944. The news from the fronts indicated that the Allies were closing in on the Germans and that the Japanese were being beaten, too.Baseball saw an all-St.

It ain't over 'til it's over -- and either tonight or tomorrow night, it'll be over for this amazing roller coaster of a World Series. Game 6 is the place to be tonight, and the other networks know it: They're offering virtually no competition.* "World Series Game 6" (8 p.m.-conclusion, WBAL-Channel 11) -- What can be said, with certainty, about tonight's game between the Phillies and Blue Jays? One, that Toronto has a 3-2 lead over Philadelphia in this best-of-seven contest, as well as the home-field advantage for the remainder of the series.

For Baltimore's battalions of baseball devotees, this is the best of times -- and the worst of times.The World Series begins tonight, one of America's most storied sporting events. And yet for Baltimore, the majesty comes with added melancholy. The team representing the American League for the second straight year is the Toronto Blue Jays, whose manager sent this town into communal apoplexy last July. When Toronto's skipper Cito Gaston failed to put Orioles pitcher Mike Mussina into the All-Star Game at Camden Yards, he tapped a vein of vitriol that hadn't been seen since the days of the savings and loan robber barons -- and inspired a cottage industry of novelty tee-shirts that only "shock" talk-show host Howard Stern could love.

I just cannot muster any excitement about a Tampa Bay Rays-Philadelphia Phillies World Series. If only the Fall Classic could be more like WrestleMania. By that, of course, I mean scripted. One of the reasons WrestleMania rarely disappoints is that Vince McMahon and his creative team are pulling the strings to ensure star-studded matchups and intriguing story lines. (For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ringposts)