Fellow list members:

I've always believed that moderators should be active participants in their own
groups, so I feel a little guilty about not having posted anything in five
months. Sorry, I've been a bit preoccupied lately, and while I am still here and
keeping up, the group's success has exceeded my expectations, and I wouldn't
mind some help moderating posts and generally keeping an eye on things. Would
anyone who's had experience as a Yahoo Groups moderator be willing to step up?

As for Strat, I seriously thought about simply taking a pass on the baseball
teams this year. I only recently changed my mind, although, for the first time
since 2003, I'm getting less than the full set. The only reason I would want all
the teams would be to create an All-Star squad, and I'm just not into it this
year. But I had enough interest in some of the teams and circumstances to check
them out:

- The first Phillies team to make the World Series since 1993, and the first won
to win it since 1980, as the team beat the Tampa Bay Rays, who themselves made
their first-ever Series appearance.

- The first Milwaukee Brewers team to make the playoffs since 1982, and the
first Brewers team since they jumped to the National League.

- The Chicago Cubs chalked up the most wins since their pennant-winning 1945
team, only to lose three straight in the ALDS to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who
barely played .500 during the regular season.

- Four of the six divisions had a margin of three games or fewer between the
first- and second-place team. One of the divisions that wasn't close included
the second-place Brewers, who won the N.L. wild-card race by one game over the
New York Mets, who suffered their second September swoon in as many years.

- Exceptional performances and cards by Manny Ramirez, C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee
and Mariano Rivera, among others. Meanwhile, Travis Hafner's card is arguably
the most expendable of all time; the oft-injured designated hitter not only
can't run and play the field, but can't hit either.

- An interesting Mixed Players set, which has no fewer than four Pittsburgh
Pirates, three of whom were regulars (and two of whom were having great years)
before they were traded at mid-season. The set also is a must for those who
follow the Indians (for Sabathia, who finished third on the team in wins despite
his midseason trade to the Brewers); the New York Yankees (for Chien-Ming Wang,
injured most of the season but tied for third in wins); and the Detroit Tigers
(for Jeremy Bonderman, who had 12 starts but like Wang was injured most of the
season).

- A Mixed Player oddity is pitcher Micah Owings, who doesn't have a team on his
card even though the Arizona Diamondbacks' No. 5 starter never pitched after
being sent to the Cincinnati Reds in mid-September. Owings can still play for
the Reds, not as a pitcher, but as a pinch-hitter. In fact, in real life, Owings
went 2-for-4 in that role for his new team, proving he deserves his No. 8
batting rating.

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting on the much-hyped Negro Leagues set, which is
already six months late. Somebody seriously miscalculated by promising this set
to players by last Christmas; I'm really curious what the holdup is. Regardless,
I'm planning on buying the set when it comes out, assuming the price is right
(we are talking about only four teams' worth of players, after all).

I'm still annoyed, though, at the company's excluding Monte Irvin from the set,
and the reasoning given for doing so. Irvin had several good seasons with the
New York Giants after baseball's color barrier was broken, but in the Negro
Leagues, Irvin was a superstar, batting .400 twice. Irvin is a Hall-of-Famer
because of the Negro Leagues, not because of the majors, so it irked me when the
game company said late last year it wasn't giving Irvin a Negro Leagues card
because he already had one in the Hall-of-Fame set. Huh? So why is Satchel Paige
getting a card in the new set, then? Honestly, would it have killed the game
company to replace the set's 108th-best player with a Hall-of-Famer? The absence
of logic in the game company's decision-making in this case makes my head spin.

Well, I feel better having got that off my chest. Feel free to post to either
agree with my rants or tell me I'm wrong. And again, let me know if you'd be
interested in being a moderator.

-Gary