Now that I have officially washed my hands of both the Cyclones and Dolphins (at least for this month), I have paid keen attention to the MLB playoffs. For all the whining so many fans partake in (myself included), the playoffs rarely fail to be some of the best in sports viewing, and this year has been no exception.

Given that my favorite teams had nothing to do with this postseason and my most hated of teams – Boston, Atlanta and New York, in that order – have been eliminated, it has been a treat to sit back as a virtually impartial observer and watch the baseball games.

The great stories abound, such as the 18-inning masterpiece between Houston and Atlanta that featured a roaring comeback and a pitching duel between two teams whose bullpens were so exhausted that Houston had to bring Roger Clemens to bat and pitch a few spotless innings of relief.

The dreary Chicago White Sox organization has finally done something its high-dollar north-side brethren can’t seem to do – win a pennant.

Despite any fan bias, it is always good to see a team win a pennant that hasn’t won before – or in this case, hasn’t won in a lifetime. I admit I feel bad for Frank Thomas, who is still with the team but is unable to contribute to their unlikely run.

Meanwhile, it wouldn’t be baseball without some dirt. Sadly, both cases that have looked really bad to me both involve umpire incompetence.

First, as everyone has probably seen at least 10 times, in Game 2 of the Angels-White Sox series A.J. Pierzynski struck out in the bottom of the 9th, got called out and ran to first base. The umpire panicked and let him take the base based on a misapplied rule. Although I won’t knock Pierzynski’s awareness, I will knock the entire umpiring crew for botching such an important call.

At the time, most pundits disregarded it, since it was only Game Two of the series. Now we all know the Angels looked like they were punched in the gut for the next three games and are now going to Disneyland as a bunch of losers. If they had won that game, the series would have changed completely. Who knows what might have been?

The second umpire gaff occurred in Sunday night’s NLCS game, where head umpire Phil Cuzzi apparently forgot where he was and what he was supposed to be doing, and ejected Cardinals manager Tony La Russa for arguing balls and strikes.

Normally, I have no objection to this practice, as it often leads to some of the most amusing scenes in sports, but in a game of this magnitude I consider ejecting the manager to be inappropriate. Much more inappropriate, however, was the ejection of Jim Edmonds in the eighth inning. I have seen some botched calls in my day, but the pitch Cuzzi called a strike was so absurd Edmonds had virtually no choice but to argue. He was ejected with a 3-2 count.

It is my hope that Phil Cuzzi is never allowed to umpire home plate in another playoff game. Knowing how stubborn baseball is, however, I am sure he will.

Last, I must express my disappointment in seeing Vladimir Guerrero and Alex Rodriguez, who I consider to be the two best players in baseball, struggle so mightily this offseason. Luckily, there is always next year.

– Nathan Chiaravalloti is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Davenport.