It's about time

One of my favorite annual exercises is to examine major-league baseball game times on the last day of the season, especially when Team X is playing Team Y and they are a combined 179 games out of first.

I find it amusing that on this one occasion they manage to play the game with some alacrity. The engines be running, the bags be packed and most of them are interested in a speedy departure. Bet there's a lot of first-ball swinging.

Anyway, in this era of 3- to 3 1/2-hour ballgames (and even longer), let the record show that on Sunday there were 11 games run off in under three hours, and Mark Buehrle was only pitching in one of them. It shouldn't come as a distinct shock to learn that the longest game of the day involved the Yankees and Red Sox (3:16 in Game 1 of their day-nighter). These two appear to be constitutionally incapable of playing a game in under three hours. They, of course, needed 3:10 to play Game 162, and we can't even blame that one on pokey veterans, what with all the Gardners, Cervellis, Ransoms, Mirandas, Carters, Van Everys and Velazquezes on display.

You and I know there's a story here. They can pick up the pace, if prodded, or motivated. But we also both know nothing will change when 2009 rolls around.

One more thing . . . I am seriously re-examining my position on Mike Mussina as a Hall of Fame candidate. He has pitched through the entire steroid era with distinction, and his 117 more games won than lost (270-153) is really, really impressive. He goes right in there with Bert Blyleven and Jack Morris as guys whose résumés can cause you to have some sleepless nights when the ballot arrives in your mailbox. It would be kinda neat if Mussina retired after winning 20. I'm guessing some voters could be moved by that.