Baseball's final day of the season

Though Major League Baseball has done a good job using the Wild Card to maintain interest, for many people the last day of the regular season is a sad occasion. For shut-ins and retirees, the regular rhythm of listening to the home team, usually on the radio, is a daily, reassuring routine from April through the summer.

In the sixties, my Aunt Barbara listened on her couch to her beloved Yankees on hot summer days or evenings, a six-pack of mini-Rheingold beers chilling on ice, Phil Rizutto or Mel Allen calling the game on WCBS radio. She'd wrap a cloth, dipped in ice water around her brow and neck (to counteract the lack of an an air conditioner or even a fan.)

It was a picture of pure contentment and relaxation.

October baseball has become a festival of excitement, played out all on national cable television with playoff, play-in, and elimination games.

Summer yields to formulaic life.

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