Larry Dierker's new column for MLB discusses how awesome Nolan Ryan is (this comes on the heels of Richard Justice's hero worship of Lance Berkman), but has an odd closing note:
Up until the last five years or so, I've been a National League guy all the way. But there is no line between the leagues now, no reason to be loyal. There's no National or American League baseball, no National or American League umpires. With Interleague Play, there's no mystique about the other league. I don't like it, but that's the way it is. I guess the only thing I like about one-world baseball is that I don't have to feel guilty in hoping the American League wins the World Series.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
