While we’re discussing my family, I’ll throw out my disclaimer. My other sister is the editorial director at MLB.com. [Yes, it is exactly that cool.] We actually don’t discuss baseball very often, and my opinions here don’t reflect hers. [I'm not even sure what, if anything, she thinks about this topic.]

But I read the article this a.m. in the New York Times about St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa’s continuing support of Mark McGwire. And the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me that everyone kept talking about McGwire’s character and integrity. I have never understood why that’s a criteria for the Hall of Fame.

First off:

What makes sportswriters [who select Hall of Famers] qualified to judge character and integrity? I have a number of good friends who are or have been sportswriters. I would not dare impugn their character or integrity, but I also don’t think sportswriters as a group are any more or less qualified than anyone else to judge character. However, I think many of them are excellent judges of athletic ability.

Second:

What the hell does character have to do with how well you slug that baseball? Not a damn thing.

Here, of course, we get into those who object to McGwire’s entry because he won’t deny using steroids or some kind of performance-enhancing drugs, and to those who object to Pete Rose’s entry because he committed the cardinal sin of betting on baseball.

Here’s what I say:

If McGwire did [and I hold out that distinct possibility, even though I would certainly hope that there's more evidence than what Jose Canseco has to say about it -- really. Would you take Canseco's word on anything?] use performance enhancing drugs, I say the onus is on Major League Baseball for fostering a culture that encouraged their use and for not instituting programs that catch offenders. MLB’s efforts in this area until the past two years have been positively anemic. The message to anyone watching was, don’t ask, don’t tell.

Similarly, I object to people holding Pete Rose to such a high moral standard. Yeah, he screwed up. Deserved to get fired and kicked out of the game for his failings. However. He remains the best ballplayer who’s not in the Hall. We can celebrate his incredible success as a player without lauding his lack of ethics.

The idea that doing something that many, many other ballplayers also did [in McGwire's case] or even doing something unethical related to the game [as Rose did] should override the extraordinary playing careers of these two men just boggles my mind.

Let’s judge character, or let’s judge ballplayers. Let’s not confuse the two.

But I am here to declare that baseball season officially starts today, the day teams return from the All-Star break. While some teams come in to this Opening Day having been spotted a few games by the other teams in their division*, it’s what happens between now and the end of September that really matters. Time to suit up and play your best game.

* I have no idea why the Cardinals have been so generous with the Cubs and Brewers, but I remind you that a 7.5 game deficit can be erased easily in a couple weeks. Let’s play ball!

Hahaha Jim Leyland is on TV talking about how bad the Tigers were last year: only 71 wins. He hopes people will remember how far they came this year.

The Cards won the series this year with 83 regular-season wins. Ironic, no? The person who is not so amused by this is Steven Maloney.

Steven, let me just recommend you change your attitude about baseball. First, keep in mind above all that there are only two numbers that matter. One: the magic number in September. Two: the final score in the World Series. While the Cardinals from time to time have done pretty well with number one, it’s been a looooong time since number two has come out in our favor. So I can’t feel bad about winning. Plus, the Baseball Genius was running our team.

Now, since those are the only two numbers that matter, here’s how I watch baseball:
* Early January — Start to get excited. Pitchers and catchers report soon!
* Throughout spring training — This could be the year!
* Opening Day — Almost always the best day of the baseball season. All possibilities remain open. Really, the first couple of months are good.
* Be sure to re-engage in time to vote for my team for the All-Star Game. Of course there’s no need to watch the All-Star Game [nor should you, Steven] since we’re fans of National League teams and we haven’t won in a decade.
* About the first of August, I start watching the standings closely enough to see if we could really pull it out. Now, I watch baseball all year, whenever I get the chance. I go to a game whenever I can. But I don’t bother with the standings until the end of the summer. There’s just no point. The season lasts seven months, for cryin’ out loud.
* And of course, hopefully, I am doing the complex calculus to figure out if we’re going to get to the post-season in late September.

But as I said the other day, you must keep it all in perspective. Any time it starts to seem heartbreaking, or inspires anger, frustration or other negative emotions, just remind yourself: we’re talking about grown men hitting a ball with a stick and running in circles.

Until next April, congrats to the Cardinals!

For the rest of you, since you asked, as a Cardinals fan, I certainly do have an opinion about Kenny Rogers and the potential substance on his left hand the other night. It is this. We are talking about a sport in which grown men take illegal drugs so they will do better at hitting a ball with a stick and running in a circle. You also are talking to a person who paid for mail delivery of the St. Louis Post Dispatch the entire summer and fall of 1998 only to discover not all that long thereafter that Mark McGwire’s record-breaking season had also been fueled by questionable, if not then illegal, drugs.

At this point, I’m beginning to think we ought to pass out awards to those who try to cheat with just a little pine tar and by corking their bats. Remember when Sammy Sosa’s bat cracked open in 2003? Given the MLB steroid hearings of the past year, corking your bat seems amateurish.

I don’t mean to sound like I’m not still a fan — but I am a fan with my eyes wide open. It’s still possible to enjoy the sport of my childhood when you see the reality adults bring to it today. That’s not always pretty, but pine tar or no, Rogers smoked us through and through on Sunday night.

Tonight, well just look at the homestanding Cardinals. Those guys still steal my heart every time.

Final score: 5-0 Cards
Series: 2-1 Cards

But you’ve got to watch these great commercials featuring Tommy Lasorda, exhorting all you Cubbies and BoSox fans [sorry, Jamie, Patrick, Patrick and Trocch] to watch the postseason anyway. They are just brilliant.

Kind of like BG.

*Baseball Genius. I have referred to Tony La Russa as the Baseball Genius for years. I am not alone. La Russa is the most maddening kind of man to have in charge of your team. Most of the time he’s doing a great job, so it’s really hard to complain, but you can never, and I mean never, figure out what the hell he’s up to. On the other hand, you hope that the other team has the same problem you do.

And, when he delivers with the results like we got in Games 2 and 3 of the NLCS thanks to his BG lineups, who’s arguing?

I always feel like baseball stories especially matter to me because my sister works for MLB.com, so as soon as I heard the sad news about Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle I also thought about NYC sister — who until then I’m sure was in the middle of coordinating tonight’s post-season coverage. [Believe me, I haven't called yet to ask. We actually don't call her much in October anyway. Maybe I will ask about this at Thanksgiving.] From the extensive coverage on her site, the day took a very different turn, but they have put together a great package that gives a nice picture of Lidle and reaction from around the league.

So unfortunate.