Wild Bunch Turns Out to Be One Great Series

Thomas Boswell in the Washington Post: “Traditionalists feared that someday two wild cards would reach the World Series and disgrace the event. We would see sloppy play, boring games and an unworthy champion.

“The Series win of the wild-card Florida Marlins in the dreadfully inept ’97 Series was seen as a warning shot.

“Now, thanks to the Anaheim Angels and the almost equally excellent San Francisco Giants, we can relax. If this is the kind of series wild cards can produce, then give us more.”

Trivia time: Who holds the UCLA record for pass completions in a game?

Dusty’s dilemma: Skip Bayless in the San Jose Mercury News: “Dusty Baker sounded [recently] like a man who can no longer work under Peter Magowan for any amount of money.

“The two biggest reasons Baker will strongly consider managing the Chicago Cubs have nothing to do with money. Baker wants to call his own shots on player acquisitions. And perhaps even more important, Baker wants to be treated with more ‘respect.’

“Sometimes Baker can act more spoiled and ungrateful than Barry Bonds. Yet Bonds is a far greater player than Baker is a manager. Bonds has often made Baker look a lot better than he is.”

Say it isn’t so: From David Letterman: “This is bad news. Earlier today, North Korea announced that they have the technology to create their own rally monkey.”

More Letterman: His take on the Angels: “It took them 42 years to win the World Series, or as the Boston Red Sox call it, ‘beginner’s luck.’ ”

That’s good casting: Comedy writer Alex Kaseberg in the San Francisco Chronicle: “The Angels are going to be in a parade, visit the White House and appear on talk shows. And David Eckstein is going to star in ‘Home Alone 4.’ ”

Real reason to cry: Ron Rapoport in the Chicago Sun-Times: “The image of Dusty Baker’s son Darren crying his 3-year-old eyes out after the Giants lost the series was cute as a button, but think of the tears he’s likely to shed if Dad takes the Cubs’ job.”

Now, on to other sports: From the Caught on the Fly column in the Sporting News: “Fly’s Top 5 or ‘Until Shaq is back, these are the centers of attention when you look to the West, which explains why this conference will be forward thinking for now’: 1. Raef LaFrentz; 2. Michael Olowokandi; 3. Yao Ming; 4. Vlade Divac; 5. Dale Davis.”

Looking back: On this day in 1959, USC defeated California, 14-7. It was USC’s sixth straight victory.

The Trojans would go on to record an 8-0 record before losing to UCLA and Notre Dame in the final two games of the season.

Trivia answer: Troy Aikman, 32, against USC in 1988.

And finally: Bill Lankhof of the Toronto Sun on baseball: “It’s the only industry where owners try to outdo each other every season by announcing who lost the most money.

“You’ve got to be suspicious of people who are this eager to prove how dumb they are.”