Hey everybody, remember baseball? You know, America’s pastime? That beautiful — albeit… Hey everybody, remember baseball? You know, America’s pastime? That beautiful — albeit snail-paced — nostalgic competition that has been going on all summer? No? Think beyond football, before the tackles and carnage and turnovers. Okay, well anyway, the season is still going on, and what should be the most exciting part of the season is being drowned out by early-season football. So here is what you can expect to happen through the playoffs and what you missed over the past month while you were fantasy-football scouting.

Big money wins again

Of the nine teams still in contention (and still dreaming of a World Series victory) only one — the Arizona Diamondbacks — have a payroll less than $85 million. The top three — the New York Yankees, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Red Sox — have the three best overall records in the league. Go figure. The Yankees bought their whole lineup, whereas the Phillies bought their whole rotation. This year’s playoffs will prove not who reigns supreme, superior pitching or explosive hitting, but which is a better investment for the big boys of baseball.

Remember those uber-close division standings?

We should have realized it would never have lasted. At the July 31 trade deadline, five of the six divisions’ top two teams were separated by three games or fewer. Now only one division has the second place team within three games (American League West), and in three divisions, the second place team is over nine games out. Parity — a keyword in the NFL that Major League Baseball never learned — is once again absent, causing every baseball city (save for the nine still in contention) to forget that the season is still going on.

Justin Verlander is a boss

The Tigers’ flamethrowing right-hander will become the first starting pitcher to win the Cy Young Award and the MVP award in the same season since Roger Clemens did it for the Red Sox back in 1986. Verlander is looking to win the Triple Crown of pitching — leading the league in wins, earned run average and strikeouts. Add to that the fact that the workhorse has more starts, innings pitched and the lowest whip in all of baseball. He has led the Tigers to a 12.5-game lead in the division and has virtually been unhittable the second half of the season, riding a personal best 11-game win streak with an ERA of 2.51 over that span. He has also pitched a no-hitter for the second consecutive year and is the first player since Sandy Koufax in 1965 to throw a no-no and win at least 23 games in a season.

Remember how the Pirates were contending?

Well, not anymore. The Buccos were the toast of the city for most of the summer. The management seemed to care for the first time in my lifetime, and the team had its first capable manager since Jim Leyland left in the mid-1990s. A talented — albeit young — team, the Pirates showed flashes of brilliance, actually rose to the top of the division, attracted a fan base, and actively sought Major League-caliber players at the trade deadline. But alas, the clock struck midnight and the carriage turned back into a pumpkin, and as injuries and inconsistencies piled up, the Pirates started to look more like the Buccos we know and love. Now on the cusp of clinching their 19^th-consecutive losing season, a light can be seen at the end of the tunnel. It might not be that close, but at least it’s visible.