Ellington

OK, you can relax Detroit Tigers fans. Your collection of Triple-A castoffs in major-league uniforms won't replace the 1962 New York Mets as modern baseball's worst team. Still, as regular season ends on Sunday and the playoffs begin on Tuesday, Slate's Allen Barra writes that it's time to stop believing the hype: Baseball is more competitive than it's ever been, no matter what Bud Selig and his lackeys in the mainstream press say.