It's hard to believe that were are already in Year Eight of Interleague play in Major League Baseball. It's even harder to believe that after eight years the Red Sox have still not played the Cubs. It's been frustrating that the Sox have been playing the Braves every year while the Yankees have been allowed to beat up on the lowly Mets. This year the Braves and Mets are both mediocre. Unfortunately, the Red Sox will have to play the Phillies while the Yankees have two series' with the Mets.

I still like Interleague play, but I think it needs to be scaled back from 18 games to six games with each team playing three games against its geographic rival (if one exists) and three games against a rotating opponent. The Yankees should always play the Mets. The Cubs should always play the White Sox. The Red Sox do not need to play the Braves every year. The other rivalries that should be played every season:

• Blue Jays-Expos (if the 'Spos stay in Canada)
• Orioles-Expos (if the 'Spos move to DC or Northern Virginia)
• Mariners-Expos (if the 'Spos move to Portland)
• Marlins-Rays (like anyone cares)
• Astros-Rangers
• Giants-A's
• Royals-Cardinals
• Reds-Indians
• Angels-Dodgers

We are now a little over one-third of the way through the season and the Sox are 34-23, 2 1/2 games behind New York in the AL East and 1 1/2 games ahead of Oakland in the Wild Card race. The Red Sox are on pace for a 97-65 record. I would say that is pretty good considering that Trot Nixon, Nomar Garciaparra and Bill Mueller have missed a total of 135 games. Those three players all batted above .300 and combined for 75 homeruns, 277 RBIs and 286 runs last season. Surprisingly, it is Trot Nixon who has been the most sorely missed among the three injured players. Kevin Youkilis has played very well in Mueller's absence, scoring nearly one run per game with an on base percentage of nearly .400. Pokey Reese has been as good as Nomar, if not better, defensively and Mark Bellhorn has done a decent job filling Nomar's place in the lineup. Bellhorn has produced 70 runs (runs + RBI - HR) in less than 200 at bats. Gabe Kapler, though solid defensively, has been an automatic out. His .268 on base percentage is, as the commercial says, a travashamockery. Cesar Crespo, Brian Daubach and Ellis Burks have been even worse filling the vacated positions left by Nixon and Garciaparra. The Yankees have been healthy for the most part, so the Red Sox and Angels should be very happy to be close to New York in the standings despite being devastated by injuries.

I'm happy that so many Sox fans have traded in their classless "Yankees Suck" shirts for the more clever "Yankee Hater" logo shirts and caps. Yes, the Yankees do in fact "suck" but that doesn't mean that a person should display that message across their chest. Quite frankly, it seems like a thing that a New Yorker would do.

It was a major relief to see Pedro Martinez toss a gem tonight against the Padres. The Sox Ace improved to 6-3 with a 3.98 ERA after beating San Diego. One of the stats of concern is the number of homers that Pedro has been surrendering. Between 1999 and 2003, Martinez gave up a homer once every 18.3 innings (26.7 innings last season). Even with tonight's solid outing, Pedro is giving up a dinger once every 8.4 innings in 2004. I fully expect Pedro to take his customary stint on the DL sometime around midseason. This would be a smart move since Pedro is now on pace to make 35 starts and pitch about 220 innings. He's averaged 30 starts and 193 innings over the past two seasons.

We are now one step closer to CSI: Waltham with the debut of CSI: New York in the Fall. Gary Sinise will follow in the footsteps of William Peterson and David Caruso and star in the new series. Now that they have picked the city and the show's cast, the only thing left to do is choose which Who song will be used for the theme (following "Who Are You?" and "Won't Get Fooled Again"). Here are my odds:

• Baba O'Riley: 3-1 (great intro)
• My Generation: 4-1 (maybe the most well-known Who song)
• The Seeker: 10-1 (title fits the theme)
• Behind Blue Eyes: 12-1 (probably too slow)
• I Can See For Miles: 15-1 (lyrics fit the theme)
• I Can't Explain: 50-1 (they always explain by the end)
• Sister Disco: 100-1 (someone will bet on it)

The Lakers pulled another rabbit out their hats tonight to even the Championship Series at 1-1 as the teams head to Detroit. The Lakers were down six points with 30 seconds left before making another miraculous comeback. I have followed sports for 25 years and cannot recall a team, in any professional sport, that has enjoyed a run of luck like the Lakers have had over the past two months. In the last game of the regular season, Kobe Bryant hit not one, but two prayer shots to give the Lakers the Division title and a better seed in the playoffs. In the first round series, Houston gave away two of the first four games of the series. The Rockets should have been up 3-1. Instead they were down 3-1 and lost Game Five. Against San Antonio, the Lakers somehow managed to score off of an inbound pass with 0.4 remaining on the fourth quarter clock to win the pivotal Game Five (and it was Derek Fisher of all people). Against the T'Wolves, the Lakers would have been history if not for an injury to Sam Casell. Even with Casell out of the lineup, the Lakers needed a once-in-a-lifetime game by Kareem Rush (6-for-6 from behind the three point line) to eliminate Minnesota. The Lakers would have had little chance to win the series if not for tonight's comeback. Kobe Bryant actually missed the key shot with 35 seconds remaining but Rasheed Wallace's foolish touch foul on Shaq's rebound and basket kept the fortunate Lakers alive.

I'm going to lose it if one more professional athlete "guarantees" a victory in the playoffs. It was brash when Joe Namath guaranteed a victory in Superbowl III. Nowadays, it's just plain stupid. I think the pro leagues should institute a rule that if a player guarantees a win and his team loses, he will be forced to sit out until the team actually wins.

I liked Michael Moore better the first time .. when he was called Jane Fonda.

Moore walked away with the top award at the Cannes Film Festival for his documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, a film based on about as much reality as two other big summer movies, The Day After Tomorrow and Spiderman. The cheese-eating surrender monkeys gave Moore's film a huge standing ovation. No American has been this popular in France since Jerry Lewis in his prime.

Speaking of America-haters. I wonder how long it will be before someone tries to force Major League Baseball to ban the playing of the National Anthem before games. I'm very shocked that no one has filed a lawsuit against one of the Major League Baseball teams that play "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch.

What is going on in the State in Florida? Between 1975 and 2002, the Florida pro teams combined to win just one championship (the Florida Marlins in 1997) in a combined 112 seasons. Granted, seven of Florida's eight teams were expansion teams during that time. Since the beginning of 2003, however, three teams from the Sunshine State in three different sports have hoisted the championship trophy - the Tampa Bay Bucs and the Florida Marlins in 2003 and the Tampa Bay Lightning this past week. Maybe the state's college football prowess finally rubbed off on the pros.