In Boston, Gary Washburn wrote under the header, "With Game Flourishing, Bud Selig Toast Of The Town." MLB Commissioner BUD SELIG is "pleased with the progress of the sport and, because of it, he has been replaced as the most unpopular commissioner in major sports" by NHL Commissioner GARY BETTMAN, "or perhaps" NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL. Selig can "leave at the end of the 2014 season knowing he pushed the sport in a more positive direction, escaping the horrid attention of the steroid era, with most teams playing in a ballpark that is 15 years old or younger, and with television ratings rising." Selig has a "right to be proud of his recent accomplishments, but there are plenty of issues with the game: The four-hour postseason contests that tip midnight; his fascination with interleague play; and the limits of instant replay." They are "all matters that need to be addressed in the next 12 months" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/27).
BEWARE THE BEARDS: USA TODAY's Brian Mansfield writes the beards of Red Sox players "already were a national phenomenon," but now they "have their own theme song." Nashville-based country group TIM MONTANA AND HIS SHREDNECKS in the past week wrote "This Beard Came To Party." Montana "co-wrote the song with ZZ TOP's BILLY GIBBONS." The Red Sox "introduced Montana's song" during their series-clinching ALCS Game 6 against the Tigers last week. The team also "played it during the first two World Series games and plans to keep doing so" when the series returns to Boston on Wednesday (USATODAY.com, 10/26).
COUNTERFEIT POLICE: MLB sent a team to St. Louis to "seek out and seize counterfeit T-shirts, ball caps and other merchandise that proliferates during the postseason." MLB Properties Senior VP & General Counsel ETHAN ORLINSKY also "traveled to Boston" for Games 1 and 2. The World Series was last played in St. Louis in '11, and "4,058 counterfeit items were seized there during postseason play, out of 5,347 items seized throughout the entire postseason nationwide" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/26).
NAMES: Cardinals RF CARLOS BELTRAN was this year's recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award, which "recognizes the player whose contributions on and off the field best represent the game" (AP, 10/26). Beltran was presented with the award in a news conference before Game 3, and he was "given a standing ovation by the crowd during the pregame ceremony" (MLB.com, 10/26)....Actor ERIC STONESTREET was at Game 4 to present a $4M check from MasterCard "to the Stand Up to Cancer effort." Stonestreet said that he is a "big fan of baseball and he thinks his alter ego would be, too" (BOSTON HERALD, 10/28)....Bravo TV host ANDY COHEN was in attendance at Game 3 on Saturday (STLTODAY.com, 10/27).
