Baseball moves along day after day, spitting out seeds and stats. In the long march to the World Series, addicted fans devour the endless summer and the rest of the world tunes in for an occasional update. The loudest midsummer bolt will occur Tuesday night when the All-Star Game trots out the latest idols -- many of them unfamiliar to casual viewers -- and settles the home-field advantage for the October classic.
The two concepts -- a star-powered exhibition and a competition for a tangible World Series edge -- amount to an absurd contradiction. But baseball seems comfortable with contradictions.
Before the season's first pitch, leaked test results forced the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez to apologize for taking steroids during his MVP season in 2003.
Many facts are still in dispute, including the b of A-Rod's chemical enhancement, but it's hard to challenge his status as the greatest player yet to admit performance enhancement.
The infinitely broader issues -- how to measure steroids users against their peers and a 140-year timeline -- will remain unsettled for years.
Before A-Rod rehabilitated his injured hip and returned to the lineup, baseball nailed the Dodgers' Manny Ramirez for taking a drug known to ease the effects of coming off steroids. The penalty: a 50-game suspension, including pay.
During his final training burst before rejoining the big club, Ramirez chose to play only five of 10 potential minor-league games. His first Albuquerque appearance drew 13,000 fans -- nearly double the usual audience -- and even attracted Gov. Bill Richardson, the former presidential candidate and U.N. ambassador.
When Richardson commented that it was a great night in New Mexico, enemies accused him of coddling a cheater rather than simply rating the local atmosphere. The back-and-forth proved nothing, except that there are no intentional free passes in the beanball sport of modern politics.
Ramirez, a phenomenal hitter who deserves consideration as the next ambassador to Looney Tunes, still declines to discuss the facts of his transgression. He just wants the noise to dissipate, saying: "I didn't kill nobody.... I didn't rape nobody, so that's it."
The Dodgers were in first place when he left and when he came back to his personal cheering section, "Mannywood." They should stay in first place until the 162-game schedule ends.
A battle in the AL East
No other pennant situation offers the remotest hint of finality. The biggest rivalry -- Red Sox vs. Yankees -- bubbles along in a virtual dead heat, with 2008 A.L. champion Tampa Bay in hot pursuit, belatedly.
Four teams are gathered around .500 in the N.L. East, and five teams nurture practical dreams in the N.L. Central. Counting the wild-card spot in each league, 22 of the 30 teams project themselves as playoff contenders. Division leaders at the All-Star break tend to win those races about two-thirds of the time, but the stat looks shaky with so many permutations this summer.
Baseball hopes so. Hot races might offset a cool economy.
The recession's sporting ravages arrived on the first day at the new Yankee Stadium, where bull-market prices were supposed to cover the private share of the $1.5 billion construction. In a bear market, with deficits and unemployment rising madly, the Yankees couldn't fill all those premium seats behind home plate and the dugouts.
There were two basic reasons: the Wall Street massacre and the $2,500 price. Per seat, per game. The Yankees sank into denial for awhile, then faced up to economic reality. They halved the price, to $1,250. That's why you can still see vacancies in the best seats.
It's a common phenomenon at the Mets' new $800 million stadium and all around the sport. Baseball has fared better at the lower end of the price scale, but 20 of the 30 teams reported attendance declines heading into the weekend. About 2.2 million fewer fans have bought tickets compared to the same time last year. The big-league stats: 29,792 customers a game, down an average of 1,703.
The Yankees lead baseball with a 45,273 average. Their decline (6,966 a game) reflects a smaller capacity more than anything, but the share of seats sold has also dropped significantly, to 87 percent. Boston (101.6 percent) and Philadelphia (100.9 percent) run standing-room-only venues.
The Mets are down 9,518 fans a game in a smaller ballpark (41,800), the steepest decline anywhere. They are still drawing 93 percent of capacity, slightly higher than last year.
Detroit ranks second in nightly decline (8,763), probably because the Michigan depression overwhelms considerations such as a first-place team. Kansas City's crowds have grown the most, 3,924 a game.
Four teams can't fill half their seats (Oakland, Florida, Toronto, Pittsburgh). Florida has added 3,020 fans a game, No. 2 in the major leagues, yet still ranks last in attendance (17,724), just ahead of Oakland and Pittsburgh.
The Marlins have a new ballpark on the way, on the site of the demolished Orange Bowl in Miami's Little Havana. The Miami Herald reported that the main financing vehicle -- $409 million in local-government bonds -- will cost $2.4 billion spread over 40 years. Ouch.
If everything goes as planned, and it seldom does, the ballpark will open in 2012. American tourists may walk the streets of Big Havana by then. The recession may or may not end. You can bet your dry sunflower seeds on it.
■ Lenox Rawlings can be reached at lrawlings@wsjournal.com.
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