It is often said that the baseball season is “too long.” One hundred sixty-two games is too long a grind for fan and player alike.

You know what really takes forever? Hockey and basketball playoffs, which I believe started around Valentine’s Day and are still in progress. ‘Round these parts, the Capitals’ slow death has been simply excruciating.

To baseball, though, where interesting things happen every day. Literally.

Here’s something for you to ponder… without looking, can you name the last time a major league baseball team repeated as World Series champions?

Didn’t happen this century. (Well sort of not.) It was the 1999-2000 New York Yankees (who also won in ’98).

Don’t look now but the Houston Astros have a real chance of pulling off that feat this year. They currently sit in first place in the AL West, with five of the best starting pitchers in baseball. Yes, five of the best.

Check the AL ERA leaders today. The top three are Astros starters! The only two not on that list are Lance McCullers (owner of five wins–only four AL pitchers have more) and Dallas Keuchel, owner of a freakin’ Cy Young!

This is an interesting development.