Despite much that is unappealing about MLB, there are people who have endowed the sport with enviable leadership skills. On Labor Day, the NYT's Tyler Kepner noted Buck Showalter's return:

"The Baltimore Orioles have their own pattern: inexperienced manager watches overmatched team wheeze to the end. From 2005 through 2009, the Orioles’ record after Aug. 31 was 47-96, a ghastly .329 winning percentage.

But now it is Buck Showalter’s team, which means everything has changed. The Orioles are competitive when they are usually collapsing, as they showed in a 4-3 victory over the Yankees on Monday.

'You can’t just walk over us,' said the left-hander Brian Matusz, who worked six innings to win his fourth start in a row. 'We’re playing good baseball right now. We’re doing all the little things right. It’s fun to come out and beat teams in our division and continue this streak that we have.'

Under Dave Trembley and his interim successor, Juan Samuel, the Orioles were 32-73. They had 52 losses before their 20th victory. Since Showalter’s first game as manager, on Aug. 3, they are 20-13. Before beating the Yankees, they took two of three at home from the Rays."

The Os took the second game of their latest series with the Yankees and came within two outs of a sweep, denied by a 9th-inning homer. They've followed that series with two-in-a-row from Detroit. Wait 'til next year!

One of the best sacrifice bunters in today's game is one of my favorite players, Omar Vizquel,who also is the second best fielding shortstop ever. Attention to the little things, as well as staying in incredible shape, is why he is still a starting shortstop for a winning team (the White Sox) at age 43.

The best sacrifice bunters aren't necessarily weak hitters. Jackie Robinson led the NL in sacrifice bunts twice.