Very happy to see Viacom splitting up, but for now, let's stick to baseball.

Derek Jeter lines a base hit to left field. So what? Well, the great sportscasters will tell you what. And that's what I love about Yankeecaster Jim Kaat.

Kaat, who has an unbelievable knack for packaging sophisticated, intellectual commentary in soothing, pleasant form, explained the failed strategy of the pitcher. The pitcher had gone for Jeter's weakness right away and missed, Kaat explained. When he fell behind 2-0, Jeter knew to look for a better offer, and lined it into left field. Kaat, who knows something about pitching, said that it would have been better to gamble early in the count and go after Jeter's weak spot later.

He explained this in an informative, not pedantic (a la Tim McCarver) or vitriolic (a la Bill Walton) way. (I'm also a big fan of McCarver and Walton, but Kaat has his own distinctive vibe.) And it was nice not to have Michael Kay in the booth at the time. Kay would have derailed this discussion into an endless infusion of statistics. Jim Kaat, like Bob Costas and the master Vin Scully, understands the poetry of baseball.