One reason I love watching the Yankees is that the broadcasters are so smart. They deliver not simply a narrative of the game, but rather concise analysis of relevant issues--with a twist of some clever humor as well.

Tonight, the Yankees were leading Tampa Bay 10-2 when Carl Crawford, the Devil Ray on first base, made a dreadful baserunning decision. A flyout went to center fielder Bernie Williams. Crawford, with his team down by 8 runs, tried to tag and was easily thrown out.

After some "that was dumb" commentary, the discussion turned to why Crawford chose to run. Ken Singleton provided a wholly persuasive answer. "It's the scouting report on Bernie Williams," Singleton explained. Yes. Williams is supposed to be old with a weaker arm. But instead of using common sense, Crawford blindly followed information. It reminded me of meteorologists that get lost in computer model data and then miss predictions that could have been accurate if they remembered their own intuition.

After the commercial break, Michael Kay had one of the funniest jokes I've ever heard. "It always happens," Kay pronounced. "The guy that makes the dumb mistake is the subject of the next inning's Aflac trivia question." This, of course, was a play on the old saying that the guy who makes the brilliant fielding play always leads off at bat the next half-inning.

We're blessed with intelligent sportscasters in New York. I was watching a Red Sox game from Provincetown on Boston's NESN channel. The commentary was an inch thick and drier than a prune. Besides, what they're saying on YES is invariably smarter than the Beltway punditry on other channels.