Major League Baseball is set to move beyond its most tumultuous offseason ever.
Pitchers and catchers began reporting to spring training Wednesday, and already things were starting to lighten up.
Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Ryan Dempster told reporters his team would win its first World Series title since Steve Bartman's great-great-grandparents were born.
That should, at the very least, get fans outside of the Windy City laughing.
But the game itself, despite all that has transpired, is still America's pastime. The idea that football is superseding it is just a silly illusion.
Football is entertainment in the way Hollywood is entertainment: Fans accept the visage of blood, mayhem and the dubious character of players.
But baseball is much more. It's supposed to transcend all else, as it did in years past with seminal moments such as racial integration.
That explains why when baseball's purity comes into question, government agencies, committees and officials throw up their arms in the midst of much bigger problems.
Because baseball just might be at their root.
