Last week when I was being interviewed on the radio, the host asked me if all these unlikely teams playing in the League Championship Series is good for baseball.

	In-game chat
	Rob Neyer and ESPN.com Insider columnist Jim Baker co-hosted a live chat session during Game 5 of the NLCS. Click here to read the transcript.

Unfortunately, I offered up some wishy-washy answer: Sure, it's fun to see some different teams, but people say that dynasties are good for baseball, too. Blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda.

Fortunately, I do know the right answer to that question, which is that of course it's good for baseball. Does anybody really believe that it's good for baseball if the Yankees are in the World Series every year? Does anybody really believe that it's good for baseball if the public believes you can predict the World Series teams before the season, just by looking at the payrolls? Does anybody really believe that it's good for baseball if the teams that are supposed to win, do win?

For a long time, it didn't really bother me that the Yankees seemed to hold permanent title to the American League pennant. Emotionally, maybe a little. After all, as a Royals fan in the 1970s, I am still duty-bound to hate the Yankees and everything about them. (Even that, though, has faded as I learned more about their glorious history, and eventually I even acquired friends who not only didn't hate the Yankees, but actually loved them.)

But logically, I've been able to rationalize the Yankees' success because 1) these days, they generally do things the right way, and 2) when they win, a lot of fans are happy. You remember what Spock says in The Wrath of Khan?

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

And when it comes to baseball fans, the Yankees have relatively many compared to every other team's few.

But when it comes to what's good for baseball, I think it's pretty obvious that the Yankees winning every year isn't very good at all. Why? Because the long-term popularity of baseball isn't enhanced a single bit when the Yankees win over and over again. What, you think baseball lost one single fan when the Angels beat the Yankees in the Division Series? Every kid in New York who might have become a Yankees fan has already become one, or will become one in 2003 or 2004 when the Yankees win again.

Meanwhile, this season has created many thousands of new baseball fans in Minnesota and southern California. How many thousands? I don't have any idea. But I do know that it takes only one great season to make a baseball fan for life.

You don't like the Rally Monkey? Tough. Someday we're going to remember him and all of his plush representations with great fondness, just as we remember "You Gotta Believe" and "We Are Family" and the Homer Hankies with great fondness.

And speaking of the Homer Hankies, it's exactly because of them that I'm glad the Angels beat the Twins. Well, not exactly. But the Twins have won two World Series in the last 15 years, while of course the Angels had never even reached the World Series. What's more, this has already been a truly great season for the Twins. In going from (supposed) contraction to (actual) contention for a World Championship in less than one calendar year, the Twins certainly have created a whole crop of youngsters who will always love their team. Which is very good for baseball, seeing as how the Twin Cities represents one of the best dozen or so media markets in the country. As long as the Twins keep trying to win, the fans will keep showing up to see them play. Wherever that might be.

But the Angels ... ah, the Angels. I won't recap their sad history here, because various media outlets have done a fine job of that over the last couple of weeks. Suffice to say, the franchise has probably suffered more bad luck over the last four decades than any other two teams combined. And getting back to the emotional side of things, are there any fans that deserve a World Series more than Angels fans? Granted, there aren't a lot of Angels fans who have actually suffered through all that bad luck. But you know, sometimes the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many.