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The slowest person on the Philadelphia Eagles practice field has remained with the team for almost four decades.

And the most devout and literary sports fans from the City of Brotherly Love wouldn't want it any other way.

Ray Didinger has been covering the city's pro-sports teams since he was 23 years old, and has become the media equivalent of versatile ex-NFLer Kordell Stewart: sportswriter, radio personality, TV commentator and NFL Films producer rolled into one.

Now Philly's unofficial pre-eminent football writer is following up on his first book, The Eagles Encyclopedia, which he co-wrote with sports historian Robert Lyons.

Didinger gave an anecdote-laced speech at the Free Library of Philadelphia last Wednesday to promote his just-released One Last Read: The Collected Works of the World's Slowest Sportswriter.

Notorious for pushing deadlines to the very edge, Didinger has a simple explanation for being stamped with such a superlative.

"I tried to make every single word I ever wrote perfect," he said.

The Collected Works, which compiles old columns and articles that graced the pages of The Daily News and the now-defunct Philadelphia Bulletin, is evidence of that.

But what the book might not make clear is the consequence of writing at a snail's pace.

"I've been locked into every NFL stadium at one time or another," Didinger said, adding that he knows the nooks and crannies of places like Candlestick Park and Texas Stadium better than any member of their maintenance crews.

Few besides Didinger know the stress of racing against the sun to make the presses. During his years at the Bulletin, an afternoon publication, he once found himself writing a recap of a baseball game - which ended hours earlier - as the sun peeked over the Baltimore horizon.

Only a stop at a convenience store on the way back to Philadelphia would assuage his worries - he had made the print edition, but just barely. It was hardly his only close call.

While Didinger's introduction to The Collected Works harps on the sheer luck of his ascent to King of Philly Sportswriters, it's hard to begrudge his dream job. Not just because he's so good at what he does, but because he's the only man for the job.

When other families headed to the Jersey Shore for summer vacation, the Didingers headed to Hershey, Pa. to check out Eagles training camp, which is now a highway-clogging ritual performed every summer. When most Philadelphians had to make a tough choice every Sunday during football season - Eagles or church? - young Ray and his family didn't let one tradition take away from the other.

"I couldn't tell you where the religion left off and the football began," he said.

Didinger went from football-worshipper to an icon himself in 1995 when his name was added to the Writers Honor Roll in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after winning the prestigious Dick McCann Memorial Award, which recognizes long and distinguished reporting in the field of professional football.

When Didinger took the microphone last week, it didn't matter that the crowd was relatively sparse. He captivated the audience members, most of whom were pre-Baby Boomers, by offering a unique, reminiscent viewpoint of the sports scene that has been so kind - and cruel - to a city for generations.

So, Philly sports fans, if you've got the stomach to retread the last few decades of your town's sports scene from another fan's perspective, The Collected Works might be for you.

After all, Didinger put a lot into these columns over the years.

It took "a lot of love and a lot of care," said the World's Slowest Sportswriter. He paused for a second.

"And a lot of time."

Turner Sports had just 36 hours to prepare for this afternoon's broadcast of Major League Baseball's first playoff game -- the Colorado Rockies taking on the Philadelphia Phillies in Philadelphia -- after a late-night National League Wild Card tiebreaker Monday between the Rockies and the San Diego Padres. That game was just the latest twist in an unusually dramatic baseball season.


Yorvit Torrealba of the Colorado Rockies celebrates a home run against the San Diego Padres in Denver on Monday.
Despite the rush to set up today's broadcast, the cliffhanger season was good news for Turner Sports, which is airing postseason Major League Baseball games for the first time as part of a seven-year TV-rights deal.

Starting today, Turner Sports will exclusively air divisional-series playoff games in both the American League and the National League. It will also exclusively air the National League Championship Series, while Fox airs the American League Championship Series. Under the deal, Turner and Fox will then alternate championship series games. Next season, Turner's TBS channel will also air national games on Sunday afternoons.

"It's a nice way to start off ... so people can get accustomed to the network and get to know where postseason baseball is going to be for the next couple weeks," says David Levy, who holds the dual titles of president of Turner Entertainment ad sales and president of Turner Sports; both are units of Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner.

Turner is hoping the drama -- in which many teams remained in contention until late in the season -- will continue into the postseason, boosting viewership from last year, when World Series viewership fell 8% from the previous year. It won't hurt that this year's playoffs feature a roster of teams from big markets including Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago.

To boost awareness of the games, TBS has launched a Web site called "TBS Hot Corner." The site this postseason will feature actress Alyssa Milano and a team of commentators and analysts including Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Gwynn and others.

Turner is paying more than $100 million each year for the baseball rights, according to people familiar with the matter. It's part of a broader move by Turner to increase the proportion of original programming on both TBS and its sister channel TNT, after years of a diet heavy on movies like "Pretty Woman" and "Air Force One."

Below, Mr. Levy talks about airing MLB postseason games for the first time and how Turner is trying to compete with the broadcast networks with more original programming.

WSJ: Why do a deal with MLB when ratings for baseball have generally been declining?

Mr. Levy: Here's a great thing about sports in general -- all sports goes in cycles. We had looked at baseball as an opportunity because we thought it was going to be an up cycle. ...

A lot has to do with the pennant races that you just saw over the last couple of weeks and the histories of some of the greatest records of all time that were eclipsed -- Hank Aaron's home run, Tom Glavine reaching his 300th win, Sammy Sosa 600 home runs. There's just been a tremendous amount of record-breaking opportunities this year. We look at it as an opportunity in an up cycle. Second, at Turner we go after top-tier sports properties.

WSJ: Turner Sports is airing the playoff games for the first time. What are you doing to promote the new deal?

Mr. Levy: We have a high-profile [video] with Bon Jovi, a 2 ?-minute piece that's been in almost 6,500 movie theaters across the country. We have outdoor media in the top 10 baseball markets. We have [ads on] radio, over the air TV, spot cable and newspapers and magazines. I would say it's equal spending to our other top-tier sports.

WSJ: TNT and TBS are known for running ads during programming. Can we expect to see the same during playoff games?

Mr. Levy: We don't want to take away from the programming itself. ... But there will be pop-ups and other things to promote our programming. One of the things that attracted us is this is going to be high-rated programming, and it's a great way to promote other [Turner] programming.

WSJ: TNT and TBS have invested in more original programming lately. You've got hit shows like "The Closer," critics' favorites like "Saving Grace" but also disappointments like "Heartland," which was canceled. How have advertisers responded to original programming and what's the payoff considering how expensive original programming is?

Mr. Levy: It's a very expensive venture. ... You are seeing us invest heavily in original programming and it is our quest to go from 20% of original [programming] and 80% acquired [content] to 80% original, including sports, and 20% acquired. Advertisers are looking for more and more opportunities to incorporate their messages, not just on commercials but throughout the programming lineup with product integration and branded entertainment. Original programming is becoming a necessity to fulfill those needs.

WSJ: With some commercial ratings data out, what are some of the things you've learned so far and what changes do you see coming to the industry?

Mr. Levy: We're also looking at the length of the pod [commercial break], how many pods, meaning how many commercial breaks do we put in a show? Years ago [the advertising] agency was defined by how good their creative was. Then over time it was how good were their buying habits. I believe it'll now flip back to the agency being defined once again by their creative because [of] how the creative is viewed and rated.

WSJ: You have a drama called "Truth in Advertising" in development. What are the marketing opportunities?

Mr. Levy: Think about what the content of that show is -- it's about an advertising agency. You can just imagine the opportunities. If they took a brand and went through the entire process of how that brand was launched, what the creative side was, what the copywriting was and all the fun and antics around it. That particular show has numerous opportunities for product placement and branded entertainment and writing into the script itself. ... We are in early conversations because the pilot is being produced as we speak.
Fox Sports President Ed Goren woke up Monday morning, turned on the TV to check out the stock market and couldn't believe what he was hearing.
He tuned to CNBC, but instead of listening to analysts discuss stocks, bonds and the futures market, anchor Mark Haines was moaning about the New York Mets' collapse. Then he was talking to a CEO in Illinois gushing about the Chicago Cubs.

Who wants to talk stocks when you can address the New York Yankees' postseason rotation? "It's amazing," Goren says. "All anyone's doing is talking baseball. Oh, and by the way, the market is at an all-time high. It's wonderful."

Major League Baseball, which drew a record 79.5 million fans this year with perhaps its most dramatic regular-season weekend since the advent of the wild card, is poised to conquer the world. The postseason tournament starts Wednesday with three best-of-five Division Series; a fourth Division Series, pitting the Yankees and Cleveland Indians, is scheduled to open Thursday.

"This sport," Commissioner Bud Selig says, "is the most popular it's ever been. It has been our national pastime. It still is our national pastime. It always will be our national pastime."

Especially with this postseason's contenders, who have a chance to dominate the headlines, talk shows and, most important, TV ratings, for all of October.

"I could never have imagined this type of momentum going into the postseason," says Turner Sports President David Levy, whose TBS cable network showed the Colorado Rockies' dramatic win against the San Diego Padres on Monday to make the postseason and will carry all first-round games and the National League Championship Series. "This postseason, with the teams involved we have, is an absolute dream for a network."

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For the first time, baseball will have five of the top seven markets represented in the playoffs. They also have the Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox representing the East, the Cubs and Indians in the Midwest and the Rockies, Los Angeles Angels and Arizona Diamondbacks for the West.

"This is such a baseball marketing dream, it's almost like it was fixed. It's unreal," Minnesota center fielder Torii Hunter says, laughing. "Can you imagine the TV ratings? It's going to be crazy. You're talking about Cub fans all over the country. You got America's team, the Yankees. You got the Red Sox Nation. You got the underdogs like Cleveland.

"I can't wait to sit back on my couch and watch it. I want to see good commercials, too, like the Super Bowl. Don't give me any punk commercials. Show me the kind that has everyone talking like the Super Bowl ones."

Entwined in the culture

MLB actually has been creating its version of YouTube, named "actober," with fans and stars, such as James Caan and Survivor host Jeff Probst re-enacting dramatic postseason moments in their yards. Caan reminisced about his favorite Yankee moments. Probst impersonated Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and former major leaguers Bobby Thomson and Kirk Gibson in a video.

"Our fans tell us that baseball has a greater cultural historical significance than any other sport," says Tim Brosnan, MLB executive vice president of business. "If you take a momentous event in life, whether marriage, the birth of your child, your first job, and relate it to a sports event, nine out of 10 people will give you a baseball game.

"The 2001 postseason is my favorite of all time because everybody who lives in New York had friends, relatives or a neighbor that was impacted by 9/11. I really believe that baseball and the postseason played a pretty strong role in helping what was a difficult recovery. That will always be special to me."

This time, instead of helping a nation recover, the postseason could mend plenty of broken hearts. The Cubs have not won the World Series in 99 years. The Indians last won in 1948. The Phillies, who had the sixth-longest playoff drought in baseball, haven't won a World Series in 27 years. The Rockies have never made it to a World Series.

And if you talk to Yankees fans, seven years seems like an eternity.

"We're the underdog," Cubs president John McDonough says. "Come on, it's been 99 years. We lost 96 games last year. How can you be a bigger underdog than that?"

Are the Cubs really baseball's Cinderella team?

"Nah," Goren says. "There's one good reason. (Cubs manager Lou) Piniella doesn't look good in glass slippers."

The Cubs, America's lovable losers, figure to hog the spotlight as long as they're in the postseason.

Everyone once again will hear about the curse of the billy goat.

The black cat that darted in front of their dugout in 1969.

And, yes, news organizations will try to track down Steve Bartman, the fan who interfered with that foul ball in Game 6 of the NLCS, perhaps costing the Cubs a shot at the World Series.

"I don't want to sound presumptuous and say what's good for the Cubs is good for baseball," says McDonough, who has spent 24 years in the organization, "but from a TV ratings standpoint, it's seismic. The Cubs are a significant attraction. Everyone, it seems, can relate to us.

"We've had the same logo for 80 years. Played in the same ballpark for 93 years. We've been on the same TV station for 60 years. The same radio station for 70 years. People have become accustomed to these things. And because of the ticking tock syndrome, we've always been the underdog."

Levy says the inclusion of the Cubs could make this a cherished postseason with sky-high ratings. For the regular season, viewership was up 25% on ESPN and 13% on ESPN2. It was down 4% on Fox, but 20 of the 29 U.S. markets with baseball teams showed a local ratings increase, according to MLB research.

"I knew before the year started that baseball is in an up-cycle," Levy says, "but what we're seeing now is people excited about the postseason before it even happens. This couldn't have worked out any better."

Wild finish

As late as last Thursday, eight NL teams were vying for four spots, with the possibility of a five-way tie. There could have been a four-way tie involving two divisional titles and a wild card as late as Sunday. The Phillies didn't know until Monday night they were playing the Rockies.

No wonder Selig got excited last weekend listening to Phillies president David Montgomery fondly recall the 1994 day they announced the addition of a wild-card entrant in each league.

"Commissioner, when we decided to go with all of this, did you ever believe it could be this good? Did you ever?" Montgomery asked Selig.

"We have numbers today that nobody could ever have thought about, including me," Selig says. "Our attendance. Our local TV ratings. Our national ratings. The amount of interest is legendary. This business is hitting on all cylinders.

"Just to see what happened in New York, what happened in Philadelphia, in Colorado and San Diego, is just fascinating. If somebody wrote this plot, nobody would have believed it."

Who would have imagined just three months ago that the Yankees and Cubs would be in the playoffs, and the Mets and Milwaukee Brewers would be sitting home? Or that the Diamondbacks, without Randy Johnson, would win the NL West? Or that the Phillies would overcome a seven-game deficit 2? weeks ago to win the NL East?

"This last week has been as exciting as any I've seen in sports," says Jeff Moorad, Diamondbacks chief executive officer. "Now we have tremendous excitement and build-up towards the postseason. The fact that markets across the country ― big and small ― are represented in the postseason is a testimony to the commissioner's grand plan."

Perfect balance

Certainly, baseball's competitive balance might be reflected in the division series, where there is no heavy favorite or huge underdog.

"What's really intriguing is not only with the markets involved," HBO host Bob Costas says, "but that all of the teams in the American League are good enough to get to the World Series and none of the National League's are so good that none have a chance.

"I can't see any series where there is a prohibitive favorite until the World Series, where the American League would be favored because it is clearly superior to the National League."

Yet, the Yankees and Cubs have defied the odds by simply making it to the postseason. Both, thought to be out of it in June, resurrected into contenders.

"They went through the same kind of hell to get here," Goren says. "The two veteran managers (Piniella and the Yankees' Joe Torre) held up stoically while everyone around them was panicking. Now after a brutal year, they're in the playoffs. In typical Cubs fashion, it was perfect."

Although the perfect culmination of this baseball season might be a World Series between these teams, Goren says the ultimate drama would be a showdown between the Cubs and Red Sox.

"Now that the Red Sox have won," Goren says, "the Cubs are the missing piece.

"We're in the middle of football (on Sunday), and someone says, 'Wouldn't it be great to see the Red Sox and Cubs in the World Series?' I turned around and said, 'If that happened, what would I have