Ken Davidoff's baseball insider

This gentleman on the right is Bill Giles, the Phillies' chairman and the honorary National League president. That title's few responsibilities include attending the All-Star Game every year and talking trash with his AL counterpart, Jackie Autry. It's all harmless.

But if Jackie Autry wanted to, she could call Giles right now and say, "Yo, Bill, your league is a joke!"

We've got just four days remaining in the regular season, and not a single NL team has clinched a spot in the playoffs. That is remarkable, especially when you consider that the Yankees' victory last night left the AL to sort out only its seedings.

Mets and Phillies for the NL East, Cubs and Brewers for the NL Central, Diamondbacks, Padres and Rockies for the NL West. Everyone besides the Cubs and Brewers (not to mention the Braves, the longest of longshots) for the NL wild card.

The talent levels are just awful; compare the Diamondbacks, who have the NL's best record, with the Yankees, who will likely own the AL's fourth and last seed, and then remember that the Yankees swept the Diamondbacks in a three-game series, back in June.

But, as I was discussing with a few of my fellow scribes last night at Shea Stadium, who cares? This is awesome, that we have so much to follow in these final days. That we have a decent chance of seeing a one-game playoff Monday for something. That rich teams and poor teams alike are contending. This is the result of Good Bud Selig _ revenue-sharing and the wild card _ not to be confused with his evil twin, Bad Bud Selig.

There are too many different scenarios to anticipate, so we'll keep watching, tallying the results and re-calibrating the odds. This, indeed, is a great time for baseball.

Well, unless you're a Mets fan.