A comparison of career, 162-game averages for three second basemen who were in the news on Wednesday:

The first guy, of course, is 32-year-old Cubs second baseman Mark DeRosa, who will become Cubs "super sub" Mark DeRosa if the team consummates the endlessly rumored deal for the second guy, the Orioles' 30-year-old Brian Roberts, in a transaction that seems likely to cost the Cubs young pitchers Sean Gallagher, Sean Marshall, and more.

And the third guy? The often injured Marcus Giles, just 29 years old, who cost the Colorado Rockies next to nothing when he signed a minor league deal with the National League champions on Wednesday.

Major League teams and the number of seasons since their last World Series appearance:

Colorado, 0
St. Louis, 1
Detroit, 1
White Sox, 2
Houston, 2
Boston, 3*
Florida, 4
Yankees, 4
Angels, 5
San Francisco, 5
Arizona, 6
Mets, 7
Atlanta, 8
San Diego, 9
Cleveland, 10*
Toronto, 14
Philadelphia, 14
Minnesota, 16
Cincinnati, 17
Oakland, 17
Los Angeles, 19
Kansas City, 22
Baltimore, 24
Milwaukee, 25
Pittsburgh, 28
You-Know-Who, 62

(*Pending results of ALCS)

Four current franchises have never made it to the Series--the Devil Rays (9 seasons in existence), Mariners (30), Expos/Nationals (38), and Senators/Rangers (46)--but in a world populated by the Chicago Cubs and the people who suffer along with them, fans of those four pennantless teams better not even THINK of feeling sorry for themselves.

If you're like me, those WTBS broadcasts are now such a part of the fabric of your life, you simply can't imagine missing them just because the Cubs were spanked and sent to bed by the Diamondbacks.

But who do you root for? Which of the four teams left in the World Series derby deserves the unqualified affection of the world’s millions of woebegone Cub fans (at least for the next couple weeks)?

Naturally it's the team that’s most like the Cubs.

To help you determine who that is, here is a quick summary of what does and doesn’t connect each of the contenders and their home cities to our Cubs and Chicago.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Connections:

• Multitude of Cub fans living in AZ
• HoHoKam Park
• Mark Grace

Disconnections:

• Stadium with swimming pool, roof
  
• Cacti
• Phoenix area still has Jack in the Box

Boston Red Sox

Connections:

• Great old ballpark with narrow seats and horrible food
• Classic uniforms
• Babe Ruth-related issues
• Bill Buckner
• Manager Terry Francona is former Cub
• Cash flow

Disconnection:

• Know what to do with their cash flow

Cleveland Indians

Connections:

• Midwest
• Reviled by White Sox fans
• Lou Boudreau
• Insufferable mascot supporters (Ronnie Woo-Woo/Bass Drum Guy)

Disconnections:

• Drew Carey is no Bob Newhart (though he beats the crap out of Tom Dreesen)
  
• Chicago River never caught fire

Colorado Rockies

Connection:

• Snow

Disconnection:

• Rocky Mountain Oysters sold in stadium Concession (Sec. 139)

You can make up your own mind. It wouldn't bother me to see the Rockies win it all, but I'm going to pull for the Red Sawks.

The thought of Rocky Mountain Oysters makes me gag.