1.   And finally, there are the baseball gods.

2.   And asking even then for benevolence from the baseball gods.

3.   And it is The Streak that makes Ripken a baseball god.

4.   And somewhere the baseball gods nodded solemnly.

5.   As if he were being punished by the baseball gods for his dramatic heroics, Daubach could hit nothing over the next week and the weeks after that.

6.   A baseball god and a movie star, ingrained in our American heritage.

7.   A little optimism never hurt anyone, but the Braves will need divine intervention from the baseball gods to dig themselves out of this hole.

8.   A week from today, Tom Lasorda will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, not as a baseball god, but as a man.

9.   But by the grace of the baseball gods, they are not.

10.   But, apparently, the baseball gods are on a different frequency than hay bales and the first evening star.