Seven biggest surprises of 2004 season: some unexpected developments in the major leagues included the successful runs put together by the Cardinals, Braves and Rangers.

WHILE JACK McKEON DOESN'T mass-produce memorable--if quaintly mangled--sayings like Yogi Berra or Casey Stengel, the Florida Marlins manager can't be faulted for his pithy appraisal of the game that has fed him for most of his 74 years.

"Weird stuff happens in baseball. That's baseball," is how McKeon phrased it in summing up the hugely favorable sequence of unusual events and plays that enabled his undervalued "wild card" team to reach and win the World Series in 2003.

The word "weird" seems a bit extreme, with "surprising" being less exceptionable, but McKeon put the bat on the ball. Baseball is incessantly surprising, with uncertainty its dominant ...