The NBA held its annual draft lottery over the weekend, once again subjecting the nation to the ridiculous spectacle of rich men in expensive suits standing around and waiting for the fateful tumble of a ping-pong ball. I would say the lottery is the low point on the TV schedule but I'm withholding judgment until the first episode of "Survivor III."

Meanwhile, baseball holds it annual draft in less than two weeks. If you're like most fans, you probably didn't realize baseball's draft was so close. And if you're like many fans, you probably don't care very much, either.

Baseball drafts more than 1,200 players and the vast majority of these kids will never reach the majors. If the draft goes big league, you will devote precious hours of your life to listening to endless hype about them, yet the only way you'll ever see most of them in a major-league stadium is if you stand behind them in the concession stands.

There are a number of people out there who would like to change that. These well-meaning people -- writers, general managers and scouting directors -- would like to see baseball broadcast its draft the way the NBA and NFL does. They say that as it is now, baseball is missing an enormous opportunity to publicize its draft. That the current draft is conducted in the confusing secrecy usually reserved for an episode of the "X-Files." That it doesn't receive a fraction of the media attention dedicated to the NFL and NBA drafts.

And you know what? Those people are absolutely right. But that's the whole beauty of baseball's draft -- that no one cares very much about it other than the players, the teams, "Baseball America" and Scott Boras.

I just don't see the necessity or advantage of expanding the coverage of the baseball draft. I mean, do we really need to see the top prospects wearing tuxedos to a ballroom in New York? Does anyone really need wall-to-wall coverage of baseball's draft? Is there a crying need for close-ups of Texas director of scouting Tim Hallgren while he uses the Rangers' 38th round pick to draft an 18-year-old second baseman even "Baseball America" couldn't identify with a high school transcript, a set of fingerprints and a retina scan?

Worse, does baseball need its own version of Mel Kiper Jr., the first man to build an entire career around one day since Santa Claus?

As a reporter it could be exasperating when baseball wouldn't even release its draft picks past the first round. And yet, I also found it somehow quaint and almost comforting that there still was something in sports that wasn't suffocated by hype and examined so extensively it was reduced to a corpse on the autopsy table.

Remember, baseball drafts more than 1,200 players and the vast majority of these kids will never reach the majors. If the draft goes big league, you will devote precious hours of your life to listening to endless hype about them, yet the only way you'll ever see most of them in a major-league stadium is if you stand behind them in the concession stands.

And even the few players who make it big won't do so for several years. It isn't like the NFL or NBA drafts where the players can be expected to make an instant impact. It could be six years before they crack the starting lineup, by which point no one will know or care what round they were picked in.

So why make more out of the draft than it is? If the players picked are any good, we'll find out about them when they reach the majors. Until then, can't we keep one last thing in professional sports free of TV commercials and hyperbole?

Box score line of the week
One of the season's sadder stories is the ongoing saga of Rick Ankiel, last year's once promising prospect who developed Steve Blass Disease in the playoffs and has yet to recover. After walking 25 batters in 24 innings with St. Louis this season, the Cardinals sent Ankiel down to Triple-A Memphis, where his problems continue. He walked five batters and threw eight pitches to the backstop in his first start, then struggled again in his second start, walking three batters and throwing three wild pitches without getting out of the first inning.

Ankiel's line:

.2 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3BB, 1 K, 3 WP

"It's only going to work when I figure it out," he told reporters.

Lies, damn lies and statistics
Barry Bonds hit more home runs in a six-game span (nine) than the Royals have hit the entire month (eight, through Tuesday). ... How close is the NL West? The Padres are the division's only team that hasn't been in first place during the past three and a half weeks. ... The Twins haven't lost consecutive games since the fourth and fifth games of the season, when they dropped a pair in Kansas City. How much of a turnaround is that? By this point last year, Minnesota had two two-game losing streaks, a three-game losing streak, two four-game losing streaks and two five-game losing streaks. ... No wonder they didn't give him a ring. Rickey Henderson hit more home runs (two) and drove in more runs (three) in San Diego's three-game series against the Mets last week than he hit (zero) and drove in (two) for the Mets last year. ... The probable end to Tim Raines' comeback due to his injured shoulder ends the slim chances that he and his son, Tim, Jr., could join the Griffey's as the only father-son combos in big-league history. Junior Raines is hitting .296 with two home runs for Baltimore's Double-A Eastern League farm team.

From left field
Tom Kelly took the Twins from sixth place in 1986 to the world championship in1987, then took them from last place in 1990 to the world championship in 1991. And he's at it again, guiding a team that had the league's worst record last year to the top of the AL Central.

Kelly is in his 15th full season as manger of the Twins (he took over at the tail end of the 1986 season) and is the dean of all coaches/managers at the major-league level. He also has entered a rare echelon for managers -- 15 full seasons with one club. The managers who lasted at least 15 consecutive seasons with a team:

Years	Manager	Team	The skinny
50	Connie Mack	Athletics	Nine pennants, 18 last-place finishes
31	John McGraw	Giants	10 pennants
23	Walter Alston	Dodgers	Always worked on one-year contracts
20	Tommy Lasorda	Dodgers	Dodgers had two managers in 43 years
18	Wilbert Robinson	Dodgers	Dodgers known as Robins in his honor
17	Sparky Anderson	Tigers	Refused to manage replacement players
16	Fred Clarke	Pirates	Four pennants
16	Joe McCarthy	Yankees	Won pennant in half his seasons
15	Tom Kelly	Twins	Two world titles, 10 losing seasons
15	Earl Weaver	Orioles	Took two years off, returned for two more

(Note: Cap Anson managed Chicago for 19 years in the 19th century when the season and game was significantly different)

Win Blake Stein's money
This week's category: Those Tobacco Stains Are A Bitch To Get Out.

Q: Who was the last active manager to appear on the field wearing a suit instead of a uniform?

Power rankings

1. Barry Bonds Last week's amazing feat: Nine homers in six games. Next: Smile while signing an autograph.

2. Twins Mientkiewicz: The name of the 2001 MVP or just an unplayable rack in scrabble?

3. Mariners Bad weekend for Ichiro. Streak ends, Seattle thieves still at large for robbery of his father, Jor-El.

4. Vince Carter Big Sunday: Diploma from Carolina, honorary degree in whoop-ass from Allen Iverson.

5. Wall Street Early candidate for comeback player of the year award.

6. Cleveland City's version of hell: mayoral campaign between Art Modell and David Wells.

7. Ken Griffey Jr. Bad: He may need surgery. Worse: It would be performed by same doctors who cleared Mike Sirotka.

8. Oil prices It could be worse -- your car could run on bottled water.

9. White Sox Apparently, Reinsdorf fitted their 2001 pennant drive with Firestone tires.

10. Devil Rays Contraction compromise: Tampa Bay to retain franchise, but would play games on White House lawn.

A. During a Turn Back the Clock Day last season, Oakland manager Art Howe wore a suit and straw hat while presenting the lineup card in a salute to former Athletics manager Connie Mack, who was the last man to actively manage while wearing a suit. Mack always wore a suit instead of a uniform while managing the Philadelphia Athletics for 50 years.

Voice of summer
"I wouldn't do that. It's 3-2 in the top of the ninth and Jose Mesa just walked the leadoff hitter."

-- Philadelphia third-base coach John Vukovich on what he told a nurse preparing to take his blood pressure while he was in the hospital for surgery.

Jim Caple is a Senior Writer for ESPN.com.