Baseless questions? Not at all

Sorry, Chicago Cubs fans: We’re rooting for a Freeway Series. You’ve waited 100 years for another World Series championship, so what’s another one?

The World Series starts Oct. 22, in Angel Stadium or in another American League ballpark. That is more than three weeks away, so we’ll leave you with some questions and answers to chew on, during all those days off Fox and TBS mandate during the playoffs.

Can the Dodger Stadium chants be true? Is Manny Ramirez the National League MVP?

You can’t really select Ramirez as the most valuable player in the league, not when he played two months in the league, unless no other player put up outstanding numbers. Ryan Howard did, and so did Albert Pujols, and we’d vote for either one ahead of Ramirez.

But Ramirez ought to get an award for the amazing feat of pushing two teams into the playoffs. When the Boston Red Sox decided they wanted a divorce from Ramirez, no matter how potent his bat, they were no lock for the postseason, and the Dodgers were a .500 team. Since then, the Red Sox have scored 5.9 runs per game, up from 4.9. The Dodgers have scored 4.8 runs per game, up from 4.2.

The greatness of Ramirez might best be seen in comparison with the Dodgers’ last MVP, Kirk Gibson. In 1988, Gibson played in 150 games, hitting 25 home runs and driving in 76 runs. Ramirez has played in 53 games for the Dodgers, hitting 17 home runs and driving in 53 runs. What happened to the investigation of the circumstances surrounding the Ramirez trade?

It is continuing, Commissioner Bud Selig said Friday.

Selig declined to say what exactly is under investigation or when he might resolve the issue, but it is difficult to imagine much of anything coming out of this. He told Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports last week that he is satisfied the Dodgers and Red Sox beat the deadline in completing the deal.

There should be no issue of any perceived threat by Ramirez not to play, or play hard, for the Red Sox. The Sox wouldn’t want Selig to go there, not after they chose not to suspend Ramirez -- not this time, not after he shoved Boston’s traveling secretary; not at any other time, in alleged misbehavior Curt Schilling said the team ignored for far too long.

And, in July, the Red Sox did not suspend Ramirez, or designate him for assignment, while trying to trade him. In fact, Boston General Manager Theo Epstein said he would not have traded Ramirez had he not been able to acquire Jason Bay to replace him.

Which cliche did the Detroit Tigers prove this season?

Good pitching beats good hitting. The Tigers, with a lineup billed as the second coming of Murderers’ Row, are in last place in the AL Central.

The Tigers hit, topping 800 runs. Miguel Cabrera more than did his job, and he could finish as the AL leader in home runs and runs batted in.

But the Tigers could not pitch. The starters had an earned-run average above 5.00, and the relievers led the league in putting runners on base.

Has baseball seen the last of Barry Bonds?

As a player, maybe. As a thorn in the side of Selig, no way.

Bonds, 44, who set the all-time home run record last season, did not play this season. He did appear at San Francisco’s AT&T; Park in August, before a Dodgers-Giants game, pointing to Dodgers Manager Joe Torre as he said: “You hear me, Torre: I’ve beat you before, I’ll beat you again. I haven’t retired.”

On March 2 -- three days before the start of the World Baseball Classic -- Bonds’ trial is scheduled to start in San Francisco, on charges he lied to a federal grand jury when he testified he had never used steroids. The Bonds trial could divert attention from Selig’s celebration of international baseball, with WBC games scheduled in California on March 14-23.

Jeff Borris, the agent for Bonds, has said no team offered Bonds a contract this season, even at minimum wage. The players’ union believes sufficient evidence exists to file a grievance claiming that owners colluded to bar Bonds from playing this season, sources said, but has deferred a final decision on whether to pursue the matter until the criminal case is resolved.

What happened to the perjury investigations of Roger Clemens and Miguel Tejada?

They are continuing, according to Department of Justice spokeswoman Laura Sweeney.

Those investigations started in February, two weeks after Clemens testified before Congress and two months after the Mitchell Report was issued. The investigations could take years; Bonds was indicted four years after the grand jury testimony in which he is alleged to have perjured himself.

Clemens, meanwhile, continues to pursue his defamation suit against Brian McNamee, the trainer who testified he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone. Congress referred Clemens and Tejada -- but not McNamee -- to the Justice . Department for a perjury investigation.

In May, Selig said he was “very sensitive” and “very concerned” about the epidemic of broken bats, many of which broke into chunks with jagged edges and flew toward players and fans. What happened to a solution?

“I am very concerned,” Selig said Friday. “We’ll have a solution.”

By the start of next season?

“I would certainly hope so,” he said.

Selig can’t unilaterally implement new rules for bats, so he and his staff have joined with the players’ union to examine the types of wood used in bats and the way they are made.

Jim Anderson of MaxBat said baseball officials are scheduled to visit his company’s Minnesota factory next week. Banning maple is not the solution, Anderson said, and neither is mandating a thicker handle.

In addition to stricter quality control, he said, baseball officials should consider the ratio between barrel size and handle size. Hitters who prefer thin handles -- the ones apparently most prone to breakage -- generally prefer thick barrels.

“They don’t need big barrels,” Anderson said. “That’s an aluminum bat mentality.”

What would shock the nation about a Freeway Series?

You wouldn’t have to use the freeway. Metrolink and Amtrak provide direct service between Anaheim, with a station at Angel Stadium, and Union Station in Los Angeles, where fans can catch a free shuttle to Dodger Stadium as well as connect to subway and bus lines. World Series games start just after 5 p.m., when you would be nuts to be on a freeway.

The spirit among Angels fans and Dodgers fans sharing a train would be something to behold, the communal mass transit experience enhancing the first World Series played entirely in the capital of the car culture.

We’re putting the train operators on notice: Run that World Series Express, and hold those trains late enough so that any fan can ride them home.

Next stop: The Freeway Series! All aboard!

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bill.shaikin@latimes.com

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Playoff matchups

American League: The Angels (West champions) will open the postseason at home Wednesday against the wild-card Red Sox. The Rays are East champions. The Central Division comes down to the Twins (87-74) and White Sox (86-74); the White Sox will play the Tigers on Monday if necessary.

National League: The Dodgers (West), Cubs (Central) and Phillies (East) are division champions. The wild card will be the Mets or the Brewers (both 89-72), with a playoff game possible Monday. The Dodgers will open the best-of-five division series Wednesday at Chicago or Philadelphia.