Boys of October Giving Way to 2008

The coming end of the baseball season is sad for many but especially for hardball fans in the presidential election world where night broadcasts and box scores provide a little break from their 24-7 routine. "When you spend 14 or 15 hours a day talking and walking politics," says Republican Mitt Romney's spokesman Kevin Madden, "it really is important to just take a few minutes a day to talk baseball or just read the box scores. It reminds you that there is life beyond the campaign headquarters." He's lucky: While he's a Yankees fan living in Boston, his team made it to the playoffs. Not so lucky: Carrie Giddins, Democratic Party spokeswoman in Iowa and a huge fan of the New York Mets, who flamed out at the end. "It was easier not being in New York," she concedes. Amid her gloom, Giddins found one positive. "I'll have a lot more free time in October for my job."