Now that commissioner Bud Selig has seemingly cleaned up the steroid cesspool in Major League Baseball, it's high time he pushes hard for a salary cap.

And I don't want to hear how he can't do it because of an uncooperative union.

As it stands, only the Rockefellers of baseball - the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, etc. - have a snowball's chance in purgatory of winning a World Series.

This season's American and National League Championship Series combatants are stark proof of how money talks. The AL entrants - the Yankees and Los Angeles Angels - have the first- and sixth-highest payrolls in baseball at $201.44 million and $113.70 million, respectively.

The NL entrants - the Philadelphia Phillies and Dodgers - have the seventh- and ninth-highest payrolls at $113 million and $100.41 million, respectively.

Did you really think the Milwaukee Brewers, with their modest $80M payroll, had any legitimate chance of getting to the NLCS this season, much less the World Series? Of course not.

But as slim as the Brewers' chances of advancing to postseason play were, they were considerably better than a spate of teams that knew their season was over before it even started.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals serve as classic examples. The Pirates, with a $48.69M payroll, won a paltry 62 games. The Nationals, with their $60.32M payroll, won a mere 59 games.

To further illustrate the absurd disparity between the Haves and Have-nots of MLB, consider this:

-- The Yankees' payroll is almost six times - repeat, six times - that of Florida's payroll of $36.834M.

-- The Yankees have nine players who'll earn at least $13M this season, including Alex Rodriguez, whose annual take is $33M. The Brewers? They didn't have one player who even made $13M.

Selig, once the majority owner of the Brewers, is undoubtedly cognizant of how unlevel and unfair the financial playing field is in baseball.

If Selig truly cares about his sport and about its fans, he needs to play hardball with Player Association czar Donald Fehr and iron out a salary cap agreement.

It's long overdue.

Butler blogs

Former Park High School star Caron Butler will be writing a blog periodically for HoopsHype.com, one of the world's biggest and best pro basketball Web sites.

Butler, a two-time NBA All-Star for the Washington Wizards, made his blogging debut last week and took a good-natured jab at his teammate, Mike Miller.

Wrote Butler: "I respect LeBron James and the rest of them (Cleveland Cavaliers). In fact, I speak with LBJ often. That said, I tell you right now that Mike Miller, whom I love, has to take those LeBron shoes off. That's just not acceptable around here. You hear that, Mike!"

Caron also offered his opinion on how the Wizards are going to shock the NBA this season: "I definitely think we're a championship contender now and my teammates do, too."

Bold move

It takes a courageous head coach to radically alter his team's offense in the middle of the season, but that's precisely what Union Grove High School coach Scott McBride did.

Three weeks ago, after his Broncos sputtered to a 2-3 record, McBride and his staff decided to install the wishbone offense with the hope of maximizing their running game.

Suffice to say, the move worked. The Broncos have won three straight games since the switch and look like a team to be reckoned with in the WIAA playoffs.

Officially speaking

Several NBA coaches have had to write out some hefty checks in the last couple of weeks for their disparaging remarks about the replacement officials.

Look for more coaches to be fined in the weeks to come.

I recently talked with two NBA execs and both were convinced a settlement between the NBA and the locked out officials isn't imminent and that the league would use the replacements to start the regular season.

The Bucks' regular-season opener is Oct. 30 against the 76ers in Philadelphia.

Around the horn

It's too bad Rush Limbaugh didn't become owner of the St. Louis Rams. His first move could have been acquiring Donovan McNabb. ... If the New York Yankees and Philadelphia wind up playing in the World Series in November, they won't need grounds crews; they'll need snow removal crews. ... As part of his rookie indoctrination, Milwaukee Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings told me he has to pick up a newspaper every day for his teammate Michael Redd. I would assume that Jennings' newspaper of choice is The Journal Times. ... Curious minds want to know if Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is still cozying up to grapefruit heiress Julie Henderson.

Gery Woelfel is a reporter for The Journal Times. Gery can be reached by calling (262) 634-3322, Ext. 322, or by e-mail at gery.woelfel@lee.net