OK, the season is nearly over and for most of us our favorite Major League Baseball teams didn't make the playoffs. But that's no reason to give up on America's favorite pastime. Simply look to the stars.

That's right. During this great season of peanuts and Cracker Jack, we can look skyward for a celestial reminder of our collective baseball passion. High in the eastern sky after dark are four equally bright stars that form what is commonly known as the Great Square of Pegasus. I prefer to think of it as the Great Baseball Diamond.

Highest in the sky we see home plate; moving counterclockwise around the diamond we can see first, second, and third bases. With some imagination, you might even spot the pitcher, catcher, umpire, on-deck batter, third-base coach, and so on. Way too many outfielders, though.

The four main stars in the diamond are more classically associated with the front and midsections of Pegasus, the great winged stallion of antiquity. In classical mythology, Pegasus was a magical beast. After his birth, Pegasus flew to Mount Helicon in Boeotia where the nine Muses lived.

Upon striking the ground, one of his hooves opened up a spring of gushing water that became known as the Hippocrene, or The Horse's Fountain. It was said that drinking its water conferred on one the gift of poetry. Ever since, the figure Pegasus has been a symbol of poetry and the creative arts.

Interesting story. But finding a horse among the stars is another matter altogether. Not only is it a flying horse, after all, but it appears upside down. And if that weren't confusing enough, there's only half of an upside-down flying horse in the sky. Any wonder we have trouble making it out?

Now, when the 2008 major league playoffs and World Series are history, Pegasus will continue to shine after dark as it has for millennia. But rather than reminding us of baseball, it might then represent the approaching Election Day, for if you recall, only the front half of the horse appears. "Where's the back half?" you might ask.

Well, the ancient Greeks had an explanation that, I must say, I cannot readily dismiss. They claimed that the back half of the horse fell to Earth and became, and I quote, "the current breed of politician."

Change? I think not!

To find out more about Dennis Mammana and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.