SAN FRANCISCO -- Before this series began -- back before Darren Baker had replaced Gary Coleman as America's new child star -- a reporter asked Anaheim pitcher Jarrod Washburn whether it felt like the World Series, what with the sunny California weather and the absence of a certain New York team. "It doesn't seem like the World Series," Washburn replied, "because I'm not home watching it on TV."

Apparently, neither are millions of Americans who don't have fastballs in the low 90s. Ratings are supposedly near record lows for this California series which is a shame. The millions who are opting for "Friends" over the Giants and Angels are missing a very compelling Series.

In the meantime, we'll wait to see the next play the amazing J.T. Snow has up his sleeve. Saturday night, he caught a foul popup after recovering from a Fred Flintstone flop on his back. Thursday, he topped that by scooping up manager Dusty Baker's three-year-old son, Darren, as he crossed home plate in the seventh inning.

No, Derek Jeter isn't here. Rudy Giuliani isn't here. The Yankee Stadium crazies aren't here. But that's the basic appeal of this Series. After a half-decade of the same team and players, this Series is about all the other teams and players out there, the ones who normally are forced to spend October at home on the couch.

For once, those Fox camera closeups are actually helpful because there are so many exciting new people to meet.

Besides, who needs Jeter's October miracles when you've got Barry Bonds parting the Red Sea in Anaheim with his tape-measure home runs? Who needs a clean-shaven Jason Giambi when you've got J.T. Snow scooping up grounders at first base and three-year-old children at home plate with equal ease? Who needs Yankee Stadium tradition when you've got kayaking nuns in McCovey Cove? Who needs the Yankees trying to win World Series number 27 when you've got two teams both trying to bring the world championship to their city for the first time?

And who needs Giuliani when you've got the Rally Monkey?

The Yankees aren't here but this Series has been filled with enough extraordinary moments to necessitate another Mastercard advertising campaign. The media even got into the act during San Francisco's 16-4 Game 5 win Thursday when a reporter in the left-field press box caught Jeff Kent's second home run of the night (and promptly gave it to a nearby child). Kent says that isn't the first time he's connected with a reporter. "I broke a laptop once back in the playoffs in 2000," Kent said. "There was some fist-pumping on that one."

As much as anything, this Series is about all the players who played so many games on so many diamonds in so many places while trying to finally reach the World Series. It's about the 37-year-old Bonds, who played 16 years before finally reaching the Series. It's about 34-year-old Tim Salmon, who had played more games than any other active player without reaching the postseason until this fall. It's about 37-year-old Benito Santiago, who was practically out of baseball after a serious auto accident in 1998 and is now in his first World Series.

And it's about the three pitchers in Thursday's game had once pitched with independent minor-league teams -- Anaheim relievers Brendan Donnelly and Ben Weber, and San Francisco reliever Chad Zerbe -- on the road to baseball's ultimate Series.

Five years ago Zerbe pitched for the Sonoma Valley Crushers of the independent Western League and was so down about his career that after giving up four runs in the first inning one day, he said to himself, "I'm tired of this. I don't want to do this anymore. I'm done with baseball."

	Go Ape: The Angels need a big effort from Kevin Appier in Game 6 to stay alive.

Then he pitched six scoreless innings and decided, what the hell, he would stick it out. And Thursday he was the winning pitcher in Game 5 of the World Series. The team gave him the scorecard and game ball.

"My feet haven't touched the ground yet," Zerbe said.

Granted, the one thing missing from this Series has been effective pitching. Remember last year when Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling were the finest duo since Lennon and McCartney? Things are a little different this autumn. The ERA for all the starting pitchers this Series is 9.07. Washburn is Anaheim's ace but his ERA rose to 9.31 after he allowed six runs the first two innings Thursday.

Washburn only threw 79 pitches so it's conceivable Anaheim's ace could pitch him sometime in Game 7 if necessary. "I think I would be available," Washburn said. "But I don't know whether they would want me."

Before the Angels get that far, Anaheim must rely on Kevin Appier to keep their season alive Saturday -- and he didn't make it through the third inning in Game 2. "Obviously, I want to get deeper into the game," Appier said, "but getting deep into the game is a major accomplishment against this team."

No kidding. The Giants have scored so many runs this Series (38) and have hit so many home runs (a record-tying 12 already) that the Angels complained that the World Series balls are juiced. "You go out there and throw them and the balls feel different," closer Troy Percival said.

Or maybe it's just that they're throwing those balls to Bonds, who is having the World Series that he always dreamed about. Bonds has reached base in 16 of the 22 times he stepped to the plate. He's hit three home runs, driven in five runs and scored seven runs. He was 3-for-4 with a walk Thursday, raising his on-base percentage to .727.

"I hope this postseason has gotten rid of that label that he's the greatest player who never did anything in the postseason," shortstop Rich Aurilia said. "He's just the greatest player to ever play the game."

"You always pay attention to Barry when he bats," Zerbe said. "You never know what he's going to do but it's probably going to be something unbelievable."

Thursday Bonds did something most extraordinary. He showed emotion. He displayed obvious excitement while standing in left field during the ninth inning and when Garret Anderson grounded out to end the game, Bonds pumped his fist as he ran off the field. OK. So that wasn't exactly Halle Berry accepting an Oscar but it qualifies as a major breakthrough for Bonds, who usually remains so aloof that Aurilia pondered -- only half-jokingly -- "Is he going to crack a smile this Series?"

Well, maybe. If the Giants win Saturday or Sunday, there's a very good chance he will, though Bonds wasn't guaranteeing anything. "I won't feel anything until it's all over."

In the meantime, we'll wait to see the next play the amazing J.T. Snow has up his sleeve.

Saturday night, he caught a foul popup after recovering from a Fred Flintstone flop on his back. Thursday, he topped that by scooping up manager Dusty Baker's three-year-old son, Darren, as he crossed home plate in the seventh inning. Darren had raced out to pick up Kenny Lofton's bat after the outfielder tripled and Snow yanked the batboy to safety just before David Bell came pounding into home behind him.

"I asked him if he was all right because I grabbed him by the collar of his jacket pretty good," Snow said. "He's our good-luck charm. We've got to make sure he's all right when we go down to Anaheim."

Darren Baker nearly interfered with a play in Wednesday night's game as well. Turns out that the reason he bolts to the plate so fast is because he wants to retrieve the bats before another batboy beats him to it. And there's a lot of competition. "I think we had a half-dozen kids in the dugout tonight," Kent said.

A half-dozen kids running around in the dugout during a World Series game? No one has had to manage a game with that many kids in the dugout since Walter Matthau. Or Bobby Valentine.

"As I saw the play unfold, I was thinking of what my mom told me, 'He shouldn't be out there, he's going to get hurt,'" Baker said. "I said, 'Mom, I know what I'm doing.' First call I got in the clubhouse was my mom to tell me, 'I know you listen to me sometimes, just listen to me this time.'"

Three-year-olds running onto the field. Mothers calling the clubhouse with advice. It's that sort of Series.

The Yankees aren't here. Jeter isn't here. Giuliani isn't here. But who cares? This World Series is what baseball is all about. It's about old teams and aging players finally reaching the destination they so long desired. It's about players and teams finally getting their chance after decades of waiting. And it's about playing a game with so much excitement and joy that cities turn into communities and a team of 30-somethings turns into a dugout of three-year-olds.

Jim Caple is a senior writer for ESPN.com.