When sinker ball pitcher Derrick Lowe takes the mound for the Boston Red Sox Wed. evening Oct, 27, look for the mother of all sinker balls to be served up at 8:14 p.m. CST. Weather permitting, a total lunar eclipse will be visible to fans at Busch Memorial Stadium

Should Fox Sports not point its camera up in the sky, look outside your front door to the east and you'll see the beginning of a total lunar eclipse, the first ever to happen during a World Series game.

Wednesday's eclipse favors the Western Hemisphere with most Americans getting a ringside seat.

Baseball is a game driven by statistics so, thanks to space. com, here are a few stats as to why there hasn't been an eclipse during a World Series game:

This notable Fall Classic owes partly to the fact that from 1903 through 1970, the World Series was only played during the daytime (The World Series was not played in 1904.)

In 1971, night Series games were introduced. But no total lunar eclipse since that time has occurred at just the right time.

There were two close calls during the 1980s.

In 1985, a total lunar eclipse on Oct. 28 came the day after the final game of the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals. The following year, another total eclipse occurred on Oct. 17. But that was the day before the start of the Series between the New York Mets and the Boston Red Sox.

The Sox missed the eclipse and the win in 1986. Not so in 2004. Lowe's sinker will repeatedly disappear from the field of vision of Cardinal batters as readily as its heavenly counterpart will disappear in the starry night. That big black empty space up there will be the number of runs the Cardinals score.

Go Sox. Even the stars are aligned for a championship!

The most memorable line from the 1950’s comedy series “The Honeymooners” starring Jackie Gleason is unquestionably: “One of these days Alice! Pow-zoom, up to the moon!”

But this month, for backyard astronomers at least, we'll be echoing Ralph Cramden's jubilant phrase: “How sweet it is.”

There will be a total lunar eclipse - at a civilized hour, at a time of year (in the US) when the night air is crisp but not cold, and when humidity is low to boot. And there is no need for eye protection. “How sweet it is.”

The eclipse will be high but not too high (30-35 degrees) in the eastern sky. Taking the kids out to see it won’t cause them to sleep through classes the next day. The only wrinkle, a small one, is on the west coast since the eclipse starts a tad before sunset. But by 6:45 p.m., PDT, the moon will look as good (or rather, not look at all) in Hollywood, Calif. as in Hollywood, Florida.
On Oct. 27 (please, no clouds), anyone in North and South America will be able to look up at the night sky and say: “How sweet it is.”

Stages of an eclipse

There are stages to an eclipse. As it commences, it will start looking redder and dimmer around 8:00 p.m. (EDT). Look north-northeast above the horizon and by 8:06 p.m. (EDT) the moon will have moved into the northern half of Earth's outer shadow - what astronomers call the penumbra. During this time the moon begins to dim and turn a copper-red because the only sunlight reaching it is sunlight passing through Earth's atmosphere.

At exactly 9:14 p.m. (EDT) the moon will start to disappear from sight (entering the umbra). It takes the moon several hours to pass completely through the umbra. Totality - when the moon is completely dark - begins at 10:23 p.m. It will last an unhurried 1 hour and 22 minutes. (Totality varies depending on the position of the observer, the Earth, and the planet's shadow. My figures are for a latitude of 40 degrees.)

The most exciting minutes will be those just before totality at 10:23 p.m. By 10:15 p.m. (EDT) a fingernail slice of white moon will be visible at lunar northeast, soon to go dark, a black sphere with an eery presence floating amidst the twinkle of stars.

The total eclipse will end at 11:45 p.m. (EDT) The moon re-emerges and is completely visible at 12:45 a.m. (EDT). At this point the moon will again seem reddish, but not quite as deep a hue as earlier in the evening. (See 'Shine on harvest moon' for an explanation.)

Shadow lessons

Bear in mind (and this is a good geometry lesson for the mathematically inclined), Earth's shadow has two parts, the umbra and penumbra. "The umbra is the region of total shadow - if we were within this portion of the Earth's shadow, we could not see the Sun at all. The penumbra is the region of partial shadow - if we were in the penumbra, we would see part of the Sun peeking around the edge of the Earth."

Just remember the lesson from earth science class: stand outside (on a sunny day of course) and extend your hand at eye level over smooth ground. The shadow cast by your hand has both an umbra and penumbra. The higher you hold your hand, the more obvious the penumbra will become.

The word "eclipse" comes from the Greek word ekleipsis, which means abandonment. It was not a happy word, per se. It aroused deep, primitive fear, and uncertainty.

Not so today. Our star, our planet, and our satellite engage in a perpetual orbital dance. We three are closest of gravitational partners.