These days, while baseball as "America's pastime" may play second string to basketball as the favorite sport, as a metaphor baseball is about national optimism.

In the course of a year, plenty of Americans catch a game, whether it's in a major-league ballpark, a Little League sandlot or on FOX's "Game of the Week." In April, the start of the season is a sure sign of hopefulness — even for Cubs fans.

At MSN, our editors set aside their allegiances and let the imagination and Live Search direct users to self-selecting levels of baseball information. Whether you're wanting just a score or to devote part of your soul to fantasy baseball on FOX Sports, MSN has what you need.

Leading off, of interest to both die-hard and casual fans is a handy feature now incorporated into Live Search. Given the omnipresence of search boxes on all MSN pages as well as your browser you can easily get your fill of baseball particulars.

Simply type word "baseball" (without quote marks) and the date (April 4, without parentheses), and up come the start times or the scores, depending on the time of day. During the game, you can even click through to a live score. So it would look like this (you don't have to bother with upper-case, even!):

baseball april 5

Likewise, typing in the name of a player brings up his photo, some simple data and a prominent link to the player's page on FOX Sports.

This handy feature in Live Search isn't limited to baseball, however. Several other pro and major college sports, plus the athletes, can be accessed this way. (Additionally, that browser is configured to do some math, beyond batting averages, using a slash for dividing and an asterisk or X for multiplying.)

For the hardball hard-core, the newly redesigned FOX Sports Fantasy Baseball has many improved features, and playing the game is free. Maybe this is your year to take a swing at fantasy.

"Each spring, we commit to delivering the best baseball content on the Web to our millions of users, and fantasy baseball has become an incredibly important part of that experience," says Larry Tobin, vice president of product for FOX Sports Interactive. "By offering up a great prize for our most loyal and influential users — the league commissioners — and improving the product on a number of levels, we're delivering fantasy baseball fanatics with the ultimate place to play in 2008."

The Draft Guide groups all the information you'll need to play. For a small group or family who will challenge each other on the digital diamond, the Fantasy Fifty and FOX Fantasy senior editor Roger Rotter's top 10 draft strategy tips may be all you need before draft day.

For the savvy fan who, for instance, notes tendencies of spray hitters, sluggers and infielders at home and away, browsing assessments by the FOX Fantasy reporters is like having a bench full of shrewd coaches. Rotter has his top 500 picks, categorized by position, while contributors/bloggers Mike Harmon and John Halpin offer their top 300, respectively.

"I'm excited for this promising baseball season," Rotter says. "Nearly every team has a chance to make the playoffs and go to the World Series. I'm looking forward to watching the surprise teams emerge and for fresh faces to become stars, along with watching the familiar stars sparkle again. Better yet, as a Cubs fan, I'm hoping the 100-year drought ends."

Rotter, a fantasy veteran who says he's toughest in football, is aiming for a baseball title himself, since the online tools are all warmed up for a hot season.

"We've made many exciting changes to this year's much-improved game," Rotter explains. "Namely, owners will be happy to hear that it's easier and more fun to play. Live drafts are still going strong, so it's not too late to participate."

In fact, people can register until April 26, with the draft ending April 27. If you serve as commissioner of your league, you'll get a chance to win a trip to All-Star Week in New York in July.

Tickets to the All-Star fest may be hard to get this year, since the event will double as a kind of farewell to Yankee Stadium, but across MSN there are other ways to get excited about a day of hot dogs and Cracker Jack. Among them, in City Guides, you can see slide shows on five ballparks we love and how to cut costs at the stadium.

Speaking of how to enjoy baseball, how about taking a moment to tell us what you think about MSN by offering your opinions and insights in the box atop this page?