Fantasy sports are taking over the country.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, mind you. There are worse ways to spend your time than poring over Ryan Spilborgh's left-righty splits.

FYI: He's hitting .400 against southpaws.

You could be taking out a loan to fill up your gas-guzzling Hummer. You could be dwelling on the subprime-mortage crisis. You could be watching "So You Think You Can Dance."

Fantasy sports are exactly that: fantasies. And we need all the fantasy we can get.

In fantasy sports, you can separate yourself from the worries of the day, like whether or not Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson will get back together and, instead, focus on why Victor Martinez suddenly has as much power at the plate as Pedro Martinez.

Fantasy sports always have been an ideal diversion — and sometimes a frustratingly fun one as well.

No matter how much you plan, no matter how much you study every little detail, you can never predict what will happen during a given season.

For that reason, fantasy baseball provides the biggest escape.

The season is six months long. Games are played every day. You need the diligence of an air traffic controller to keep on top of things.

Here are some things no one ever could have expected while sitting around the draft table in late March:

• Chipper Jones hitting over .400.

The odds were much better that Chipper would be making his second or third trip to the disabled list by now instead of channeling his inner Ted Williams, but here he is in the last week of May hitting well over .400.

It seems Larry Wayne Jones Jr. is aging well.

• Josh Hamilton leading the league in RBI.

The Reds shipped him off to Texas in the offseason for Edison Volquez, who also is having a standout season.

Hamilton put up good numbers last year, but not many could have projected him to be on pace for 176 RBI this season.

• Nate McLouth forgetting that he is Nate McLouth.

The Pirates center fielder is making everyone forget Chris Duffy, — like that is a hard thing to do.

McLouth came into the season hitting a homer once in every 28 at-bats. Now, he is going yard once every 16.5 at-bats and already has more RBI than he did all of last season.

• Carlos Quentin forgetting he stinks.

And Carlos did stink last season. The dude hit .214 for the Diamondbacks. You would have been better off withSan Quentin last year.

This year with the White Sox, he is batting .301 and is leading the American League in home runs.

This guy really did come out of nowhere.

• Cliff Lee pitching like Cy Young.

The Indians pitcher seemingly had a ticket to the purgatory of Buffalo — or, even worse, Pittsburgh — but the Tribe decided to keep him as their fifth starter.

Good choice. Lee has turned into an ace, leading the AL in ERA at a measly 1.50.