Did you know that in the original rules of baseball, no bats were used? Rather, when two sides got together in a park, the first time a player from one team kissed a player from another team, he or she reached first base. And if he touched a breast, he got to second base. And so on.

The game having its gestation in Puritan times, there were very few home runs. This was noted, quite appropriately, as the Dead Ball Era.

Eventually, bat and glove entered the picture, and the game we know and love as baseball evolved. But vestiges of the other game remain, which we now know as sex. Terms like "getting to first base" linger as evidence of its true origins.

But seriously, folks ...

Though the presentation of baseball on television has sometimes been problematic, the presentation of sex on television has been even more so. "Whatever Happened to Second and Third Base?" is the title of a piece my brother, Greg Weisman, published today. And thanks to that title, it's quickly and easily discussed here.

The topic is one that my brother and I have discussed (in complete agreement) about as long as I've known what second and third base were - somewhere between five and 30 years. And we're both amazed that it's still an issue today. Here's what Greg wrote:

The following rant is somewhat adult. You've been warned.

One is Gilmore Girls. The other is Joan of Arcadia.

Last week, on Joan of Arcadia, 16-year-old Joan nearly decided to lose her virginity with Adam.

Last week on on Gilmore Girls, 19-year-old Rory lost her virginity with Dean.

I don't need to see it. (Not that I'd object, but this isn't about me being a pervert for once.) But I would think that two shows as smartly-written as Gilmore and Joan should be able to find a way to suggest that such "intermediate steps" do exist. I mean if they can talk about full-on intercourse, why can't they talk about things that are safer, younger, more exploratory, with fewer consequences.

I feel it's terribly irresponsible to teach kids and teens that there's no way to express themselves sexually, once they've gotten past a kiss, except by going all the way. By hitting home runs, by scoring, so to speak.

Look, when I was a teen, there was a long, long gap between my first kiss and my first time engaging in sexual intercourse. There was a pretty substantial gap between my first kiss with the girl that I would end up losing my virginity to and the actual act of losing said virginity. In fact, in every relationship I ever had, up to and including my wife, kissing was a prelude to touching, etc., which was in turn a prelude to "making love"... assuming the relationship lasted that long.

The frustrating truth is that I really like both Gilmore Girls and Joan of Arcadia. I even really liked the episodes that are currently annoying me. But I'm still waiting for someone to brave the taboo and bring back second and third base.

Props to The Wonder Years for the only example of second base on a prime-time series that I recall. But what was that - 10 years ago? Has there been no progress since?

Even that breast-touching moment in The Wonder Years was excised for reruns, as far as I can tell. But you don't need to show something to depict it, obviously. As I reminded my brother (who figuratifvely slapped himself on the head for forgetting), in a 1983 episode of Hill Street Blues with Ally Sheedy playing a jailbait Catholic school girl that J.D. La Rue (Kiel Martin) pursued, she told him that while she vowed to remain a virgin for the man she married, there were other ways that they "could make each other happy."

That, in essence, is all we're asking for - just a nod to realism, a nod that most people have to hit some two- and three-baggers before they develop home run power.

J.D. walked away, by the way.

Personally, I'm not surprised that Gilmore Girls and Joan of Arcadia didn't get it right. I really, really tried to like both shows, but ultimately stuck with neither. Despite their many fans, I think they were overly clever in some places and overly simplistic in others.

But that's not the point, is it? The point is, some show - especially one dealing directly with teens - should acknowledge the option of scoring one base at a time.