For baseball fans, October means playoffs. Eight teams have now been chosen as contenders in the next step towards a shot at a World Series title.
After a horrible September in which they lost 20 of 27 games, the Red Sox’s chances for the AL Wild Card came down to their final game against the Orioles. Despite the performance of rookie catcher Ryan Lavarnaway, the Sox fell one game shy of the playoffs. The Rays experienced a dramatic triple play in their second-to-last game that kept them from being knocked out. The concluding night of the regular season was the most improbable of all. The Red Sox needed a win and a Tampa Bay loss to make it to the playoffs. The Yankees were up 7-0 early against the Rays, but Tampa would go on to win the game in dramatic fashion, tying the score in the ninth and winning in the bottom of the twelfth thanks to a walk off home run from Evan Longoria. The Red Sox were one out away from beating Baltimore, but Jonathan Papelbon surrendered three straight hits to hand the game to the Orioles, and the Wild Card to the Rays. The Sox even had a Buchner-like moment with Carl Crawford having a critical fly ball tip off his glove in the eigth. In the other wildcard, the Braves also collapsed, although not nearly as dramatically, with St. Louis taking the wildcard spot.
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The Tigers are in the midst of battling the Yankees while the Rays are taking on the Rangers. Anything can happen in a five game series, and as the playoffs move deeper into October, the ALCS/NLCS provide even more drama. Of course this all ends with the World Series. Last year, the Giants capitalized on their home-field advantage and great pitching and beat Texas in five games. In 2009, the Yankees beat the Phillies in six. It may be hard to believe that the Phillies line-up has improved since 2009, but they have an incredible pitching staff and the best record in the majors this year.
Being that I’m somewhat biased as a multi-generational New Yorker and Yankee fan I have to start with the Bronx Bombers. In the past seventeen years, the Yankees have only once failed to reach the playoffs (Joe Girardi’s first season). Pitcher CC Sabathia has not been performing quite as well this season, but I personally believe he will pitch better in the playoffs than he has in the past two months. With both Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter missing time due to injury, Curtis Granderson has been the horse (without him, they would lose the first round of the playoffs), along with Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano. Not to mention that Jeter is one of the most valuable postseason baseball players in history. The Yankees drew a tough first match up with Detroit and Justin Verlander. The Detroit Tigers won 95 games this season, and Verlander may well win both the Cy Young and MVP awards. The Yankees could potentially face him twice.
Though I love bragging about the Yanks, if they eventually see the Phillies in the fall classic, they will probably lose. Philadelphia’s starting rotation of Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee heavily outweigh New York’s struggling pitching line-up. Currently holding a franchise-record, Philly now holds their fifth consecutive NL East title and it’s difficult to imagine anyone seriously challenging their superiority this year.
But the playoffs are playoffs and anything can happen. After an incredible grand finale to the season, anticipations are high for an outstanding October.•
