The great thing about the MLB playoffs though is that there is a new hero, a new unbelievable story line every year to keep up with, so even though our team is no longer in it someone is sure to capture our baseball hearts and minds and make them a hero, or a villain, forever and a day.
So let's just get this out of the way now, the New York Yankees are your best friend if you are a fan of any other team than the Boston Red Sox or a fan of another team living in the tri-state NY area (like a lot of Mets fans). I say this because if your heated rival is in the playoffs and they're playing the Yankees then you have a very good chance of seeing them fall to the 27 time World Series Champions and if you just have an affinity for the winningest, most storied team in sports history then the Yankees are the team for you to follow this October!
Now that we started with the American League let's stay there. And let's say you're sick of the Yankees and Texas Rangers winning all the time and you want to see someone new then jump on the bandwagon of the Baltimore Orioles or the Oakland Athletics! The Baltimore Orioles are in the playoffs for the first time since 1997 so you certainly haven't seen them in a while! They will get started with a 1 game playoff for the American League Wild Card tomorrow at 8:30 against Texas, who we will talk about later. Baltimore is famous for previous playoff blunders like losing homeruns that weren't homeruns and all that...but for the team that hasn't won a pennant since 1983 this is a huge moment for the fans of Baltimore! To the other team, the Oakland Athletics, the lovable money ball team filled with guys like Billy Bean and Jonah Hill and a team of young guns who ransacked Texas on the last day of the season to win the American League West make their first playoff appearance since 2006! They will play the Detroit Tigers in round one (who we will, once again, get to later) setting up an intriguing re-match of the 2006 American League Championship Series that the Tigers won in a sweep. This lovable group out west hasn't been to a World Series since 1990 so it has been a while for them as well! But just remember folks, these people
So maybe newbies aren't your thing and you love a good redemption story! Well Texas has that x3 for you! The Texas Rangers are the back to back defending American League Pennant winners (1) and features 2 men that have gotten over cocaine addictions (Manager Ron Washington, and Outfielder Josh Hamilton) to be at the peak of their baseball careers (2 and 3) and are just that one more chance, maybe, away from winning the World Series, the ultimate redemption! There's no doubt they are a fun bunch to root for, good pitching, good hitting, good fans, nice stadium, excellent crowd and championship starved! They will host the 1 game playoff against Baltimore tomorrow night so give it a look see!
And finally in the American League if you're looking for that team that kind of flies under the radar but has arguably the 3 best players at their respective positions in baseball then the Detroit Tigers are your team! They have one of the best pitchers in Justin Verlander, who in my humble opinion is the coolest person on the face of the freaking earth because he is dating Kate Upton!
Well that is your round up in the American League. Remember the American League schedule looks as such: Baltimore vs. Texas tomorrow night at 8:30 on on TBS. The winner of this game will be home to play the New York Yankees game 1 on Sunday! Oakland and Detroit kick off Saturday at 6! So be sure to tune in!
National League! (You know, the one that is better because there is no D.H. ...Hey, I'm not biased, it's science!)
The National League has the ultimate newbie in October this year. National League East Champions Washington Nationals! This franchise hasn't been to the playoffs since they were the Montreal Expos! They've never won a pennant and they've never won a World Series. They have good fans, a brand new ballpark, a fun presidents race (And a tip of the ol cap to Teddy Roosevelt for finally winning a race!), and a good group of young ballplayers, despite Strasburg being shut down for the season. The Nationals will start their campaign against the Wild Card winner this Sunday.
If you're into the perfect swan song for a long time vet then turn your attention to the Atlanta Braves! Larry Jones (Better known as Chipper Jones, you know... that guy) is finally laying up the spikes for good after this season is over. This once glorified Met killer, and all around terrific baseball player has been injury plagued over the last few years and on some not so good teams but the Braves have gotten back one more time for a chance at one more title.
These Braves will play the St. Louis Cardinals in a one game Wild Card playoff tomorrow at 5:00 on TBS.
Another newbie, though not to the same extent as Washington, is the Cincinnati Reds. Making only their 2nd post season visit since 1995. These Reds boast MLB's best record at 97-65, they have pitchers Jose Arredondo, Bronson Arroyo (yeah, the white dude with the corn rolls!), Aroldis Chapman, Jonathon Broxton, and have some big times bats in Joey Votto, Scott Rolen (I know, I can't believe he's still around either), Jay Bruce, and Brandon Phillips! They play in the Great American Ball Park, a place that will be hoping come game time against San Francisco this Saturday at 6. They're a fun team to watch who will be in it right to the end.
The team this Reds team is playing is one of the best staffed teams in the MLB, the San Francisco Giants! Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Guillermo Mota (hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha Just kidding, sorry about that...), Madison Bumgarner, and if he ever figures it out, Barry Zito. They also have likable guys like Buster Posey (his name is Buster, how do you hate a guy like that?)
And finally we have the ****ing St. Louis Cardinals, with ****ing Yadier Molina... and ****ing Adam Wainwright....no I'm not bitter, look, I'm not bitter, not bitter at all, no way, not even a little....okay maybe I am...just a lot of bitter but that's besides the point...after last years unbelievable World Series comeback against Texas, this clip from the worlds greatest cinematic master piece describes my feelings towards the Cardinals....just for the record I might have let Molina sweat it out with the bears for a little big longer...
Anyway, if you don't know already the Cardinals are the defending champions. Why? Because David Freese is insane. He's clinically insane. He has ice in his veins, he's on clutch steroids...Behind Justin Verlander he the most clutch man on the planet. Twice leading the Cardinals from their last strike to elation in game 6 and eventually helping them go on and win the 2011 world series in a 1986 Mets style victory that will live forever in the baseball world as one of the greatest finishes to a World Series ever...and I was in Manchester for it...go figure!
St. Louis is playing the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta tomorrow night for the right to play Washington in round one. They have Carlos Beltran, that's all you need to know, and quite frankly the sick, twisted, cruel bit of irony that would come watching him, as a Mets fan, win with St. Louis would be odd, but I certainly think he deserves it after everything he put in with us. The Cardinals fan base is one of the best in baseball, Busch is filled every night with fans dressed in red from head to toe, they've won 2 World Series in 5 years and certainly know how to get it done. This will be Mike Matheney's first playoffs as the manager.
The first round for the National League TV schedule looks like this: St. Louis plays at Atlanta on Friday at 5:00 on TBS. The winner plays Washington at home on Sunday. Then Cinci and San Fran play Saturday at 9:30 pm on TBS.
For both the American League and National League game times and schedules please see MLB.com in order for further games.
Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed this (Almost) un-biased attempt at helping you decide who you are going to root for come October! But remember, it really doesn't matter who you root for as long as you sit down and enjoy the great MLB because something insane is bound to happen...
No comments:
Post a Comment