Playoff Time

With all the politics, debates and bailouts of the last week, it has been easy to forget the really important event of this week: the start of October baseball.
In the National League we have the Dodgers vs. the Cubs and the Phillies squaring off with the Brewers. Over in the American League it is the Angels vs. the Red Sox and the White Sox vs the Rays (can't call them the Devil Rays). The Yankees play the...oh, wait, that's right, they missed the playoffs this year.
My Dodgers take on the nation's sentimental favorite: the Cubs. Yes, it has been 100 years since they last won the World Series. Yes, Wrigley field is a venerable old ballpark and it would be great to see a World Series played there, but enough already. Why do I have to be sentimental about a team that has been losing for 100 years? If they lose this year I suppose Congress will step in with a bailout (again, my effort to mix the topics of this blog). The Cubs have just been bad for 100 years, that's not my problem.
My problem is that they have been pretty good this year. Best record in the National League. Solid pitching. Home field advantage. The Dodgers played lights out in September, but the fact remains they got there with 85 wins, mostly due to the collapse of everyone else in the National League West. I have to pick the Cubs here.
The Brewers represent another strange journey to the playoffs. The midseason pick up of C.C. Sabathia was dramatic in its effect. More intriguing was the decision to fire their manager two weeks before the end of the season. That seemed insane, but it paid off.
The Phillies however seem to have every National League MVP of the last 10 years on their infield. I have to pick them to take out the Brewers.
In the American League we have the Angels, who clinched the division in the third week of April. They have played remarkably well for a team that has not played a meaningful game in months. Still, it is hard to flip the switch and Boston seems to have their number in October. This is not the same Boston team however. Manny is gone and David Ortiz has not had a huge year. This time I think the Angels get by.
The White Sox clinched two days after the end of the season. The best part of that is more Ozzie Guillen interviews. They are facing the renamed Rays (change your team name and start winning? The Royals might want to consider that). The Rays boast great young talent that will challenge in the East for several years, or at least until their players can become free agents and the Yankees and Red Sox sign them. The White Sox won a world series three years ago and have been here before, and the Rays have not, so I am picking the White Sox.
I am going to defer analyzing the League Championship Series because if my picks are wrong, do you really care about my predictions for a series that is not going to happen?
After 6 months, 162 games and some big trades, the postseason is finally here. It's October so let's get ready for some baseball.