September 28, 2011. The last day of the regular season in baseball. The day that 30 teams play their 162 and final game of the season. It usually does not mean much except for maybe one or two teams, sometimes none at all. But this year, there was more. This year, on that day, it was the craziest end of the regular season I can remember.
Simply put, days like this past Wednesday are why I watch sports. Four games, where four teams needed the win to stay in the playoff hunt, force a tie-breaking game #163, or pack their bags and book tee times. Two teams looking to put the exclamation point on an incredible last-month comeback, and two teams looking to hold off epic collapses.
I don’t need to remind you what happened (especially to you, Boston and Atlanta fans). And I couldn’t, really. The outcomes speak for themselves. No collection of words can fully capture the madness that was two extra-inning affairs, one bottom-of-the-ninth rally, and the millions of sports fans flipping back and forth between all three games (would have been four…thanks Cardinals for not getting the memo and just straight up dominating…in fairness though, you were playing the Astros) to see who was in, and whose season had just ended.
It was September Madness. I can only hope that October will now be just as fun.
First round predictions:
RAYS vs RANGERS
I just can’t really see the Rays winning this series. Although I couldn’t see them getting in to the playoffs, so why not prove me wrong again? I think it’s very evenly matched as the Rays hitting is underrated, but you can’t ignore Texas’ .900+ collective OPS in the month of September (that’s like having a 1-9 team of Albert Pujols, courtesy of Jayson Stark). It could go 5, but what are the odds that the same series does that two years in a row…?
RANGERS in 4
TIGERS vs YANKEES
The Tigers have also been hot in September, particularly offensively. But Verlander has been hot all season, and should be a shoe-in for the Cy Young. The Yankees meanwhile clinched the hardest division in baseball and did so basically on the strength of their hitting. If this were the Twins, I wouldn’t even bother thinking twice about it, but something about the Tigers is telling me that we may be in for an early Bronx exit. Overall I still believe the Yankees lineup is still too good from top to bottom, and if they take game one against Verlander, I do not see a way the Tigers come back from that.
YANKEES in 5
DIAMONDBACKS vs BREWERS
The Diamondbacks are a great story. No one predicted them to win that division (not even me, despite them being my sleeper team). Their come-from-behind game on Tuesday (the day before all the ridiculousness) was something that you had to see to believe. But the Brewers, unlike most of the teams in the NL West, can hit. Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun are both MVP candidates and always have come up with clutch hits when their team needs it most. Throw in the fact that the cervaceros have three aces compared to the DBacks one, and you have a Cinderella that is about to see both hands on the 12.
BREWERS in 3
CARDINALS vs PHILLIES
The Cardinals remind me of the 2007 Rockies. For Phillies fans, that is not good news. The Cardinals are crazy hot right now, barely got in the playoffs, only have one good starter but for some reason, everyone has crazy numbers against Philadelphia. This team would no doubt in my mind also sweep the 2007 Phillies. But here’s the thing. The 2011 Phillies are not the 2007 Phillies. This year, if you didn’t know, the Phillies have not one ace, but four. The series will be hard fought, and it definitely will not be easy, and I can already prepare for the offense to score 3 runs or fewer in every game… But I just can’t objectively think that other than the game where Carpenter is pitching, can you really give the edge in a single game to the Cardinals? I don’t have too much confidence in this, but I’m going with:
PHILLIES in 5
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