Welcome to October madness, the best month of the year for excitement and drama in professional sports. There’s no taking two weeks to play one playoff series (hello, NBA), no one game a week (I’m talking to you, NFL), no one watching (yep, that’s the NHL). Just good ol’ playoff baseball starting today and going nearly every day for the next four weeks.
Now that Matt Holliday “touched” home plate to add the Colorado Rockies as the final piece of this year’s playoff puzzle, it’s fair to look around and ask, “Where is everyone?”
There’s no New York Mets, no St. Louis Cardinals, no Houston Astros, no San Diego Padres, no Atlanta Braves, no Los Angeles Dodgers, no Minnesota Twins, no Chicago White Sox, no Detroit Tigers and no Oakland Athletics – all teams that have made the playoffs at least once since 2004.
Sure, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are still playing October baseball, but the Yankees are the only one of the eight teams playing at this time last year to make it back to the playoffs and the Yankees, Red Sox and Angels are the only teams who have made the playoffs in 2005 and 2007. Cleveland hasn’t been back since 2001.
In the National League, none of the teams have made the playoffs since 2003, the year Steve Bartman became a household name. The Colorado Rockies haven’t had a sniff at the postseason since 1995 and the last pitch a Philadelphia Phillies pitcher threw in a playoff series, Joe Carter hit it out to win the World Series 14 years ago. Other than Arizona, the last time one of the National League teams in the playoffs this season won the World Series was Philadelphia in 1980.
What does all this mean? It means guys like Jeff Cirillo (1,617 regular season games) and Todd Helton (1,578) will finally get their first taste of postseason play. It means fans in Chicago can hope that Carlos Zambrano and Alfonso Soriano can win the Cubs’ first title in a century. It means Philadelphia may finally shake off the boo birds (until next April, at least). It means Cleveland has a chance to shake off the Curse of Mike Hargrove and Jose Mesa. And, of course, it gives fans everywhere a chance to root for the Yankees to crash and burn.
It also means there are more fresh faces to become the next Breakout-Performer-You’ve-Never-Heard-Of, the guy who comes from nowhere to single-handedly take over a series. You know, someone along the lines of Andruw Jones in 1996, Francisco Rodriguez in 2002, Josh Beckett in 2003 and Bobby Jenks in 2005. Look out for Chicago’s Carlos Marmol or Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury (even though he’s a former Beaver).
Most of all, I fully expect this to be one of the more memorable postseasons in recent history. If nothing else, Bud Selig has figured out how to create parity in baseball. Not only are there few teams with playoff experience, but there is also no dominant team in either league – all the American League playoff representatives have between 94 and 96 wins and all the National League teams have between 85 and 90 wins.
The lack of dominance by any one team sets up several compelling story lines.
The National League Division Series between Colorado and Philadelphia features two of the biggest comeback stories of all-time, not to mention two of the leading NL MVP candidates in Holliday and Jimmy Rollins.
The American League Division Series between New York and Cleveland will pit the hands-down A.L. MVP favorite Alex Rodriguez against Cy Young contender C.C. Sabathia.
And whether you like them or not, the Red Sox and Yankees are the most intense rivalry in sports.
Buckle up, sports fans, and get ready for the best month in professional sports. Oh, and expect the Phillies to beat Cleveland in the World Series.
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MLB Playoffs begin pro sports’ best month
Daily Emerald
October 2, 2007
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