Apparently 162 games are not enough to decide who gets to
play in October. The AL Wild Card race is going to game 163 to decide whether
the Tampa Bay Rays or the Texas Rangers get in to face the Cleveland Indians in
the one-game WC playoff. The winner then gets to face the Boston Red Sox. The
Detroit Tigers and the Oakland Athletics will battle it out to see who gets to
head to the ALCS to face the Red Sox (more than likely). However, if one of
those Wild Card teams will get hot, you never know.
On the other side of the bracket, the National League
settled their October teams in 162 games. The Pittsburg Pirates and the
Cincinnati Reds will face off in the one-game Wild Card playoff to see who gets
to face the St. Louis Cardinals, who beat out the Braves for best record in the
NL. That leaves the Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers to square off in the
first round beginning this week.
As we look back on this season there are a couple if
interesting things to take note of. The thing that jumps out immediately is
that the Braves did make the playoffs this year. They battled a lot of injuries
and used several different line-ups throughout this season to put themselves in
a good spot. They cruised through the NL East, a division that was supposed to
be Washington’s without a fight. The Strasberg Curse has reared its ugly head!
For Nationals fans I sure hope it isn’t on par with the Curse of the Bambino or
of the Goat in Chicago. Theo Epstein, general manager of the Cubs, put the
Curse of the Bambino to rest in Boston so we fully expect him to do the same
thing in Chicago. Just give him time.
Another interesting thing to take note of is the Wild Card teams
in the AL. While our pick of the Baltimore Orioles was based on sound baseball
(and southern) tradition, they did not make it while two of the remaining teams
(Rangers and Rays) were up for consideration for our team back in April. I’m
still happy we went with the Orioles. They came up short in way too many
one-run games this year. Last year that is what propelled them in to the
playoffs. If they get a touch more pitching this off season then they will be
right back in the thick of things next year.
Check back occasionally for some playoff updates as we pull
for the Braves to go all the way.
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