[DrMitchJ]

To all,
Happy last day of the regular baseball season.
As always, for me, it's always a bittersweet marker of another year in the books. To those whose teams didn't make it into the post-season, it's a little more bitter than sweet. For the one's looking forward to October baseball, good luck and enjoy.
At the start of the season, I was looking forward to a possible Phillies/Yankees World Series. I thought that the Phillies were the team to beat! They powered up nicely in the off season, and I'm sure they ended up disappointing so many hopeful fans. I like friendly rivalries and this would have been fun having my boys go up against ( my MIA buddy) Phillies_Joe's guys.
As for my Yankees,I thought they were going to hit a 1000 home runs and win 120 games but hurt all year and limping into the post season was not what I was expecting, but happy they were able to get through the season with the 'next man up' mentality. I have a heathy fear and respect for the Astros. They are coming into the post season firing on all cylinders and it looks like, to me, the Astros are the only ones that can beat the Astros. Anyone facing them has to hope for some timely costly errors in order to defeat an unreal pitching staff of Verlander, Cole and Grienke. Hopefully one of the wild cards take them out!
As far as the Yanks/Twins playoff goes, I'm sure K&B and Jared's Twinkies will have some fun participating in a homerun derby with my Bombers! All those guys have been swinging for the fences all year, it should be an epic battle of the bats!
Afterward, Hopefully my boys and I are still able to limp into the WS and face The Dodgers (my national league prediction)
Have fun & enjoy the League Championships!

[kerryandbeth]

Good post, Doc. Yes, the Astros are super scary to face any time during the year, let alone post season. The Yankees are almost a shoe-in against my Twins based on past history, but I am super stoked we got the homerun record in MLB history! At least we have that to hang our hats on.

As far as the NL, not surprised about the Braves, Dodgers, Brewers and Nationals. But, I did expect to see the Cubs again.

A repeat of the Astros-Dodgers is a strong possibility.

[jbissell]

Good luck to the Yankees in the playoffs Doc. Am really hoping the Twins can get that darn monkey off their backs this year!

[kerryandbeth]

Good luck to the Yankees in the playoffs Doc. Am really hoping the Twins can get that darn monkey off their backs this year!

I may have told this story before, but it is worth repeating:

My high school in Jackson, CA was 300 students. Our rival from another small community had 600 students. No matter how good we were in football we always lost to them. When Vance Mueller was our RB (drafted by and played for the Raiders) he led the entire state in rushing yards and TDs, but we still lost the games each of the 3 years he played for us (injured his Senior year).

That is how I feel about the Twins-Yankees matchups: They have more money, more fans, more publicity, more history, etc., so no matter if we are better or not on the stat sheet we will always struggle to win.

[DrMitchJ]

Good luck to the Yankees in the playoffs Doc. Am really hoping the Twins can get that darn monkey off their backs this year!

Thanks and good luck to your Twins! Should be a homerun-fest playoff !!
Again, no matter who wins, either team has to get through the Astros! (Unless the A's or the Rays do the improbable! )
Oh, just one thing to keep in mind about that persistent 'darn monkey' ... if the BoSox could do it, any team can do it!

---

I may have told this story before, but it is worth repeating:
...snip...
That is how I feel about the Twins-Yankees matchups: They have more money, more fans, more publicity, more history, etc., so no matter if we are better or not on the stat sheet we will always struggle to win.

Sad story, but that's why football is a team sport. One great player doesn't make a huge difference. But in baseball, one great pitcher can dominate a game! One great batter can be pitched around, intentionally walked, etc and neutralized!
Money, fans, history ... all that gets thrown away in the post season. My opinion, the post season is all about momentum, and my boys are hobbled, they are held together by trainer's tape ... the The Yankees are not the juggernaut they could have been. We have so many injured, semi- injured players, it isn't funny. Oh, and our best pitcher all year long is on administrative leave! Okay ... what I'm about to say isn't politically correct, (advanced apologies for anyone's feeling that may be hurt) but here goes .... I appreciate the disdain for domestic violence, i am not a proponent for it ... I would NEVER hit a woman ( but it's okay to beat up a guy and play ball the next day ... but I digress) but if said woman doesn't call the cops, doesn't press charges, doesn't have her alleged assailant arrested, why should German be put on admin leave until MLB investigates? He should be able to play UNTIL there's proof of his guilt. Admin leave can always be enforced AFTER he is found guilty ... but what if he's innocent? Innocent UNTIL proven guilty, right?
Sorry for the rant!

[jbissell]

I tend to agree with you on German Doc...