However, for a select few cities, October means playoff baseball and is the most exciting time of the year.
The MLB slims down from 30 teams to eight, and these eight have a month to etch their names into national pastime immortality. But it’s no cakewalk. Fans are in full force, Mother Nature turns her cold shoulder and everyone on every roster is out for blood. Needless to say, it’s a media field day as autumn approaches, and this season is no different.
Here are the top 10 story lines of the 2009 MLB postseason:
10. How tired are the Twins?
Minnesota and Detroit set the stage for an incredible string of playoff games, but did the Tigers wear down the AL Central Division champs? Not only did the tiebreaker game go 12 innings, but the Twins, whose pitching arsenal is already suspect, used eight total pitchers in the playoff-berth clincher. And before their ice-wraps melt, they have to take on the winningest franchise in the history of the sport, as the Yankees host Ron Gardenhire’s club at 6:07 p.m. ET. Will this be an early bird special for New York, or are the Twins going to ride momentum to glory?
9. The Rockies did it again, a Rocktober redux if you may.
Colorado benefited from a red-hot September. The Rockies won eight in a row at one point, while the Giants, who were a putrid 36-45 on the road this season, had a second-half meltdown that allowed the Rockies to sneak in with a wild-card pass. Do the Rockies, who sprinted into the 2007 postseason before hitting the Red Sox wall, have enough to take down the reigning champion Phillies?
8. Do the Yankees have enough relief?
The Yankees’ bullpen owned a 3.91 ERA this summer, third-highest among AL postseason teams and now have Joba Chamberlain, a late-season train wreck on the mound, joining the mix. To boot, Mariano Rivera’s mug was plastered on the cover of Sports Illustrated – can you say SI jinx? The Sandman has outpitched any superstitions, slumps, All-Star sluggers and so-called jinxes in his day, but should the Yanks fail to capture a title for a ninth straight season, New Yorkers will have somewhere to point their fingers.
7. The game’s best player is taking center stage once again.
Albert Pujols takes his big stick into everyone’s living room as he and Cardinals look to capture their second title in four seasons. Pujols ended the 2009 campaign with a .327 batting average and an MLB-high 47 homers to go with 135 RBIs. However, Pujols’ scorching summer came to a halt heading into the postseason as he was held homerless in his final 94 plate appearances. Can “The Machine” find his power stroke in time?
6. Think Blue.
If the Dodgers take the NL pennant, baseball fans are in store for one heck of a World Series. The Blue Crew have a connection to every team but the Twins. If the Angels win the AL crown, it would be an all-Southern California Fall Classic. The in-state rivalry may not be too appealing to anyone east of California, but it would be great for the Golden State. If the Yankees are the AL representative in the Series, Dodgers manager Joe Torre will be taking on his former franchise, the one he captured four titles with from 1996-2000. If Boston punches the AL ticket, longtime slugger and current Hub nemesis Manny Ramirez will be taking his hacks at the Green Monster wearing a visitor’s uniform.
5. Clay Buchholz, your Boston Red Sox' No. 3 starter?
Three months ago, Buchholz was bussing up and down the East Coast in a Triple-A uniform. Now he will be front and center on Fenway’s mound when the Red Sox host the Halos in what could be a decisive game. Taking a backseat to the 25-year-old is Daisuke Matsuzaka, who cost the Red Sox $50 million just for the right to start negotiating a few years back.
4. Can Vlad bust out the whoopin’ stick?
Angels basher Vladimir Guerrero has 407 regular-season homers over his 14-year career, but when it comes to postseason play, the Halos’ right fielder has just one homer in 86 career plate appearances and zero in his last 17 playoff contests. In his last seven October contests against the Red Sox, Guerrero has no RBIs and he has just one since the 2004 playoffs.
3. The hunt for Novemburrrrr.
The World Series will be played in November this year. Yes, the World Series of baseball. Besides both California teams, the weather is going to play a big factor in this year’s title matchups. Philadelphia, New York and Boston — all favorites to take the cake — may be threatened with flurries by the time the World Series logo is plastered all over its ballparks. Hey, at least it’s not December.
2. Finding Brad Lidge.
The Phillies have the best chance to repeat since the 1999-2000 Yankees repeat performance — the last club to do so in the MLB. But what the Phillies lack is a reliable closer. Brad Lidge was unable to shut down ballgames in somewhat meaningless regular-season affairs. Lidge gave Phanatics heart problems all year in the City of Brotherly Love as he blew 11 saves and posted just 31 successful saves. His ERA has climbed to 7.21, and he allowed 11 homers and 72 hits in just 58 2/3 frames. What good are aces Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee if their handoff to the bullpen gets fumbled in the last inning?
1. A-Rod and CC have some mountains to climb.
Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia have expectations to meet, but after years of individual postseason flops, how much can Yankee fans expect? A-Rod owned a 4-for-50 slump spanning the last four games of the 2004 ALCS, the ALDS in 2005 and 2006, and the first two games of the ALDS in 2007. In each of his last three postseasons (2005, 2006, 2007), A-Rod had a .000 average with runners in scoring position and owns a career .138 average with runners in scoring position dating back to 1995 with the Mariners.
In Sabathia’s last three postseason starts, the hefty lefty is 0-3 with a 10.93 ERA (17 earned runs in 14 innings pitched). He has given up 23 hits and 11 walks while hitting three of the 74 batters he has faced.
