By
Brett Erickson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Can you sense the excitement?
I'm not talking about the NFL, although the contenders (Tampa Bay, both New York teams and St. Louis to name a few) and pretenders (Carolina, Seattle and New England, among others) have already begun to emerge. No, the NFL is not yet in full swing and won't be until mid-October when division rivalries start shaping up.
Despite a host of good games - Florida/Tennessee, Michigan/UCLA and Purdue/Notre Dame - during the weekend, I'm not talking about college football either.
No, the real excitement is that the Major League Baseball playoffs are just around the corner. Baseball playoffs are topped only by the Final Four for the most exciting event in sports today.
While both leagues have intriguing stories, the American League playoffs will be the better of the two because of the unexpected teams that have succeeded this season. Flash back to April for a minute and think about who was predicted to win the AL Central. Not only were the Indians the hands down favorite, but the "good guys" from Chicago were not even a blip on the radar charts that were the pre-season predictions.
That's why they play the games, though.
In the east, the Yankees have a sizable lead over the second-place Red Sox. Anyone else tired of seeing the boys in pinstripes in the October spotlight? Can't someone frame George Steinbrenner for fraud? That would actually open up the free agent market. (Actually, I shouldn't complain. For the last three years my dad and I have bet 10 bucks on who will win the World Series - I get the Yankees, he gets the rest of the league).
While the Yankees were expected to be atop their division, the Seattle Mariners weren't. During the off-season, the M's dealt Ken Griffey Jr. to Cincinnati in a move that experts said would push one team over the top in their division. Nobody thought that team was the Mariners. Led by Alex Rodriguez, John Olerud and a rag-tag pitching squad, Seattle is close to winning the West.
Oakland, Cleveland and Boston are going down to the wire for the wild card, but the Red Sox newfound offense and their ability to win big road games gives them a slight advantage, even though they currently trail the Indians. In the playoffs, its hard to pick against Pedro Martinez or the Yankees in a short series. In a rematch of last year's ALCS, the Bronx Bombers will again defeat the Sox, four games to two.
The NL will not be as interesting, primarily because injuries have depleted what could have been a great down-to-the-wire race. Big Mac's knee injury did not cost the St. Louis Cardinals the division, but that's only because they're up against the Astros, Cubs, Pirates and Brewers. The Cards have almost clinched the NL Central title, but that's as far as they'll get.
In the NL East, the three-game series that started last night between the Braves and Mets will decide the winner of the division. Pitching will win out - Atlanta takes the crown . . . again, and the Mets settle for the wild card . . . again. The NL West has given baseball fans a great story, unless you're a D-Backs fan. The San Francisco Giants, led by Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent and seven other guys you've never heard of, have the most wins in baseball - 89. This is no fluke, especially with NL Manager of the Year Dusty Baker at the helm.
In the NL playoffs, the Braves and Giants will each win hard-fought, five-game series and meet in the NLCS, with the Giants' balanced pitching carrying them to their first World Series berth 1989.
So get set for a Yankees-Giants showdown. Who will win? Well, even though many people - including myself - will be pulling for the upstart team from the Bay Area, my dad might have to fork over another 10 spot, because the bums from the Bronx will three peat.
Wait 'til next year, right Cubs fans?
