October Baseball Is At the Door

Major League Baseball may call tonight's one-game playoff between the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers a "tiebreaker," but let's go ahead and just label it what it was, the first playoff game of the 2009 season. What a way to kick off October.

There is no way that Bud Selig could have asked for any more than he got tonight when the American League Central title was decided in a 12 inning game. And there is no way that he could not enjoy the idea of the big bag Yankees matching up against the small-market Twins.

Sure, on the surface this matchup looks like a cakewalk for the Bronx Bombers as they move on to face the winner of the Angels and Red Sox. But as a Yankee fan I do not feel any excitement about facing the Twins coming off 17 wins in their last 21 games.

For one, Minnesota is hot. The players believe that there is something special going on in the final season in the Metrodome and their fans are providing support normally only seen at little kid's soccer games. The entire place was rocking after the final run scored on Tuesday and the players seemed to embrace their fan support. In a short series, a split in New York would give the Twins a huge leg up as they will only continue to believe that this is their year.

Secondly, Minnesota loses one of their best two players in Justin Morneau and suddenly the team gets hot, catches the Tigers, and now beats Detroit in a sudden death playoff game. Players like Delmon Young and Michael Cuddyer picked up the slack to the point where Morneau's absence has not been missed.

But ahh not so fast. Was that really Carl Pavano on the hill on Sunday? Was he really pitching on short rest in a game the Twins had to win to even get a playoff? Yankee fans everywhere must be hoping that the new stadium treats Pavano like a voo-doo doll like the former one did, but this season Pavano seems comfortable in Minnesota. His 5.10 ERA and twelve losses are nothing special, but he did win 14 games and achieved success against New York this season. What kind of success?

April 19: in New York, 6 innings, 4 hits, 1 ER, 4 SO's in a 7-3 INDIANS loss (ND for Pavano).
May 31: 7.1 innings, 7 hits, 3 ER, 4 SO's in a 5-4 INDIANS win (ND for Pavano).

Two starts with Cleveland, two solid outings.

With all that said though the bottom line is the Twins bullpen is depleted, the starters are not experienced enough (and cannot strike enough batters out), the lineup's magic is running out, and the Yankees have the better players. Will that translate into an ALCS for the Yankees? I hope so... I don't think I can take a taunting phone call from my ex-girlfriend Twins fan.

Pick: Yankees in 4.

Other picks for your betting or entertainment purposes... If betting was legal.

-Angels over Red Sox in 5: Homefield advantage is the final key while the Angels continue to play as a team and overcome all obstacles on their way to New York.

-Cardinals over Dodgers in 4: Joe Torre had done to the Dodgers' bullpen what Yankee fans experienced too much in the early 2000's as he has exhausted the bullpen. Luckily it would not have mattered as the Carpenter-Wainwright combo is too much for the Dodgers.

-Phillies over Rockies in 4: The Rockies, like the Twins, are a great story but I think Hammels will find his magic from last year's October run. The Rockies may take the first game in Colorado but won't fare much better than four games.

Enjoy the playoffs!