162 regular season games are finally in the books. The marathon known as baseball season is finally over. Let the playoffs begin!
There are a lot of intriguing stories going in to this postseason. We have the Kansas City Royals, who won their first division championship since 1985, the last time they won the World Series. The Royals made it to the bottom of the ninth inning of Game Seven of last season’s World Series with the tying run on third base. That’s about as close to a championship as a team can get. Can they make it that last inch and win it all this season?
How about St. Louis Cardinals? They went wire to wire in baseball’s best division this season this season, most of it without their ace pitcher in Adam Wainright. He is back just in time for the playoffs. How will that affect the outcome of their Division Series?
Then we have the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are becoming one of those “can’t win the Big One” type teams and their ace pitcher, Clayton Kershaw is developing that reputation also. Is that fair? If the Dodgers bow out of another postseason early, then maybe it is. Kershaw dominates like Sandy Koufax in the regular season, but so far in his career he is a .500 pitcher in the postseason. Of course, in the postseason he doesn’t face the Rockies, Reds, or Marlins much.
Then we have the New York Yankees, who are the all time greatest MLB franchise with 27 World Series Championships. Their fans expect them to be here and to win it all. Anything less is a failure. Is that fair? No. But it is reality. So the Yankees go into their game on Tuesday with the Houston Astros with a lot of pressure, because the loser of that game is out.
Then we have the Chicago Cubs. baseball’s lovable losers are in the postseason, if only for a little while. They too are on the road in a do-or-die playoff game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. If they can survive that game, we are in for a wild ride as they face their bitter rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals in the Division Series. The Cubs haven’t won the World Series since 1908. In the Back to the Future movie trilogy about a scientist who built a time machine and traveled to the year 2015, made in the mid 1980s, they had the Cubs winning the World Series that year. Wouldn’t that be something if it actually happened?
The New York Mets have arrived in the postseason a year or two ahead of schedule. Will they be satisfied with winning the National League East or are they hungry for more? They took out the Washington Nationals, who were the preseason favorites to win it all and now will be home getting out the golf clubs and fishing poles while the Mets face the Dodgers. The starting pitching match ups in this series will be fun to watch with Jacob deGrom and Matt Harvey going up against Kershaw and Zach Grienke.
The Texas Rangers have been quite a story as well. They were left for dead in the American League West for most of the season. When they dealt for Cole Hamels and Mike Napoli at the trade deadline most people yawned. But in the last two months they caught fire and won the division, keeping the Los Angeles Angels and Mike Trout out of the postseason.
The Rangers, Mets and the Toronto Blue Jays are examples of teams who were hanging around the .500 mark at the July 31st trade deadline that decided to try and win this season by making a trade or two for stars to improve their lineup. Their moves paid off and here they are. The Jays had not been to the post season since 1993, which was the longest not only in baseball, but in North American professional sports. They now have the entire nation of Canada behind them in this postseason after trading for David Price and Troy Tulowitzki to go with that already powerful lineup of Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson.
The Astros, like the Mets, are here ahead of schedule, but like the Cubs and Pirates, could be out quickly. They led the AL West for most of the season and now find themselves in an elimination game against the Yankees. If they can win that game, it will be fun to watch them stick around for a bit so we can watch guys like Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa in the postseason.
【BetOnline: 2015 MLB Playoff Wild Card Odds】
※ Current Odds Date & Time: October 6, 3:00 a.m. (GMT)
Many are probably surprised the Astros are a slight favorite in this one with the game at Yankees Stadium according to bookie BetOnline and the Yanks with all of their playoff experience. We are too. Our pick: Yanks -101
Again, the road team is a slight favorite. In this game though, not quite as surprising since the Cubs will be sending a red hot starter to the mound in Jake Arrieta. He has been a threat to throw a no-hitter just about every start the last month or two. Our pick: Cubs -1.5 +140
And here are the odds to winner the World Series courtesy of sportsbook SBOBET:
【SBOBET: 2015 MLB World Series Winner Odds】
※ Current Odds Date & Time: October 6, 3:00 a.m. (GMT)
The team that looks to us as a good bet with these odds are the Pirates if they can get past Arrieta and the Cubs. They had the second best record in the National League and they are very talented. At 11.00 to win it all, a US$100.00 wager would yield a total return of US$1,100.00.
Now, if you ask me to pick the one team to win the World Series and my life depends on getting the pick right, I would go with the Royals. Getting that close to winning it all last season, expect them to be determined on bringing the championship home to cap off an already incredible season.
