Playoff Baseball Baby: Quick Predictions and Thoughts

You are batting.

It is the final strike, of the final out, of the final inning, of the final game, of the entire season.

Win or stay home, literally. You have the lowest batting percentage on the team. Can you do it?

This is why we play sports, love sports and watch sports.

We have all been there -- young kids, setting up the biggest moment of our lives, counting down as the buzzer ticks away and dreaming up a game-winning hit.

Dan Johnson certainly did it as a kid. And now, the first baseman and pinch-hitter just had one of the most epic hits in baseball history. The Rays were nine games behind the BoSox three weeks ago and they are treated as the younger and less attractive sibling compared to the Yankees and Red Sox.

Regardless, the Rays again found a way to win. As ESPN says in its commercials: "Its Not Crazy, Its Sports."

So, who you got for this year’s October Classic?

Can the Rays pull a Rockies and roll into the World Series, or do the Phillies Four Horseman put them in position to win?

Will the Yankees get back to glory, or can the Rangers get back and win this time around?

Here are some quick predictions:

ALDS

-          Yankees over Tigers, 3-1

-          Rangers over Rays, 3-2

NLDS

-          Phillies over Cards, 3-1

-          Brewers over Arizona, 3-1

ALCS

-          Rangers over Yankees, 4-3

-          Phillies over Brewers, 4-1

World Series

-          Phillies over Rangers, 4-3

Similar to the Rangers fortunes last year against a superior pitching staff, they will find themselves on the wrong side of the Series. The Phillies made the biggest off-season splashes, and Lee and Halladay will lead them to an elusive World Series title.