Logan Wiggenhorn ’18
Many baseball fans will say this is the greatest time of the year. Most people associate October with Halloween, more football, and fall. I think of it as when baseball really starts. The playoffs are here! The hometown Tribe just missed out on a playoff bid, even with a Cy Young candidate in Corey Kluber. The Tribe ended the year with a 85-77 record. While the Indians are now off; the postseason is here! The Los Angeles Angels clinched home field advantage for the playoffs a few days ago. The AL representatives are the Orioles, who won the AL East, the Tigers who won the Central, while the Royals clinched the first Wild Card spot. This is the Royals first playoff bid since when they made it to the World Series 28 years ago. Finally, the Angels won the West and the A’s got the second Wild Card spot. In the play-in wildcard game the A’s will travel to Kansas City to play the Royals. Each division series will be a best of 5 games. The Tigers travel to Baltimore to take on the Orioles. The winner of the play-in game will take on the Angles. My predictions are that the A’s will win the play-in game, and the Tigers will represent the AL in the World Series.
While in the NL, the Nationals won the East and home field advantage. The Cardinals took the Central, while the Pirates got the first Wild Card bid. Finally the Dodgers took the West, while the rival Giants took the second Wild Card bid. The play-in game has the Giants traveling cross country to play the Pirates. The Nationals will play against the winner of that play-in game and the Cardinals will play the Dodgers. My predictions are that the Pirates will find a way to win against the Giants in the play-in game, and the Dodgers, led by Clayton Kershaw, will represent the NL in the World series.
Now to the Fall Classic, The World Series. I predict it will be the Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Tigers would have home field advantage with the AL winning the All-Star Game back in July. Both the Tigers and Dodgers have an amazing pitching staff. The Tigers have three Cy Young winners in Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and newly acquired David Price. The Tigers have the arms to make a big run. However, the Dodgers have the best pitcher in the league and maybe the best overall player in, Clayton Kershaw. They also have Zack Greinke, who would be the #1 pitcher on most teams, and Hyun-Jin Ryu, who had a good year. The Dodgers and Tigers both have good hitting teams but are lacking in the field. The Dodgers had a total of 107 errors this season, while the Tigers had 101. Now I predict that with the potent pitching staff, lineups of mostly All-Stars or recent All-Stars, that the Dodgers will win the series of 7 in 6 games.
Now that’s what I predict, but when are predictions always right? Predictions are just that, predictions. Yet again it is the best time of the year for baseball fans. The postseason is always awesome, whether it is a walk-off win or an error to lose the World Series. All the baseball games from now on mean so much more, not only to the players, but the fans, and even whole cities. The only things that are certain are thrillers in the 9th and even some magic. Every baseball player dreams of playing in a World Series (I know I do), but now the players that are on these playoff teams have a chance to fulfill their dreams. All we can hope for is a dramatic end to another great baseball season.