By Evan Troxel
Well, it’s that time of year again. The Major League Baseball (MLB) Postseason is here in 2010. In 2009, the New York Yankees won the American League Pennant and the MLB World Series. The Philadelphia Phillies won the National League Pennant and lost to the Yankees in the MLB World Series.
The 2010 Postseason has gone like this: In the American League Division Series the New York Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins three games to zero. The Texas Rangers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays three games to two. In the National League Division Series the Cincinnati Reds were upset by the Philadelphia Phillies three games to zero and the Atlanta Braves were upset by the San Francisco Giants three games to one.
In the American League Championship Series (ALCS) the Texas Rangers lead the New York Yankees three games to two in a best of seven game series. In the National League Championship Series (NLCS) the San Francisco Giants lead the Philadelphia Phillies three games to two also in a best of seven game series. In 2010, the Rangers, Phillies, and Giants all improved their regular season records from the previous year.
The 2009 Texas Rangers of the American League West Division finished with a record of 87-75. The Rangers had the fourth best record in the American League last year through 162 regular season games (excluding play-in games to get into the playoffs) and didn’t make the postseason. If each League (American and National League) of MLB went by the four best teams (by record) the Rangers would have made the playoffs in 2009. In 2010, they finished the regular season with a record of 90-72, won the Western Division title, and are in the playoffs. They were unlucky last year, but this year they’ve learned a lot and now have a chance to clinch their first American League Pennant and perhaps, a first World Series title.
The most interesting play, I think, of the 2010 MLB Postseason was in NLCS Game 5 in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out when Pablo Sandoval of the Giants hit a fly ball to Phillies right fielder Jayson Werth. Meanwhile, Cody Ross of the Giants was on second base and tagged up (after Werth caught the ball) and tried to get to third base before he could be tagged out. Werth made a perfect line drive like throw to his teammate third basemen Placido Polanco who tagged Ross out just in time. Double play!
Game six of the ALCS will be 7:00 p.m. CDT on Friday (the 22nd) and Game seven if necessary, will be 7:00 p.m. on Saturday (the 23rd). Game 6 of the NLCS will be at 2:30 p.m. CDT Saturday (23rd) and Game 7 6:30 p.m. CDT on Sunday (24rd). Game 1 of the World Series will be at 6:30 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, October 27, 2010.
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