The Postseason Begins

The postseason has started…and the Dodgers play their first game tonight.

I’ve said before that I don’t understand the need for the new playoff format. I reckon someone thought that, since the season was shorter we’ll compensate for that by having the postseason be longer. If that makes sense to anyone, please explain it to me.

But we have 16 teams in the playoffs this year, just like in hockey and basketball, although the added series are considerably shorter than they are in the other sports.

And leading the pack of 16 teams is the Dodgers. I don’t want to anger the baseball gods…but things look dang good for the team.

We’re so stacked with talent that, if Muncy and Bellinger don’t get their acts together, we still can beat just about any other team in baseball. Yes, they’re that good. Everybody’s raving about Betts…but what about Seager, Pollock, Turner, Taylor (my pupil Jacob Sharpman’s as big a fan of him as I am)? Practically any one of them could carry a team. Only no one of them has to. That’s the cool part.

Pitching is pretty dang impressive, too – when you get to choose between Buehler and Kershaw for your starter in the playoffs, you’re in a pretty fuckin good place. And then there’s the bullpen, which has been awesome, although there have been nights when I’ve wanted to strangle Kenley Jansen. (But there have been nights every season when I’ve wanted to strangle him. He can just be so frustrating when he fucks up…and you never know when that’s gonna happen.)

It’s too late to get in on it now, but one of the new things MLB is doing this year is a March Madness-type bracket contest, although that’s not exactly so complicated since there are only 16 teams to start with. I filled mine out and entered it. I’ve got the Dodgers meeting up with the Padres (duh) in the NLDS and then the Cubs in the NLCS.

My other pick for the World Series is Tampa Bay, not that that took too much original thinking. They’re about as strong a team as can be found (outside of the Dodgers), and they’re definitely hungry. I have them beating the Yankees in the ALDS and then the As in the ALCS.

And who do I have winning the World Series? Funnily enough, that’s not on the bracket mlb.com had us enter in their contest. I reckon y’all know who I want to win, but they’re also who I think will win. It’s time they finally up and won a World Series, although the irony of it is that they’ll have done it in this lameass shortened season so it won’t be comparable to a ‘real’ World Series win. Which sucks.

I’ll still take it…and I reckon they’ll do it in 6.