Baseball's silly season begins

 Baseball's regular season is over. The playoffs begin on Tuesday with the Wild Card round, with some familiar matchups in the AL.....

For starters, here's the brackets:

It is going to seem a wee bit different without Houston (AL) & Atlanta (NL) in the field, but, as we know, an early season spate of injuries ultimately did in the Braves, while AL West champ Seattle got hot at the right time.

No truth to the rumor that a certain "fan" in Washington is trying to fill out a bracket in crayon........!

Anyway..........

AL:

Boston @ Yankees: Winners to advance to play Toronto.

Ah, the eternal rivalry between the Yankees & Red Sox gets extended one extra chapter this year. With San Francisco eliminated in the NL, the Sawx's decision to dump Rafael Devers on the Giants seems to have worked out, at least for now. The only reason the Yankees are in this spot is because Toronto held the tiebreaker by winning the season series from the Bombers. If anything, this series will generate max ratings for ESPN, who would be wise to send Yankee announcer Michael Kay to Cleveland or LA, and away from the Bronx for this series. 

It ain't going to be boring, that's for sure. Max Fried vs. Garrett Crochet would be good for game 1, I'd think. The series will go the full 3 games.

Prediction: Yankees in 3.

Detroit @ Cleveland: Winners to advance to play Seattle.

The Guardians had been left for dead, then completed a comeback worthy of the Yankees (circa 1978) to snatch the AL Central title from the Tigers. Funny how no one brought up the Yankees' late run to catch Boston back in '78 before this. This series will also go the full length.

Prediction: Cleveland in 3.

NL:

San Diego @ Chicago: Winners to advance to play Milwaukee.

Does anyone remember the 1984 NLCS, which I think was the last time these two teams met in the postseason? The Padres won that year, only to fall to the runaway train that was the Tigers in the World Series. A Cubs run in the post-season will only add to the Mets' miseries, after they let a top prospect in Pete Crow-Armstrong go to Chicago. Now, he sees his first playoffs, while the Mets, whose collapse was worse than the Tigers, will be 2nd, 3rd, & 4th guessed for the rest of the year.

Another ex-Met, Justin Turner, has been a role player for the Cubs in his first season back in the NL. No one thought San Diego would actually get this far, after letting their best pitchers leave after last season. But, then again, this is why the Cubs traded for Kyle Tucker.....!

Prediction: Cubs in 2.

Cincinnati @ Los Angeles: Winners to advance to play Philadelphia.

The defending champs are the #2 seed in the field, but we all know the Phillies will choke in the Divisional Round, just like last year. The Reds, in their first year under Terry Francona, could be a sleeper, but, I honestly think the Dodgers could send Clayton Kershaw off to retirement with another ring. LA has too much talent, and the Reds, arguably, dismissed one of their better players in the offseason (Jonathan India, now in Kansas City), which could come back to haunt them. They're probably hoping for a Reds-Guardians Series in Ohio. Not this year.

Prediction: Dodgers in 3.

Of course, I could be wrong.