The fall of Oakland and rise of Seattle and Anaheim....the AL West has probably been the most exciting division in baseball this season.

Pittsburgh has also made things interesting in the NL Central. They got me rooting for them to represent the NL in the World Series.

Thats what Oakland gets for stocking up on Chicago players ;)

Well, that didn't work out. I guess claiming the #1 WC spot is a pipe dream now after losing consecutive series to Houston and Oakland. Plus half of our remaining games are against the Angels, who have been red-hot lately. I guess the only hope is that KC shits the bed worse than Seattle, which is certainly within the realm of possibility.

Scoreboard watching from here on out...

Unfortunately, KC doubly blew it over the weekend in that series against Detroit. They only took one of three against them. It looks like none the three AL teams in the wild card hunt really wants it. KC is my favorite AL team, so I'm hoping they get it together and put on a good show from here on out. It's been a long time coming for them... nothing to speak of since 1985!

KC vs CLE is huge. As much as I would love to see KC make the playoffs, I am Tribe all the way. Too bad neither team could beat DET over the last couple of weeks when it mattered most.

Yep. Ventura was clutch last night... big win for the Royals.

Welp, the Mariner's season is just about dusted. But I'm still headed up to Seattle on Friday because I have tickets and my train fare bought already. Oh well, it's a crapshoot when you book stuff like this. At least I'll be seeing LESBIAN play Friday.

They really dropped off when it counted. I was hoping to see them leapfrog over the A's. It would have been fun to watch King Felix in the postseason spotlight.

…and how 'bout that Jeter walk-off? Good stuff.

Yeah, that was incredible. I'm in the final of my fantasy league and picked up Jeter because he does stuff like that. Enjoyed the 3 RBI he brought me on what would have otherwise been an empty SS spot. I was watching the game over the last couple of inning and it really felt like something like that was going to happen. Especially after Jones hit his HR off Robertson.

So going into the weekend, Seattle needs to win two/three and Oakland lose two/three to get in. I don't have tickets, but I'll probably hit the game tomorrow in Seattle, because it will probably be the only game of the weekend that counts. I guess a Seattle loss and Oakland win happening together will eliminate Seattle. If Baltimore loses or is losing before the Seattle game starts will guarantee the Angels homefield, so they might be inclined to roll over for Seattle. It sucks I have to pray for this combination of events to happen, but I've seen weirder shit happen before. I had this team pegged at 80 wins or so, so I guess it's already been a successful campaign.

It has been so nice to make it through an entire baseball season and not have to deal with Arod.

KC clinches a playoff spot, still have an outside shot at the division. Doubt they pull it off but Detroit helped open that door, however slightly, by not being able to beat Minny. Seattle looks to be all but done, where Oakland now just needs to win a game to clinch their spot. Oakland must be sighing a breath of relief that they can still make the playoffs, but I can't imagine they have any momentum to enable them to go that far in. Rooting for a KC-Pittsburgh World Series and hoping for anything but what I am sure MLB is praying for --> LA vs Anaheim.

Arizona cleans house and Gibson is gone. Colorado needs to follow suit. No one could overcome the injuries they did this year but their front office has been in need of a facelift now for a little while and I wouldn't be opposed to using this disaster of a season as the excuse to clean house. Dan O'Dowd needs to go at the very least.

On a positive Rockie note, I think Corey Dickerson is the real deal so wouldn't be opposed to having the Rockies shop (my favorite Rockie) Cargo this offseason to see what he might be able to bring back in trade. Wish they had traded Blackmon earlier this year when he was red hot, now I'd still be happy with trading him but not sure what kind of value he still has. I have always been skeptical that he's truly any more than a 4th OF quality player.

I could go for that.

Door remains open for the Mariners. You get to make it to one of those games, Red?

Yeah, I was at the game today as well as the game last night. We sweep the Angels but still don't make it. I blame the MLB schedule makers; having that 11 game road trip to end the season before this final series with Anaheim was a back-breaker.

But last night was one of the most intense games I've ever witnessed. Everything was going inexplicably great; the M's were still alive, I was winning my fantasy league final, and my bet for the Tigers to finish below 90 wins was still alive. But, they all went the other way today. I still can't complain; I net $260 on my fantasy 2nd place and if you'd told me that the M's would be playing meaningful baseball in game 162 back in March, I definitely would have taken that!

On the train back, about two hours from home. I picked a Tigers/Nats World Series, so that's who I'll stick with. I'll always root for the Giants as long as they're in it though. Belt has rounded into pretty good form since returning from his concussion.

My prediction for the Wild Card games is the Giants and A's both winning.

I kinda think KC is going to pull it off tomorrow, but I think the Angels will end up slaughtering whoever advances out of that game. Pitt has been playing really well lately, but you never underestimate the Giants when their backs are against the wall.

Sorry to hear about Ron Gardenhire getting canned today, but hearing him speak today, I'm sure he knows he's had a charmed life managing his home team for last 13 years of his life. In my opinion the blame of Twins ineptitude lies with GM seat. I've been texting guitarvis tonight and he agrees with me.

My picks for post-season awards. A lot of these seem like slam dunks to me, although I'm sure Kershaw gets a lot of votes for NL MVP:

AL MVP - Mike Trout
NL MVP - Andrew McCutchen
AL Cy Young - Felix Hernandez
NL Cy Young - Clayton Kershaw
AL ROY - Jose Abreu
NL ROY - Billy Hamilton
AL Manager - Buck Showalter
NL Manager - Bruce Bochy

I think that was one of the best games I've ever seen. Holy fuck KC.

It was awesome. Thank god KC won. Now I'm ready for Oakland to go away (from the playoffs) for a few years. I am sick of their act of getting into the playoffs and then IMMEDIATELY getting bounced out.

The only award I will disagree with you on, Red, is NL Rookie of the Year. My choice would be Jacob Degrom.

Wish I could have watched last nights game but happy with the outcome.

I am with Frog on Degrom for NL ROY. I'd also probably give Clint Hurdle NL Manager of the Year, probably partly because I am a Hurdle fan.

I could only stay up till the end of the 8th but I could feel the greatness.

They gave Derek Jeter everything except their firstborn children.

But that's over now...now we have playoffs:

Dodgers go home and shoot themselves after blowing a 6-1 lead by coughing up 8 runs in the 7th.

Baltimore somehow comes back to stun Detroit. Not sure what happened there because I was at work, but Joba Chamberlain may have gotten the ball stuck in his beard or something.

Nats disappoint me after cranking a couple huge homers. Are there any fans in Montreal who still love the team? Somehow stranger and maybe even more painful than being a Thunder fan in Seattle....it's got to be lonely up there....

I wanted the Giants and Cards out, merely because I'm sick of them...so naturally they are both winning. It's only one game, but I feel like those teams do not choke, they are the choked against. Remember the Reds a couple years ago?

After looking at deGrom's stats, I'd probably go with him for NL ROY now. I mistakenly thought he had only pitched 15-ish starts, but I see he got 22 starts, which is a good 2/3rds of a season. Hamilton is definitely a one-dimensional player, but he ended up being much better than anyone expected which definitely colored my initial MVP impression of him.

I'd definitely still give the NL Manager to Bochy though. He got zilch out his top two highest paid pitchers (Cain and Lincecum) respectively and Pitt has two potential MVP candidates in McCutchen and Harrison. I don't see Pence and Posey in the same conversation. I think Bochy won with a lot less.

Every LDS is going the way I want to except the Detroit-Baltimore series. After seeing Detroit, I feel so sorry for those people that I figure a World Series title would be nice for them. It's too bad Brad Ausmus is pissing away Scherzer's last season with them by putting Joaquin Soria into games when the guy hasn't proven anything after just coming off the DL.

I like both the Giants and Nats teams, but ultimately have to root for my namesake. It's uncanny to see Jake Peavy turn it around like he has after he was so bad with Boston this year.

Harold Reynolds kind of alluded to it during the game, but the Cardinals were definitely catching signs from 2nd base when they had their big inning against Kershaw today. Kershaw probably just isn't used to having that many people on 2nd base over the course of a game, much less an inning.

Really stoked about the KC story happening right now and that they swept Anaheim at home!!! An all Wild Card World Series (Giants/Royals) would be A-Okay with me!

You've got to love this time of the year as a baseball fan!

Hey Brandon Belt, How about that Brandon Belt?

That was rad! I watched the whole damned game too, hoping like something like that would happen (multiple times). The Giants ability to bounce back (that 9th inning) is uncanny!

Since the Giants come to Seattle next year, I think I'm going to try to arrange some kind of meet and greet with my extended family over this offseason. Maybe I'm just fooling myself because I got to him his rookie season, so he might be overwhelmed with these type of requests now. I guess we'll see...

Kind of surprised to see Baltimore and Norris hang around with the Tigers so far. I thought that Detroit would bag this one easily for sure. KC ought to be able to sweep with Shields going against Wilson tonight, which will be SWEET!