Just An Afterthought

Just like most people in America I have been pretty caught up in the start of the NFL season. I mean lets face it, who doesn’t love when football season finally starts. However, every year the first 4 weeks of the NFL season take center stage and leave important MLB playoff races forgotten. The Yankees and Redsox squared off yesterday with the division title on the line, but was anyone even watching?

Nearly every football game, including the Giants, Jets, and Patriots, was on at 1:00 because of Yan Kippur. I know I was watching the Giants first, and checking on the Yankees only on commercial breaks. I did see the final couple innings, but what did everyone else miss? The Yankees won their 100 game and clinched their first division title since 2006, while doing so by taking 9 out of the final 10 games vs. the sox, Boston had won the first 8 this year.

The Yankees and Sox may always be the center of attention this time of year, but this might be one of the most exciting finishes to the MLB season in recent memory. The Twins have been on fire down the stretch and are now matched up in a 4 game series on the road facing the first place Tigers. The Tigers have a two game lead heading into the series, which leaves the pressure on the Twins to take 3 games out of 4 in order to stay alive. 3 wins would mean the Twins and Tigers will be tied for the division with 3 games left to play, a sweep would give the Twins the lead.

The Twins and Tigers aren’t the only teams left in a close race, has anyone watched the Atlanta Braves lately. For those of us who have been busy with school and pointless bloging, Where did they come from? The Braves were supposedly out of the playoffs 2 weeks ago and their biggest story was the retirement of manager Bobby Cox following next season. Apparently when you miss SportsCenter one weekend it means the Braves, who have not made any type of noise this season, move within 2 and half games of the wild card leader Colorado Rockies. The Rockies who are idle tonight may surrender that half game to the Braves, setting up a 7 game end to the season in which the Braves may wind up catching them.

The Braves have a much easier schedule playing the Marlins 3 times and the Nationals 4, all at home. The Rockies were saved a game by the most meaningful defensive play of the year when Clint Barmes turned a game ending double play on what initially seemed to be a game tying bloop hit to right field. That catch saved the Rockies from losing a game in the standings to be Braves. Now the Rockies will be playing 3 games at home vs. the Brewers, and finish the season on the road with 3 against the Dodgers.
^th

All season everyone talked about how the Giants pitching would help them catch the Rockies and make them a dangerous postseason team, or how the White Sox were about to catch fire and dominate in their division with Jake Peavy. Wrong. The Braves and Twins who flew under the radar the second half of the season are about to complete two of the most improbable playoff runs ever, but I’m not sure anyone knows about it. Time to stop watching NFL live for fantasy updates and keep up with MLB, because MLB playoff races never disappoint.