By Pat Tintle
Assistant Sports Editor
The 2014 MLB playoffs are taking form, and what better way to celebrate than to speculate?
Let’s start with the American League. As of today, with just a little more than ten games to play, the Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics are all set for some October baseball (Baltimore and Los Angeles have officially clinched their divisions). The Seattle Mariners are attempting to sneak in with their league-leading pitching but do not have the bats needed to surpass any of the three teams ahead of them.
Onto the National League, where the Washington Nationals, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants have all practically booked their tickets (Washington has already clinched the NL East), with the streaky Milwaukee Brewers trying to hang on for dear life after giving up the first place position they dominated for most of the year.
So, there are some familiar and some unfamiliar faces going to the 2014 postseason – the biggest surprise being Kansas City. Yes, the Royals are attempting to make their first playoff run since 1985, an era when cigarettes were smoked in dugouts and George Brett was screaming in the faces of every umpire in the game. With their group of good, yet not elite, players, Kansas City saw a mid-August surge to put the team on par with their division rival Detroit. This postseason looks to rejuvenate a long lost, great baseball city.
But when looking at all the American League teams, it’s hard not to favor the Angels. The consistently superhuman Mike Trout is the AL MVP favorite, Albert Pujols has taken a step forward in his Los Angeles career (rather than his trending backward steps) and a surprisingly solid starting rotation, anchored by veteran Jered Weaver, has given the Angels a ten game division lead. They are the team to beat when just a month ago the Athletics had the best record in the AL.
On the other hand, the NL is shaping up as a free-for-all. The three division leaders (Washington, St. Louis and Los Angeles) all pose a threat to make it to the late October classic, while likely Wild Card teams San Francisco and Pittsburgh have enough tools on their rosters to make things even more interesting in a five or seven game series.
But, keeping in theme, this will be a Los Angeles postseason. The Dodgers have it all: a two-time Cy Young Award winner (make that three later this year), a relentless lineup with all five tools throughout and an unrecognized great manager in Don Mattingly. True, the Nationals and Cardinals are both the definition of well-rounded teams, but the Dodgers’ one-two punch of Clayton Kershaw and Zach Greinke can shut down any offense on the October stage.
The 2014 MLB season comes down to a west coast subway series. Over the past few seasons, both Los Angeles teams have seen their ups and downs. The Angels have raised Trout into an elite athlete, but have not made the postseason since 2009, even with the big market acquisitions of Pujols and Josh Hamilton. Meanwhile, the Dodgers have seen the emergence of a young All-Star of their own last year in Yasiel Puig and saw a historic 37-8 forty-five game stretch. Yet the franchise has not been able to win the National League since 1988, despite seven playoff appearances in that time.
The Kershaw/Greinke duo can make any team look like a Triple A roster, including the Angels – do not be surprised if the blue and white take home the sterling silver.
tintleph12@bonaventure,edu
