Baseball

Twenty minutes to go before Game One. I am sorry I left this so long, but I've had a lot to look at, and a long week at my real job .

These two teams are absolutely the best two teams in the American League, both by record and by statistics. The winner of this series is the prohibitive favorite to win the World Series, no matter which National League team is left standing.

The deciding factor will be in the one place where there's any true disparity between the Yankees and the Angels: the bullpens.

Winning the division and going to the postseason is not a treat awarded every team. Many would agree that the Twins enjoyed a respectable 2009 campaign, despite it being a roller coaster of emotion. Fans survived the low moments, and enjoyed the high points.

Mishandling the re-signing of Joe Mauer , however, could de-rail the roller coaster for years to come.

On October 16, 1969, Baltimore has a runner on base with two outs.  The Orioles are trailing by two runs in the top half of the ninth inning.  They are on the brink of an incredible elimination in the World Series.  Mets' starter Jerry Koosman has his sign and delivers the pitch to Baltimore's second-baseman Davey Johnson.  Johnson swings.  He hits a long and towering fly ball to left field.  Left-fielder Cleon Jones is tracking the fly ball.  He continues tracking the ball back, back, back, almost at the warning track.  Jones reads it.  He opens his glove awaiting the catch, dropping drop

The off-season has already begun for 26 major league baseball teams.  The off-season is filled with trades, signings, firings, hirings, and sadly retirements.  The New York Yankees have not started their off-season yet, and they don't want to until they're holding up a World Series trophy at a parade in New York.

But there are three other teams left in the postseason that also want to hold up a World Series trophy in the end.

Anybody who has ever watched baseball with any conviction at all knows that debating over who should win Major League Baseball's annual awards is almost as fun as watching what unfolds during the postseason. With those awards, however, occasionally comes winners who make the baseball viewing public scratch their heads, and wonder what the baseball writers of America were thinking (i.e. MVPs Albert Belle in 1995, Willie Mays in 1962).

NEW YORK—We’re imploring and dreaming of an epic classic, a spectacle that’s enticing enough to discard all the steroid bust that has disappointed us for much of the season. Right now, baseball happens to have a dream series in mind, as many are thinking blue and wishing for pinstripes.

Yes, our eyes are set on a Dodgers-Yankees World Series, and to predict a series, it has the makings for a historic and memorable classic in ages.

The Mets have several holes to fill this winter, and one of the many concerns is the starting rotation.

Oliver Perez, John Maine, and Mike Pelfrey all may have the talent to be solid starters behind Johan Santana, but all three of them need to prove that they can contribute positively to the rotation for the whole season.

Perez missed a significant portion of the last season because of lingering knee trouble, which did require surgery, but prior to that, he had a lot of problems with his control and was placed in the bullpen. 

Joe Girardi is fully enjoying his first appearance in League Championship Series as the New York Yankees manager.

Hopefully he would love that his joyous ride continues all the way to the Fall Classic.  However, first of all they have to beat the red hot Los Angeles Angels.