Opinion

I am a fine connoisseur of movies that fall under the banner of "so bad, they're good."

If it has stilted dialogue, gaping plot holes, poor special effects and gratuitous sex scenes, I am in.

The Texas Rangers and their fans, the long-time ones at least, spent the night celebrating the team's division series win for the first time in franchise history.

With the win and straight Cliff Lee dominance, the Rangers pushed the Dallas Cowboys to page two for the first time in, well, a long time.

Admit it, you’re enjoying these baseball playoffs. The excitement. The do-or-die nature of every game. Brian Wilson’s epic beard-mohawk combo that makes him look like a guy begging for change outside McDonald’s.

The—

Wait, what’s that? You’re not enjoying these playoffs? Really? Maybe I’m the only one.

The moment the Texas Rangers' Cliff Lee hurled his last strike Tuesday night; he not only killed the Tampa Bay Rays' postseason dreams, but also gave the New York Yankees an official ALCS opponent for Game One on Friday night.

The Yankees will fly down to Texas to face the Rangers in the seven-game ALCS series, which for one team will lead to the World Series.

In all honesty, predictions were betting the Rays would beat the Rangers in the ALDS, but in a five-game series, there is no room to stumble.

Jays fans have put up with a lot. Former GM J.P. Ricciardi made mistake after mistake, from Alex Rios, to Vernon Wells, to B.J. Ryan, to Frank Thomas. The motto seemed to be "buy high, sell low" in Toronto.

But fear no more. Forget Austin Jackson; forget Jason Heyward. You want a Rookie of the Year?

Cue Alex Anthopoulos.

Promotional campaigns come and go so when the San Francisco Giants' public-relations machine—spearheaded by A-list broadcasters Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow—started hitting the party line "Giants Baseball, It's Torture" with tedious glee, I resisted it for as long as possible.

However, let's just say that the promos get it right every now and again.

And the 2010 San Francisco baseball season has been one of those times.

The Reds did not belong in the postseason this year.

Cincinnati fell into the National League Central Division title by doing what any team is expected to do: win games against teams with worse records and teams with losing records.

However, Cincinnati proved more than once that they could not do what is expected of winning ball clubs, and that is to overcome clubs equal than or better that yourself.

I will be the first one to tell you that I heavily blasted Joe Girardi and his strange moves that only helped the New York Yankees stumble to a 13-17 finish over the last month of the season. His plan was for his team to get healthy and be prepared for the postseason and not shoot for the American League East Division Title and face the Texas Rangers in the playoffs.

Mr. Darcy Fournier

The debate about Pete Rose and his eligibility for placement in the Hall of Fame is well documented, with passionate arguments for and against his induction.

I am not a "fan” of Pete Rose. However, I am not oblivious to his contributions to the game, and the poor choices he made along the way.

I am equally not oblivious to the political football this has become, and how poorly this has been handled by just about everyone, Rose included.

As you've seen, we've analyzed the pitching matchups and how the Phillies and Giants compare in the infield.

This slideshow will examine the only part of the teams we haven't focused on yet: the outfield.  Outfield defense is extremely important in the playoffs.