World Series

Facing an unfavorable 2-0 deficit against the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series, the Toronto Blue Jays return home Monday. But they’ve already been in this position in the 2015 postseason.  

The dramatics brought by the opening rounds of Major League Baseball's postseason are a necessary appetizer, but nothing compares to the League Championship Series round.

Four teams remain, and each of them has the opportunity to punch its ticket to the World Series by stringing together four wins. Considering the long-suffering clubs still left standing at this point in October, we're guaranteed to have a special conclusion.

In just a few hours, (5:07 p.m. CT to be exact), a pivotal Game 3 of the of the National League Division Series will take place at the historic Wrigley Park, where the hometown Chicago Cubs are looking to break the series tie against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Despite coming up short for the best record in the American League, the Toronto Blue Jays enter baseball's postseason this week atop the odds to win the AL pennant and the World Series at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

September is rapidly approaching, and the cream is rising to the top around Major League Baseball.

But which teams can be considered true World Series contenders, and which should be considered pretenders?

Watch as Scott Miller joins Adam Lefkoe to break down some of baseball's best squads.

The Toronto Blue Jays are the hottest team in baseball, and they've used an 11-game winning streak to vault themselves into the role of 4-1 favorites to win the World Series at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Coming off a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox over the weekend, the New York Yankees have emerged as serious contenders on the odds to win the World Series and the American League pennant this season.

The AL East-leading Yankees (16-9) are at 20-1 odds to win the World Series and tied with the Red Sox at 7-1 to win the pennant behind a pair of AL Central teams that are virtually tied for the division lead.

The San Francisco Giants have won the World Series in three of the past five years, and they are sitting at 20-1 to repeat that feat this season as one of 13 top contenders with odds that high or better at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.

In life, and in sports, nearly everyone experiences prolonged periods of both success and failure. Of course, the 2014 sports year was far from different, as fans were treated to some truly memorable performances, of both the good and bad sort.

Madison Bumgarner, for example, had a downright iconic year, establishing himself as one of baseball’s all-time greats with the type of postseason pitching we’d never seen before.

If there is one thing the 2014 MLB playoffs have accomplished, it is reinforcing the idea that anything can happen. The fact that the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals are meeting in the World Series is proof of that.