The early morning rain had faded, but a strong wind remained as I prepared to go to my first Phillies game since Jul. 9, 2008.

A veteran of Opening Day in Philadelphia, my good buddy was meeting me to go to see the opening round game of the Phillies vs. the Colorado Rockies today, Oct. 7 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

I arrived first and attended a pre-game rally, shown above. The Phillie Phanatic was on stage, as well as the band and several young ladies in Phillies gear. The Phanatic shot Phillies gear out of a long-nose funnel gun into the crowd.

This article is the fifth in a six part series discussing the players on the Atlanta Braves' 25-man roster that will be free agents this offseason.

Everything changed in the bottom of the third inning.

When Derek Jeter stepped to the plate with the Yankees trailing 2-0 to the Twins in Game One of the American League Division Series, a lot of questions were racing through the minds of Yankees fans.

Why has our opponent scored first for the ninth time in our last 12 playoff games? Why has Alex Rodriguez failed to pick up a hit in his last 18 postseason at-bats with runners in scoring position and past 28 with runners anywhere on base?

Over the coming weeks, there will be a number of tough decisions made on the north side of Chicago. Now that it appears the ownership issue will be settled soon, the business of baseball can begin again.

One decision that needs to be made is regarding free agent pitcher Rich Harden. Harden, who was acquired at the trade deadline in a move that directly countered the Milwaukee Brewers' acquisition of CC Sabathia, might have been the best Cubs starter down the stretch this past season.

You have to hand it to the Yankees—they are exactly who we thought they were.

Brian Duensing didn't pitch poorly by any stretch of the imagination, but it is not difficult to surrender runs to this potent New York offense. Early on, Duensing was locked in, sprinkling his fastball in among his great breaking balls. He was getting ahead in the count and kept the ball on the ground, doing everything possible for his team.

The St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers have played a combined 226 seasons of professional baseball. They have won 16 World Series, 38 NL pennants, and almost 20,000 games. Over 100 players and managers that have worn either uniform are enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Both franchises are widely considered the crown jewels of the National League...

And come 8:07 p.m. CST Wednesday night, none of it will mean dick.

Before I write anything else, I have to offer congratulations to the Minnesota Twins. They were seven games back on Sept. 7, and closed the season on an incredible hot streak, winning 17 of their final 21 games—including the one-game playoff against the Detroit Tigers.

Remember, Minnesota accomplished all of this without All-Star first baseman Justin Morneau. Coming back from a large deficit in the final month of the season without one of your best players? Minnesota deserves their playoff berth and all of the accompanying accolades.

The Angels and Red Sox starting rotations were statistically very similar throughout the season...how the starters perform over the next week will go a long way in determining who will advance to the '09 ALCS.

I have just placed my crystal ball on my desk...let's take a look at the likely matchups:

Game One: John Lackey and Jon Lester