Playoff time

The baseball playoffs begin today, and will last until roughly Thanksgiving. Almost no one outside my immediate family cares about baseball anymore (and the Nats are trying to kill off interest inside my immediate family) so most people will never realize that the Phillies are on the verge of a truly historic accomplishment. Since 1944, no team from the National League has won the pennant three years in a row. Think about that. None of these great teams won three pennants in a row:

1. The "Boys of Summer" Brooklyn Dodgers (1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956)
2. The Bob-Gibson Cardinals (1964, 1967, 1968)
3. The Big Red Machine (1970, 1972, 1975, 1976)
4. The Bobby Cox Braves (1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1999)

In fact, the Yankees and A's are the only teams to win three consecutive pennants since the end of World War II:

Yankees (1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953)
Yankees (1955, 1956, 1957, 1958)
Yankees (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964)
A's (1972, 1973, 1974)
Yankees (1976, 1977, 1978)
A's (1988, 1989, 1990)
Yankees (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001)

These are some of the greatest teams of all time. And that's the sort of company that the Phillies will be keeping if they get back to the World Series.

Anything can happen, of course. I thought the Braves would three-peat in 1993 and again in 1997, but they were upset in the NLCS both times. But I believe this Phillies team is even more dominant that the great Braves teams, and I think they will turn the trick.

The American League, on the other hand, strikes me as almost completely wide open. I'm pretty certain the Rangers won't make it, but I would not be surprised to see the Yankees, Twins, or Rays get there. (By the way, you should enjoy the Rays while you can. Their owners have already announced they are cutting payroll for next season.)

Anyway, I will be watching it. Baseball is the only sport in America -- probably the only sport on earth -- that decides its championship with games that conclude well after midnight, which makes it perfect for me (if not for anyone else). If anything of interest happens, I will post it.