The most wonderful time of the year

Ah, yes: it's that time of year again. October. Baseball playoff time. My favorite month. Bring on the drama!

Okay, so the Astros aren't going this year. But you know who else isn't going? The New York Mets, thanks to the biggest collapse in the history of Major League Baseball, leaving the door open for the Phillies (who managed to actually man up and walk through it, for the first time in fourteen years). And the collapse wouldn't have been as grand and hilarious if not for today's theatrics: the Mets needed to win to clinch the division, so they sent out Tom Glavine, their Hall of Fame-bound, 300 game winner to the hill...and he gives up seven runs in the first inning. He gets one guy out. One. The Marlins load the bases, and Glavine hits the batter. The batter being the opposing team's pitcher. (It was the first -- and I'm sure Glavine hopes the last -- time he had ever hit a pitcher. Ever.) Glorious!

And tomorrow we get a prologue to the postseason glory, as the Padres have to play a one-game playoff with the Rockies to determine the NL Wild Card. Like the Mets, the Pads could've clinched with a win today, but they let the Brewers dump eleven runs on them, so no dice.

Over in the AL, it's the annual battle for the right to try to beat the Motherfucking Yankees. The Indians get first crack at it, and here's hoping for a repeat of the Pinstripes' performance last year.

So who's going to win everything? What's my prediction? Well, I'm an awful prognosticator, but I'll stick my neck out here: the Angels. I base this on...nothing at all. A guess.

A more worthwhile guessing game: how many points under .200 will Alex Rodriguez's postseason batting average be? I say 24.