Playoff Scenarios Unscrambled
Crazy final day of the regular season. In the American League, the once-dominant Detroit Tigers blew another big lead at home against the Kansas City Royals and their 62-100 record, to slip into the playoffs as AL wild card. The Tigers, you may recall, were 71-35 on August 1 and held a 7 1/2 game lead over the second place Chicago White Sox. The Tigers have gone 24-32 since then and don’t inspire the same fear as they once did. They’ll play against the New York Yankees in the first round, opening in the Bronx on Tuesday.
The Minnesota Twins, who were 9 1/2 games back of first place in the AL Central on August 1, and behind both the White Sox and the Boston Red Sox in the wild card race, beat Chicago in the season finale to claim the division title. The Twins held first place in the AL Central exactly one day in 2006, but it was the only day that mattered — the last one. The Twins meet the Oakland A’s in the opening round, with the first game taking place Tuesday at Minnesota.
In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals backed into the playoffs by virtue of the Houston Astros’ 3-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves. The Cards enter the post-season having dropped 10 of their final 14 games. They’ll hook up with the San Diego Padres in the first round, opening the series at Petco Park on Tuesday.
The Padres finished the regular season with 88 wins, same as the Los Angeles Dodgers, who completed a three game sweep of a listless Giants team in San Francisco. Because the Padres took 13 of 18 from the Dodgers during the regular season, San Diego wins the division, with LA taking the wild card. The Giants, meantime, get to look in the mirror all winter and try to convince themselves that they gave an honest effort against the Dodgers up until the end.
Speaking of the Dodgers, they head to Shea Stadium for Game 1 of their series on Wednesday. The New York Mets, who are without ace Pedro Martinez and who haven’t played a meaningful game in a month, would appear to be vulnerable. Don’t let that fool you, though; they didn’t win the NL East by accident.
We’ll take a closer look at the individual matchups a little later, but for now, congratulations to all the teams that made the dance and to the fans that follow them. And if your team didn’t make it this season, take it from a Padres fan who’s had to remind himself too many times — there’s always next year.
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