Let's Get It On!!

On the final day of MLB’s regular season, I was given a treat when I learned that the final playoff berth, which is the wild card is decided on the last game day. Who would ever thought that on a 162-game season schedule, the final drama would come down on the final playing date of the season?

4 teams, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Rays are slugging out for the final two-playoff berths at stake for each division.

For the Atlanta Braves, they have a 8 ½ game lead with just 3 weeks into the final homestretch only to blew these lead and lose to a heart breaking game against Philadelphia Phillies that led to their elimination. They were one out away from earning a playoff game against St. Louis Cardinals for the wild card berth, only to let star rookie closer Craig Kimbrel blew his third save for the month of September. To make things worse, they played their final home schedule against a fully-loaded Phillies lineup, in contrast of a luckless Astros for the Cardinals.

St. Louis Cardinals, despite amid speculation that star slugger Albert Pujols might leave the following year due to free agency, came back strong despite being behind by 8 ½ games in the wild card race. They won 18 out of 21 of their final games, with clutch performance from unknown heroes such as Ryan Theriot, Nick Punto and David Freese. Known for being a power loaded lineup which includes Furcal,Holliday,Pujols,Berkman and Molina plus the fact their pitching aces of Carpenter, Lohse and Wainwright are locked in to shut down offenses. Who would have thought of them being down that big in the month of September? Maybe they deserved the challenge to enter postseason, the hard way.

Red Sox, Red Sox. What can I say? They were leading their division at early August only to fade down the wining stretch of the season. Lineup that consists of speedsters Jacoby Ellisbury and Carl Crawford, power hitters Youlkis, Adrian Gonzales, David Ortiz and Dustin Pedrioa. Certainly, this lineup is built to win the World Series. The pitching is also amazing, with Jon Lester, John Lackey,Tim Wakefield and Josh Becket are enough to scare the opponents with their nasty curveballs and fastballs. But, as they say, jinx is jinx. Carl Crawford, their 142-million outfielder was a bust that is comparable to Milton Bradley. Jon Lackey was also a waste of money as their 81 million pitcher pitched an ERA of above 4.0. Yankees’ GM Brian Cashmen seems to look like a genius after withdrawing his offer to Crawford.

AS for Tampa, who would ever though of this team entering the post season? They lost Matt Garza and Carlos Pena to Chicago Cubs. They lost their leader, Dioner Navarro to free agency. They lost their then-ace pitcher Scott Kazmir to the Angels. Is there anyone who could help that team enter the playoffs? Enter Evan Longoria. His walk-off homerun capped an epic 7-0 come from behind victory over the Yankees, coupled with the loss of Red Sox to the Baltimore Orioles, sealed a series date with the Texas Rangers. Still surprised? You better be. Go get them, David Price.

MLB’s 2011 playoff promises to be action filled and drama pact. If regular season was not enough, wait for the postseason. Yankees-Tigers. A matchup of two aces in Sabathia and Verlander. Rays-Rangers, which features a rematch between sluggers Josh Hamilton and Evan Longoria. On the other division, Phillies go up against a rejuvenated Cardinals while Brewers take a from last-to-first team in Arizona Diamondbacks.

Hang on to your seats folks. This year’s playoffs are definitely worth watching. Even though my beloved Cubs was eliminated, I’ll still watch and cheer for one team.. and that is the Tampa Bay Rays.

For all the highlight, log in to www.mlb.com.