On the outside I'm extremely excited that both the Red Sox and Yankees got knocked out the ALDS, but on the inside I'm slightly disappointed because the playoffs have become a lot duller. The four teams left, White Sox, Angels, Cardinals, and Astros, are all such bland teams that they leave me with no real interest in rooting for or against any of the teams left. Granted the Angels and White Sox played a mildly exciting game last night it hardly compared to the tension and build up of the last two ALCS's. The White Sox, although they have proven all year they are a winning club, seem to lack the spark of a championship team. The Angels, with one of the most exciting players in the game Vlad Guerrero, haven't gotten the exposure here on the East coast for me to feel any connection to the players or team. As an Oriole fan my whole life, the National League has always been on the backburner in my following of baseball. I never seem to know the teams well enough to develop an allegiance to any of them. I have been a fan of Jeff Bagwell throughout his career as well as Craig Biggio so for those two to bring a championship to Houston as their careers are winding down would be pretty special. As far as the Cardinals go, all they do is win. It's no fancy formula...they play well in the three major facets of the game (pitching, hitting, and fielding). It's hard not to respect Albert Pujols who is just 25 and has played 4 of 5 full seasons with an OPS over 1.0 (with his 5th at 0.955).
While there are stories and players to follow through the rest of the postseason, it's hard to ignore the fact the Red Sox and Yankees are conspicuously absent from a time when, over the past two years, the made baseball the highlight of a sports fans fall. I'll certainly follow the rest of the playoffs as an avid baseball fan, but, as hard as it is for me to say, Bud Selig should know he's not the only one missing the Yankees and Red Sox from the October action.

On a side baseball note...I'm happy to see Sam Perlozzo get a chance to manage the O's from the beginning of the year in '06. He's been with the organization for a while now and his patience, it seems, has earned respect from a lot of people around Baltimore. On the other hand, getting rid of Jim Beattie was, in my opinion, not the right front office move to make. Beattie is the man with experience, not Mike Flanagan. Hopefully he has someone working close to him to turn the O's around so maybe, although not likely, I'll be talking about them still playing this time next year.