Playoffs!? Playoffs!?

Alright New York, here we go.

After a one year hiatus from October baseball, the Yankees are back on the stage and looking like they never left. I was fortunate enough to be at Game 1 against the Twins last week and the team looked good. The stadium was packed, the air cool, and crisp. There is something about a night game in October that makes it so unique and unlike any regular season game under the lights. Maybe it's the difference in weather, or just the electricity in the air, I'm not sure, but it felt great to experience it once more. (And I'm happy to report there were no Wave spottings) C.C. delivered what we expected for a man being paid $23 million a year, and A-Rod looked like the A-Rod of April-September, which can only mean good things for the Bronx Bombers. His two-run homerun in the bottom of the ninth of Game 2 was a booming, majestic shot deep into the Bronx night and if he keeps it up Yankee fans are going to erect a statue to the post season A-Rod, or Alex 2.0 if you will.

What really made me happy last Wednesday was watching The Captain do his thing. Each year someone writes a column about Jeter being finished, washed-up, deteriorating, and in the twilight of his career, but this year has certainly been one of his finest. He ended the regular season batting .334, the fourth highest of his career (.349 in '99, .339 in '00, .343 in '06), tied for the third most stolen bases in his career (30), and committed the least amount of fielding errors ever in his career (8). He certainly picked up right where he left of and did exactly what Yankee fans everywhere expected, get hits and make plays. He got key hits in games 1 and 2 to ignite the Yanks and came up with head-up plays in games 2 and 3 to keep the Twins off the board, kill their momentum, and give the Yankees a chance to win the game.

This Yankees team looks like they have a legitimate chance to win it all this year. They have a solid bullpen now bolstered by the addition of Joba Chamberlain, and with Rodriguez hitting like he is, the toughest line up still in the playoffs. The only problem is the Yankees now have to go through the second-best team in all the land, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (I feel ridiculous even writing it out). The Angels are a tough and scrappy bunch, and for anyone who doubts that, you need only watch their amazing comeback against Papelbon and the Red Sox to steal Game 3 at Fenway this past weekend.

As much as I enjoyed watching the Red Sox, especially Papelbon, crash and burn this weekend as Boston's World Series hopes came to a screeching halt and Sawks fans everywhere thought of taking that leap out their window, I was sad they lost so early. If for no other reason than I wanted the Yankees to be the ones to end the Red Sox postseason run. I was confident the Yankees would do it, and I knew they would be a much easier opponent than Los Angeles.

But if you want to be the best, then you have to beat the best, right? It can be argued the Yankees are the best team in baseball, but now they have to show all the Yankee-haters what the Bombers can do. The Division Series were all rather boring, with only Colorado putting up somewhat of a fight. I was so hoping for them to win on Monday night and push it to Game 5, but unfortunately Houston Street imploded, whether it was because of the near-freezing temperatures or melted nerves, but whatever the case, Philadelphia pulled it out in four games.

I'm expecting the Championship round to be good on both sides, especially in the American League. These two perennial contenders are in for a dog fight and I'm praying the series is exciting and lives up to the billing (though if it's a Yankee sweep I won't complain either).

It's going to be a great week of baseball, and hopefully more will follow.

Either way, there is nothing quite like the Fall Classic.