Oh Boy Pal.

What a night for baseball. We had drama, rain delays, collapses, comebacks... the evening was packed with excitement. At the end of the line, 2 teams that *should* have made the playoffs as of September 1st, did not. 2 teams that were considered to be dead in the water are both now riding some pretty amazing hot streaks. Here I sit, a Sox fan watching OTHER teams play in October. I think I'm okay with that.

Let's start with what happened last night. The Red Sox finalized the single largest collapse any baseball team has seen in the month of September by losing 4-3 to the Orioles after an hour and twenty minute rain delay going in the the 7th inning. The over-used bullpen looked to be holding firm into the 9th. Jonathan Papelbon racked up 2 outs and then gave up 3 hits, 2 doubles and 1 single. The problem was NOT Papelbon. If you watch that inning he hit his location on every pitch but one in that inning. The problem was that somewhere along the line this team just lost its heart.

Travel a few miles south and you find a team that discovered their heart at about the same time the Sox lost theirs. The Tampa Bay Rays were losing 7-0 in the 8th inning against the Yankees. The came ROARING back to tie, take things into extra innings, and in dramatic fashion, see the face of their franchise, Evan (wish he played in Boston) Longoria just barely go yard - to win the Wild Card for the Rays. Amazing finish to an amazing regular season run for the team with about 20 fans in attendance.

Take a look at the National League and the other epic failure: The Atlanta Braves. The Braves should be thankful for the Red Sox this morning, as they hosted an 8.5 game lead over the Cardinals at the start of September. They fell apart in the same fashion the Red Sox did while the Cards came roaring back, much like the Rays did.

What I really like about these playoffs is the fact that I don't feel there are any clear-cut World Series finalists in the lot. You have 8 quality ball clubs vying for 2 open slots in the grandest stage of the grandest game. In the AL - we will see (AL MVP, CY YOUNG WINNER?) Justin Verlander's Detroit Tigers square off against the aging, yet incredibly resilient New York Yankees in New York, while Tampa Bay travels to Texas to face off with the offensive juggernaut Texas Rangers.

In the National League we will see St. Louis ride into Philadelphia for a matchup of the team many consider to be the best in the Majors in 2011, the Philadelphia Phillies, and arguably the NL's hottest team at the moment, the Cardinals. Travel pretty much across the country and the Arizona Diamondbacks will square off with the Milwaukee Brewers. Please, someone show me a single person who figured that it would come down to these 8 teams.

I guess the fun starts here now. Who will take the ALDS and NLDS matchups? Let's not get ahead of ourselves and talk World Series yet, but this is what I am thinking/hoping to see:

ALCS

Texas Rangers vs. Detroit Tigers

NLCS

Philadelphia Philles vs. Milwaukee Brewers