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

Who's Your Rookie of the Year?

In an effort NOT to talk about the Boston Red Sox or the Texas Rangers (no easy task today, considering they are about to embark on what I believe to be a very crucial series in Texas) I have decided to take a look at some of the rookies that have impressed me this year and give my two-cents as to whom (as of this point) I believe should be given the distinct honor of being Rookie of the Year.

In my last post I mentioned Atlanta's Freddie Freeman. Freeman would be a fine choice. He has played in 124 games thus far and is hitting for a nice .293 batting average. (134h/457ab) He has driven in 62 runs and has managed 45 extra base hits (17 of which being the long ball.) He leads all rookies in doubles, with 28. He is not just an offensive player though. This season his ranger factor is a 9.21 while his fielding percentage is at .995. What all of these statistics are telling me is that Atlanta has found their first baseman for many years to come.

For fielders, I find the (no pun intended) field to be a bit short. I look at Freeman's numbers and I am very impressed with what he has accomplished in his young career. There are a couple of other young studs that have played markedly well that deserve some mention here, and still may close out the season strong enough to change my mind. There is second baseman Danny Espinosa in Washington for example. He is more of a defensive liability than Freeman. He posts a 4.77 range factor with a .982 fielding percentage; by no means bad for a rookie, just not as good as Freeman's numbers. At bat, his average is low at .231 (which is still better than Jayson Werth) but he has pop in his swing. He's belted 18 homers this season with 57 RBI's. Needless to say, Washington fans would love to see that type of production coming from Werth.

One last individual that has caught my attention has to be Angels first baseman, Mark Trumbo. Offensively he is putting up the closest numbers of any rookie to Freddie Freeman. Currently he is batting .260 (110h/463 ab) with 23 home runs and 69 RBI's. It is clear to me now why the Angels were not big spenders in the off-season, or rather, felt they could take the hit. It is evident that Trumbo is a major league stud. At first base this season he has a range factor of 9.30 with a fielding percentage of .993 - pretty excellent numbers for a rookie as well.

Now, in case you didn't notice I had some criteria for those players that I felt were worthy above, and it was basic - games played. If a rookie had not played over 100 games this season, I did not even consider them... unless they were a pitcher. Which brings me to my final two names. Of all rookie pitchers, it would be very easy to point out that the New York Yankees, Ivan Nova leads the way with 13 wins and 4 losses. He is posting a 3.97 ERA in the toughest division in baseball and is a vital piece to that Yankee rotation right now. But the problem I have with him is that, well, other than the fact he is a Yankee, is the fact that he is a Yankee. Let me explain. If a rookie pitcher from the Yankees or Red Sox, the two deepest pockets in baseball, were posting those numbers, there is an obvious point that can be made - they have a superior team surrounding them. This idea does not fall deaf on me. I buy it. Which is why I think, though Nova is admittedly having a great season, there is one rookie that remains that I think absolutely deserves the American League Rookie of the Year honor.

The Seattle Mariners Michael Pineda has been dominant. That is a hard thing to be when you play in King Felix's park, but he has been. His 9-7 record with a 3.73 ERA is no indication of the type of pitcher he is. Much like Felix Hernandez - the body of work and the team you are on has to take some consideration. Pineda is in no-mans land, Seattle. He has started 24 games and has pitched 147 innings already - the most for any rookie pitcher. By the way, he also has 148 strikeouts, 28 more than the next rookie in that category. He also maintains a 1.11 WHIP, 15th in all of the majors, first for rookies. Pineda hs been a beast, pure and simple. It is a shame in my eyes to see such a talent on a ballclub that will not give him a shot of winning anything.

Given my argument, I think you already know, but my NL Rookie of the Year would have to be Freddie Freeman. AL Rookie of the Year would be Michael Pineda. Thoughts?

Hot 'Lanta

The Atlanta Braves have the most commanding lead in the NL Wild Card race this season, at 8 games. They are 7-3 in their last 10 games, and oh by the way, could be the kryptonite to the Phillies Superman squad.

All season long the Braves have had to listen to the praise given to their NL East counterparts, the Phillies. All season long they have been chasing down the same dynamic lineup. All season long, they've been quietly winning and now, are running away with the Wild Card. Chipper Jones has been playing with a renewed sense of passion after an injury plagued 2010 campaign. Sure his numbers are down against his career statistics, but he no longer has to be "the man" in Atlanta. Long gone are the days of 38 Homeruns, 102 RBI's and a .330 average (2001) - but he now has bats surrounding him in the lineup and depth on this ball club that this blogger hasn't seen since the days of Otis Nixon, David Justice and Ron Gant.

If ever there was a team with an evenly distributed offense, it is the Braves. You have pop in your bats care of Dan Uggla, Brian McCann and still on occasion Chipper Jones. You have great speed and potential from Michael Bourn and Jason Heyward. On top of that, you have a potential Rookie of the Year in Freddie Freeman playing first base.

Though the pitching staff doesn't reverberate quite like the Glavine, Maddux, Smoltz days - having Hudson, Lowe and Jurrjens is not a bad second option. Especially given the defensive capability backing up the pitching staff. As a loyal Boston fan, its hard to come up with a better defensive shortstop than Alex Gonzalez. He is a rock for the Braves infield.

In the home stretch of the 2011 season it is going to be a lot of fun to watch how the Braves and Phillies finish out and even more fun to see these two teams go head to head in the playoffs. As it stands right now the season series is dead even, both teams taking 6 games a piece. They have 2 3-game series remaining in the month of September. One in Philly from 9/5 - 9/7 and then the season finale, in Atlanta from 9/26-9/28.

That is what has fascinated me thus far about this rivalry. Philadelphia has handled all of the other competition, but Atlanta just won't go away. With these teams built as complimentary to one another as they appear to be, a 7-game series is most likely going to happen. In that event I do think we are going to see some rather impressive baseball.