What an amazing night of baseball!

No, my team was not involved in last night's fun....mostly cuz their season ended before it began. Nevertheless, no matter what team you root for, last night was an amazing night for Major League Baseball. Wow! The Red Sox and Braves were fighting for their playoff lives, the Cards and Rays were hoping to capitalize on the Sox and Braves epic collapses....and it turns out, things went the way of two of those teams....

The Red Sox epic collapse down the stretch will go down in history as one of the worst in all of MLB. Nine games up at the beginning of this month, they somehow managed to let that slip away, making Game 162 the biggest game of the season. Their game with the Orioles was rain delayed nearly two hours....so, they got to see the Yankees/Rays game, I'm sure. Rays were down SEVEN TO NOTHING in the 8th. Hope was nearly gone and then.....the unthinkable happened. Rays got it to 7-6 going into the ninth. In the bottom of the 9th, with two outs and two strikes (literally down to their last strike!), a pinch hitter whose name I've forgotten already, smacks a home run to tie the game....and send it into extras. Totally improbable...yet it happened. By this time, the Sox/Orioles game had resumed and the Orioles came back to beat Boston...just a couple of minutes later the Rays Evan Longoria hit a home run to win the game....and shut the door on Boston. Boo frickin hoo. GO RAYS!

On the NL side, the Braves were working on their own historic epic collapse....which would soon go down in history as the biggest collapse in NL history. Up 8.5 (I think) at the beginning of the month, they managed to win like 7 games the whole rest of the month.....and let the Cardinals claw their way back into things. Now, as you know, I'm the biggest Cubs fan there is, BUT, I do live in St. Louis and my entire family and most of my friends are Cards fans, so, I put my baseball pride aside and actually rooted for the Cards. Well, that and the thought of Skip Schumaker for another three or so games was quite appealing. Yes, I'm that shallow. Oh and due to my belief that teams with epic collapses down the stretch do not deserve to get into the playoffs (and, yes, I would say that if it were my Cubbies in the same position. You just don't give up an 8-9 game lead the last month of the season!).  The Cardinals TCB'ed by spanking baseball's worst team, the Astros 8-0. Done and done. Then they hung out in Houston to watch the Phillies/Braves game....all thirteen innings of it. The Braves had a 3-2 lead in the 9th, victory was within their reach.....but you never, ever count out the Phillies. They are good at baseball. Obviously, the Phils tied the game, sending it into extras. And in those extra innings, the Braves had a few chances to put it away-and didn't (it really was like watching a Cubs game). Finally, in the 13th, the Phillies scored...the Braves were unable to in their part of the inning and the game was over. Epic collapse #2. I was totally ok with that for two reasons-1. I love the Phillies and 2. the tomahawk chop is the most annoying thing ever and if I had to watch playoff baseball listening to that, I might have poked my own eyeballs out

A champagne and beer soaked man hug? Yes please.

Skip Schumaker and Albert Pujols

Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE post-season baseball? I don't care what teams are in it, I watch them all. Today is the day I pick new, albeit temporary, allegiances. While my team is packing their stuff and getting ready to play some winter ball (they ALL need to be, just sayin), other teams are getting ready for the games of their lives. So, below are the match ups and my thoughts on each. Obviously, I am loyal to the National League. Will I be loyal to the NL Central as well? Read on.....

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Rangers-vs-Rays. This one is hard for me because I like both teams. The Rays are just an amazing story and, Joe Maddon's new mullet is amazing. That said, Josh Hamilton is one of my favorite players in all of MLB, so rooting for the Rangers should be a no-brainer. No, in this match up, I'll be rooting for both teams, whoever wins, I'm cool with it.

Yankees-vs-Tigers. This feels like a no-brainer. I detest the Yankees (although I do love Joe Girardi) so...Tigers it is. Plus...Justin Verlander is amazing. A-MA-ZING.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Brewers-vs-Diamondbacks. I can't honestly name one person on the Diamondbacks...but I hear they have a real feel good story. The Brewers. Oh the Brewers. I'm not fond of them, but they ARE in the NL Central and I feel like I should stay loyal to my division. I'm not sure who is going to win this one, should be a good series, I think I'll be rooting for the Brewers (my God that feels dirty).

Cardinals/Phillies. This one is the one I'll be struggling with. As has been documented numerous times, the Phillies have been my #2 team for the last few years. It started with my love for Chase Utley, but as I watched the games and followed the players, I grew to love the team as a whole. Plus, Ryan Howard is representin the 'Lou. Holla! On the flip side, I live in St. Louis, AND, my entire family loves the Cardinals AND...quite honestly, I would love for my nearly 84 year old grandfather to get to see the Cardinals win it all again. Yes, I would root for the enemy just to see my family happy. Truly. Plus, more Skip Schumaker time? Sign me up please! AND....it'll be the battle of the Lafayette High School grads (where my niece and nephew will be going, by the way), Ryan Howard on the Phils and David Freese on the Cards (who ain't too bad to look at, I'm just sayin). And, have I mentioned I love Skip Schumaker?

The playoffs start tomorrow and this baseball fan is super duper excited! I LOVE OCTOBER BASEBALL!!!!!!!!