October's Best.

     Well, I was half-right.

     Like most baseball junkies, I tried in April to forecast the teams that would make it to October.

     Here are my original picks, with the actual winners in parenthesis:

     AL East: Yankees (Rays)

     AL Central: Tigers (Twins or White Sox, who play a one-game play-off tonight) 

     AL West: Angels 

     AL Wild Card: Red Sox

     NL East: Mets (Phillies)

     NL Central: Cubs

     NL West: Dodgers

     NL Wild Card: Braves (Brewers)

     I'm pulling for the Twins against the White Sox tonight, which would set them up against the Rays in the first round.

     I'd pick the Twins in that, too.

     If the White Sox beat the Twins, I'd take the Rays over them in a short series.

     UPDATE: ChiSox downed Twins 1-0 Monday night. 

     The Angels might be the best team in baseball, and I'd love to see them sweep the Red Sox, but I'll be happy with any outcome that turns Red Sox Nation back into a banana republic. 

     The Angels will represent the AL in the World Series, no matter the opponent.

     In the National League, I'll go with Milwaukee and stud stopper CC Sabathia to dispatch the Phillies, and the Dodgers over the Cubs in a dogfight.

     The Dodgers will ride Manny Ramirez and fate into a Freeway Series here in SoCal by beating the Brewers for the NL crown.

     I like that Angels team--they play scrappy, NL-style ball in the AL, thanks to Mike Scioscia--and I love Vlad Guerrero,  but I'm a Joe Torre guy and not a fan of O.C., so a World Series trophy in Chavez Ravine sounds about right to me.  

     October baseball is on-deck.

     Yankees or not, here we come...