Baseball postseason

I'm not going to bother making predictions; there's plenty of guys on ESPN or SI who can break things down and tell you Yankees-Mets is the most likely (and most boring) outcome. Obviously I'm pulling for the Dodgers all the way, but I have a lot of other horses in the race. The Tigers are the best story of the year, redeeming nearly two decades of awful baseball with a miracle first half of the season that still got them into the playoffs when they cooled off in the second half. After the Dodgers, I'd be happiest to see them take it all.

Conversely, I'd root for anybody except the Giants or the Cuban National Team against the Yankees, the most obnoxious franchise in North American sports. Their cross-town cross-league rivals aren't much better.

Inbetween are four teams I don't really actively like or dislike. The Padres are semi-local and always seem to trip up the Dodgers, but it's hard to have hard feelings for a team that carried fellow Long Beach Poly Jackrabbit Tony Gwynn on their roster for 20 years. The A's are the Moneyball poster boys, which makes me want them to win to rub it in the traditionalists' faces, and makes me want them to lose to rub it in the faces of those who think Billy Beane is god. The Twins are hard not to like after nearly being contracted a few years ago, and their teams of 1987 and 1991 were full of all sorts of warm, fuzzy moments. The Cardinals... eh. They've got the best player in baseball, they've got great fans, they've got a weird manager, and they're a perennial contender who hasn't won the Series since 1982, but I find it hard to get excited about them.

In short, here's my ranking of all 8 playoff teams. Use this chart to see at a glance who my rooting interest is for any potential matchup, but note that positions 3 through 6 are subject to change due to compelling performances or stories during the postseason.

• 1. Los Angeles Dodgers
• 2. Detroit Tigers
• 3. San Diego Padres
• 4. Minnesota Twins
• 5. Oakland Athletics
• 6. St. Louis Cardinals
• 7. New York Metropolitans
• 8. New York Yankees

For example, in the Division Series, I'm pulling for the Dodgers, Tigers, Padres, and Twins. But if the ALCS ends up as, say, A's - Yankees, I'd become a temporary Oakland fan.