Cubs hope to change fortunes; Ortiz eyes storybook end

Some notable players from the team include the likely NL Rookie of the Year Corey Seager, Joc Pederson, former Oriole Justin Turner, Yasmani Grandal, Yasiel Puig, and that Clayton Kershaw guy; I’ve heard he’s pretty good.

The same could be said for the Red Sox, who are looking to cap off Big Papi’s final season with a championship.

Or at least that’s what media buyers are hoping as the Major League Baseball postseason gets underway today with the American League wild card play-in game. Game Two is scheduled for Saturday and Game Three for Monday, Oct. 10 in either NY or San Francisco.

Yes, the Cubs have been a powerhouse all year, but now they’re facing something new: P-R-E-S-S-U-R-E. He has proved time and time again that he knows how to deliver in the playoffs, so a couple big hits from him could be the reason he retires with another ring on his finger.

Fall is officially among us, as after 2,430 games in only 183 days, the Major League Baseball regular season has come to a close, marking the beginning of the greatest month in sports. The Cubs are the overwhelming favorite to win the World Series, but it gets tricky after that. Bookmakers even joke about how many casinos have been built off of the Cubs World Series bets. If you’re not necessarily a huge baseball fan, or if 162 games makes for too long of a season for you to pay attention, then take this as your one-stop shop for the MLB playoffs.

In his 20th campaign, the 40-year-old slugger had a.315 batting average, 38 home runs, and 127 runs batted.

In 14 games in the postseason, Jones hit for a slash line of.364/.446/.618 with three home runs in 65 plate appearances.

The Chicago Cubs have been the frontrunners of the National League all year, and it’s finally time to let the fun begin.

In the division series, the AL kicks off the fun again as the victor of the Wild Card game will go head-to-head with the Texas Rangers. But their luck runs out as I have the Blue Jays winning in four games. I mean, I have a vested interest in a certain magical team that plays many of their games in Queens, and it’s somewhat sacrilegious to pick against them. And, having the best record in the last 25 years doesn’t guarantee a World Series title.

Q: How is Cleveland going to survive the loss of three starters?

The Cubs clinched the National League Central Division title.

Bautista led off the second against Chris Tillman with his fifth postseason homer.

And in his first October, Jeter wouldn’t disappoint the fans.

Part of baseball’s appeal, certainly, is the seemingly infinite range of possibilities presented with every pitch, but that same quality makes efforting a proper prediction in a scenario like this one a foolish pursuit. The most recent time we faced them in the postseason was 2006, when we beat them in seven games, on our way to the World Series Championship.

Isaac: The Boston Red Sox.

But maybe, just maybe, by the end of this month they won’t be losers anymore. He was a highly touted prospect, but nobody could’ve foreseen the impact he was about to have. They had seven three-game losing streaks. But now in the lineup, he would thrive in the final six games of the postseason. Unfortunately their magical run ended there, as although games four and five were painstakingly close, the Royals won both and won the series 4-1. Could the Red Sox deliver Ortiz the greatest send-off of all with a 4th World Series ring?