3 out of 4 Division Series Wrapped Up

We thought the crazy Twins-Tigers game was going to be an omen for a great opening round of baseball playoffs.

Well, at least it's been great for the favorites' fans.

The only series that hasn't ended in a sweep is the Phillies-Rockies, who play tonight in the freezing cold of Colorado. Other than that, it's been a lot of brooms.

A lot of people thought the Cardinals were a better team than the Dodgers coming in; the Dodgers put that to rest in 3.

The Red Sox were supposed to have the Angels number, right? Surely this was going to be a great series. If anything, it was going to be a Red Sox sweep. Oops.

The only thing that's gone according to plan is the Yankees crushing the spirits - one A-Rod homer at a time - of the Twins.

Don't get me wrong, there's been at least one good game on every day of the postseason thus far. On Thursday, the Dodgers beat the Cardinals 5-3. Thursday saw the Rockies pulling off the upset in Philadelphia 5-4 and the most memorable play of the postseason so far in Matt Holliday's error (brutal still image sequence here). The play extended the game and gave the Dodgers the opportunity to go up 2 games to 0. Friday had the first extra inning game of the series, culminated by Mark Teixeira's walk-off (pictured right) for the Bombers. Saturday we all watched in disbelief as the Dodgers just pounded the Cardinals in St. Louis to complete the sweep. And, finally, the Yanks were just better than Minnesota in their quest to sweep the Twins at the Metrodome.

So while there have been good games, there's only been one (and we don't know how that will end up) good series. One has to assume the championship series will be different. Yanks-Angels especially should be great drama.

Most MLB Division Races Long Over

Saturday night gave me far too big of a headache to write about college football, so here's your "baseball still matters" post of the month. I recognize that this week is the commencement of the NFL season, and my wonderful power rankings will debut sometime before the Titans-Steelers game on Thursday night. That being said, any other thing I could write about the NFL will undoubtedly be covered during the first TNT broadcast of the semester on Wednesday. So, for now, baseball.

Except there's really not a lot to talk about.

The Yankees' huge signings in the offseason? They worked out. CC Sabathia? He may be the favorite for the AL Cy Young. AJ Burnett? (pictured right) Not brilliant, but 4.29 and 10-8 ain't exactly bad. Mark Teixeira? He could hit 40 home runs this year. Remember way back when when everyone was up in a tizzy because the Orioles took 2 of 3 from them to lead off the season? That was a long time ago.

The Tigers are starting to play exactly like everyone thought the Tigers would play last year. They've won six in a row and eight of their last ten. The Twins are slightly above average and won't play any better than slightly above average. They're out of it.

The Phillies won the World Series last year because of their great lineup, top to bottom. They still have a great lineup, except now they have an even better rotation. Cliff Lee is the umpteenth pitcher to make NL hitters look like AAA hitters compared to AL hitters (although he has fallen off in his past two starts).

The Cardinals? Only 11.5 games ahead in the central. Not bad. Fun fact: They have 39 road wins this season. The Pirates have less than half of that, at 18.

So that leads us to the Wild Cards and the West. You've lost your attention by now, so look for it tomorrow.

Image Source: http://blog.nj.com/yankees_main/2009/03/large_aj-burnett303.jpg