Published: October 05, 2009 11:18 pm      

Another crown awaits Yankees

Baseball has taken a back seat to football the last few weeks, but it’s back in the spotlight.

The one-game playoff is a beautiful thing. It’s one and done. That’s why the NFL and college basketball are so popular, especially come postseason time.

No excuses, no second chances. This is it.

The Minnesota Twins are in familiar territory. The Detroit Tigers are new to this. Tonight’s game marks the ninth one-game tiebreaker situation in history, and it’s happened three straight years now.

The Twins lost to the White Sox in a tiebreaker to decide the American League Central last season, and now the same title is up for grabs.

When the Reds and Mets faced off in a similar situation in 1999 for the wild card spot, I was sitting in the left field green seats at Riverfront Stadium. It was a playoff atmosphere and even more. It’s incredible.

Unfortunately for the winner of tonight’s matchup, the mighty New York Yankees await.

Let’s break down all of the upcoming series.

Twins/Tigers-Yankees

No matter who emerges victorious tonight at the Metrodome, they will not likely make it out of the American League Division Series.

New York has been on fire and finished with the best record in all of baseball, at 103-59.

It’s time for Joe Girardi, C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Alex Rodriguez to finally earn their stripes. Yankee fans do not fully accept players and managers until they perform in the postseason. And they have to do it year-in and year-out.

Alex Rodriguez knows this better than any other. He might be on pace to be the all-time home run king, as tainted as the record might be, but he still can’t get the full approval of his own team’s fans. Unlike veteran teammate Derek Jeter, A-Rod has not proven that he can help the team win a World Series title.

And honestly, that’s what The Yankees Empire is all about. Getting number 27.

Sabathia has been uber-strong lately. In August and September, he has accumulated an ERA of 2.04, according to yankees.com.

Expect the Twins or Tigers to be tired, and there should be no danger of a repeat of 2006, when the Tigers came back from a 0-1 disadvantage in the ALDS to beat the Yankees.

I’ll take the Yankees in four.

Red Sox-Angels

This is an interesting one. Boston has had success with the Angels in the playoffs in recent years. This is the fourth time in the past six years that the two have squared off in the ALDS.

Boston swept Los Angeles of Anaheim in 2004 and 2007, when it went on the win the World Series.

Look for an extremely competitive series, but I think it comes down to coaching and pitching. Terry Francona and Mike Scioscia are two of the best managers in the game.

I give Scioscia the edge, and I give the Angels an edge on pitching. That’s because, for Boston, Josh Beckett has battled back spasms, Clay Bucholz has no postseason experience and Jon Lester, while consistent, may struggle against the right-handed bats of the Angels.

But then again, the recent Red Sox are like the Yankees of the late 1990s. They might finally look vulnerable, but they could very well win it all again.

I’ll take the Angels in five.

Cardinals-Dodgers

Switching gears to the National League, somehow Joe Torre’s Dodgers still ended up with the best record in the NL (95-67).

The problem is they went on cruise control the last few weeks of the season, and barely escaped as NL West division champions. St. Louis has Adam Wainwright, NL Comeback Player of the Year Chris Carpenter, and above all, Albert Pujols.

It’s hard to pick against Torre in the postseason, but this Dodgers team has just not shown enough down the stretch.

I’ll take the Cardinals in four.

Rockies-Phillies

Colorado has no real superstars. Manager Jim Tracy came on board during the season, and it was just the change the Rockies needed. With the veteran leadership of Todd Helton, the young emerging stars like Troy Tulowitzki, and overall solid pitching behind Ubaldo Jimenez and Aaron Cook, have an all-around excellent team.

The Phillies have pop and pizazz, but pitching is a question mark. What will Charlie Manuel do about his closing pitcher situation?

I’ll take the Rockies in three.

ALCS

If my above predictions are correct, the Yankees would host the Angels in the best-of-seven series.

Unless Los Angeles brings back the Rally Monkey of 2002, New York’s my pick. I’ll take the Yankees in six.

NLCS

The Cardinals and Rockies present an ironic matchup.

Matt Holliday was traded from Oakland to St. Louis this season, but he was a key piece of the 2007 Rockies that reached the World Series. I believe Holliday’s team will again claim the NL pennant and face a date with the Yankees in the World Series. I’ll take the Cardinals in six.

World Series

The Yankees will be more fresh than a banged-up and battle-tested Cardinals team. However, the grittiness, pitching reliability and the unyielding will to win will carry the Cardinals to seven games in a classic series.

I’ll take the Yankees in seven, as the memories of the House that Ruth built transition into the present-day House that Jeter built.

AARON SNYDER can be reached at asnyder@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2664.