The chill starts to set in, the leaves begin to change and for a few weeks people put football on the back burner to witness the magnificence that is October baseball.

The marathon of the 162-game baseball season is over and now comes the sprint, when eight teams fight for the Commissioner’s Trophy and the top spot in the baseball world.

In April, the season begins with 30 teams vying for the same goal, then the field narrows to eight. Eight teams have proven themselves this year as the league’s elite. These organizations will possibly have the chance to lift the trophy at the end of the playoffs. The Angels, Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies, Cardinals, Twins, Rockies and Red Sox will compete this October for the ultimate prize in baseball.

For the first round of the baseball Octoberfest the matchups will be: Red Sox vs. Angels, Twins vs. Yankees, Cardinals vs. Dodgers and Rockies vs. Phillies.

The Yankees seem to be favored for the title this year. With a high-powered offense that seems to have no weak spots, C.C. Sabathia on the bump, and the intimidation factor of the pin stripes, the only question is, will their MVP candidates, mainly Alex Rodriguez, remember that they actually have to hit the ball in order to win games?

The Twins may be a surprise this post season. Coming off a one game playoff win over the Tigers to clinch the American League Central, Minnesota will be carrying momentum into playoff time. Even though they have not won a playoff series since 2002, the one hundred and sixty-third win may be just what they need to take down the evil empire of the New York Yankees.

The Cardinals are the heavy favorite in the National League. The Cards have two Cy Young Award candidates in Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter, the unquestionable MVP in Albert Pujols. They also had the best mid-season acquisition when they picked up Matt Holliday.

The Dodgers have the task of trying to take down the Cards, but with the best record in the National League, L.A. will play at home where they maintain a 50-31 record. Last season the Dodgers dropped the NLCS to the Phillies but gained some much needed postseason experience.

The Angels are not a team the Yankees should take lightly. The club is run by one of the top managers in the league in Mike Sciocia, and there is no doubt that he’ll have his team ready to play. The Angels quietly had the second best record in the American League and remain a force to be reckoned with.
The Red Sox may not seem threatening but they have peaked at the right time. Pitching during the season was an issue but now that the starting rotation is back to form they pose a risk to other contenders.
The Phillies are going to try and make history by becoming the first National League team to win back-to-back World Series titles since the Reds did it in 1975 and 1976. With the same high-powered offense as last season and a much improved pitching staff the sports world may witness history come Nov.

Finally the Rockies come into the postseason winning five of their last seven games. For the season they averaged just under five runs a game and have seven players in their lineup with 15 plus homeruns.

It is impossible to predict what is going to happen this Oct. with all the great talent on the diamond, but that is what’s great about playoff baseball. The elite in the league will play to make their permanent mark in baseball history.

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For the fourth time in six years, the Orem Owlz are the Pioneer League champions.

The Owlz rebounded from a series opening loss to the Missoula Osprey by winning the next two games to ensure another championship for Tom Kotchman’s squad.

After a mediocre start to the season, the Owlz caught fire winning 31 of their last 38 games.

“The whole second half was so weird because probably our best prospect breaks his finger, then we go on a 15-game winning streak,” Kotchman said after the series. “That’s the weirdest thing I’ve seen in my life.”

The series got off to a tough start for Orem as they dropped a heartbreaker to Missoula in Game one at home.

The Owlz led by a score of 5-1 after seven innings of play. But the Osprey scored six runs in the last two innings, including a two-out, three-run homer over the right field wall by Bobby Stone as Missoula stole Game 1 of the series.

But when the series shifted to Missoula, so did the momentum for the Owlz.

In Game 2, Stephen Locke pitched a complete game shutout and Carlos Ramirez went 5-for-5 with three RBIs as Orem crushed the Osprey 10-0 in Missoula to even the series at 1-1.

Locke scattered four hits and had five strikeouts as he became the first Owlz pitcher ever to pitch a complete game in the postseason.

Ramirez led a balanced offensive attack for the Owlz as he blasted two home runs and recorded two doubles in the blowout win.

In the third and decisive game, Casey Haerther exploded at the plate going 4-for-5 with a home run and seven RBIs to lead the Owlz to a 13-10 victory and the Pioneer League Championship.

Haerther, who also homered in Game two, slammed a three-run shot over the right field fence in the first inning and lined a three-run double again in the fifth inning to lead a potent Orem offense.

The Owlz finished the season leading the league in batting average and runs scored. Orem also recorded the best pitching in the league posting the lowest ERA and walking the fewest batters.

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With just over two weeks left on the MLB regular season schedule, and the wild card races all but secured, there’s not much drama to be had until mid October when the playoffs start.

On the flip side, the beginning of the football season, NCAA and NFL, has stolen the attention of the media and the fans away from America’s favorite pastime.

While the baseball diehards will continue to follow the season right down to the final pitch, a large number of sports fans drawn away as football begins, fail to return to baseball for the postseason. I have no problem admitting that I am one of these fair-weather fans; as soon as football season begins I abandon baseball for the gridiron.

This is why I think Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, should consider moving the World Series and shortening the regular season. The baseball purists will lose their minds at the thought of moving the post season from October to September or even August, but hear me out.

By shortening the regular season, each game would have added significance, where as now, playing over 160 games in a season, becomes very mundane. So, shorten the season and put more meaning into each game. It’s not a secret that football demands so much attention because each game could change the outcome of the season.

The second step: moving the World Series up would keep the sports fans tuned into the baseball playoffs rather than flipping the channel over to whichever football game is floating over the airwaves. Not only would the baseball postseason receive better ratings, but also the weather would hold up. Those few who did follow the World Series a year ago remember the anti-climactic end to the Fall Classic, as the deciding game in Philadelphia had to be postponed, and made up, due to the unruly weather.

This is not a knock on America’s pastime; it’s just a realization that America’s pastime is quickly changing from hulking clean-up batters smashing baseball’s into orbit, to hulking linebackers dismantling unsuspecting quarterbacks.

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With just over two weeks left on the Major League Baseball regular season schedule, and the wild card races all but secured, there’s not much drama to be had until mid October when the playoffs start.

On the flip side, the beginning of the football season, NCAA and NFL, has stolen the attention of the media and the fans away from America’s favorite pastime.

While the baseball diehards will continue to follow the season right down to the final pitch, a large number of sports fans drawn away as football begins, fail to return to baseball for the postseason. I have no problem admitting that I am one of these fair-weather fans; as soon as football season begins I abandon baseball for the gridiron.

This is why I think Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, should consider moving the World Series and shortening the regular season. The baseball purists will lose their minds at the thought of moving the post season from October to September or even August, but hear me out.

By shortening the regular season, the games would have added significance, where as now, playing over 160 games in a season, becomes very mundane. So, shorten the season and put more meaning on each game. It’s not a secret that football demands so much attention because each game could change the outcome of the season.

The second step: moving the World Series up would keep the sports fans tuned into the baseball playoffs rather than flipping the channel over to whichever football game is floating over the airwaves. Not only would the baseball postseason receive better ratings, but also the weather would hold up. Those few who did follow the World Series a year ago remember the anti-climactic end to the Fall Classic, as the deciding game in Philadelphia had to be postponed, and made up, due to the unruly weather.

This is not a knock on America’s pastime; it’s just a realization that America’s pastime is quickly changing from hulking clean-up batters smashing baseball’s into orbit, to hulking linebackers dismantling unsuspecting quarterbacks.

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