Postseason 2015

All photos of the Brewers final game of 2015 available on Flickr. 

Another disappointing Brewers season has come and gone, and it's time once again to start watching competitive baseball.  The Brewers have been so bad since so early in the season that I've had little appetite to watch any games on television this year, so I'm excited for everything to get rolling.  As with most years, there are several surprises and feel good stories.  The Toronto Blue Jays have now passed the "longest postseason drought" torch to the Seattle Mariners by pulling away from the Yankees to win the AL East for the first time since 1993.  Almost everybody in the industry still thought the Astros were still deep in the midst of a rebuild, but surprisingly held on to win the 2nd wild card spot in the AL.  They led the West for much of the season and have a really strong rotation that can take them far in the playoffs if some of their power hitters can get hot.  The Mets won the NL East this year, and what baseball fan outside of the Bronx doesn't want to see the a team widely considered a laughing stock of the league do well?  I mean come on, how can you not root for Big Fat Bartolo Colon and Captain America?  The Texas Rangers seemed to be selling rather than buying at the deadline but somehow managed to overtake the Astros late in the season to win the AL West.  Just about everything that needed to fall into place did for them - Prince Fielder had a monster comeback year, Josh Hamilton has played like the player he used to be, Yovani Gallardo emerged as a staff ace, Adrian Beltre was the hottest player in the league the last 6 weeks of the season, and some key young players really stepped up their game.  Lastly, the Cubs made it to the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and will travel to Pittsburgh for the NL Wild Card, who is hosting the game for the 3rd consecutive season.  Even with the emergence of a much douch-y-er St. Louis Cardinals in recent years as my most hated team, I still hate the Cubs, but even I have to admit that they are a very fun team to watch, and it will be hard not to cheer for Joe Maddon.

I once again foolishly picked the Nationals to win the World Series, and this year they made me look even more foolish by not only not making the playoffs, but playing so poor down the stretch that their manager has already been fired.  I might have to let my mind take over my heart next year when making my picks.

PLAYOFFS START 10/6/15
NL Wild Card - #4 Pirates v. #5 Cubs
NLDS - #1 Cardinals v. WC winner
#2 Dodgers v. #3 Mets

AL Wild Card - #4 Yankees v. #5 Astros
ALDS - #1 Royals v. WC winner
#2 Blue Jays v. #3 Rangers

World Series Prediction: Blue Jays defeat Cubs in 6
Rooting for: Blue Jays v. Mets

Preseason Predictions
#1 Nationals
#2 Cardinals
#3 Dodgers
#4 Marlins
#5 Padres
Nats defeat Cards in NLCS

#1 Blue Jays
#2 Tigers
#3 Angels
#4 Royals
#5 Athletics
Royals defeat Tigers in ALCS

World Series - Nats defeat Royals in 5

FINAL STANDINGS 2015:
Brewers 68-94 , -32.0, 4th NL Central
Reds 64-98, -36.0, last NL Central
Twins 83-79, -12.0, 2nd AL Central

FINAL 2015 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 17 (+26 worked)
Peter - 42