Mets and Cubs & Jays and Royals

It's been a pretty entertaining postseason so far, even if the Red Sox are all currently home on the golf course.

It was nice to see the Yankees be the first team to go out in the postseason, losing to a scrappy Houston Astros team led by the all-but-certain 2015 Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel.

The Astros went on to play an entertaining five-game series with the Kansas City Royals. They were just six outs from wrapping up a four-game ALDS series win. The Royals got off the deck from a 6-2 deficit with seven unanswered runs and a 9-6 win. I knew from then the Astros were finished, as KC won the finals, 7-2. They are back in the ALCS for the first time in back-to-back years since 1985.

Did any of you catch Game 5 of the ALDS between Toronto and Texas? And specifically the wild and wacky seventh inning? Like nothing I've ever seen before. Texas breaking a 2-2 tie with a run scoring from third on a return throw from catcher Russell Martin striking Shin-Soo Choo's bat and rolling out to third. That caused lots of consternation among the Blue Jays faithful, and lots of thrown objects on the field. A really dangerous situation.

I had a feeling that would rile up the Jays. The Rangers fell apart, committing three straight errors (haven't seen that in a long time), and the Jays capitalized on that, ending with Jose Bautista's three-run bomb and bat flip everyone ended up talking about. And if that wasn't enough, both benches emptied twice.

I'm betting most of the country is pulling for the Cubs, seeking their first title in 107 years. And they put on a power show against archrival St. Louis, dispatching the team with MLB's best record in just 4 games. The Cubs blasted 12 home runs, including a postseason record six in Game 3 alone.

And speaking of the Cubs and the 2015 postseason, this movie clip from Back to the Future Part II is getting lots of attention:

And as many of you know, the Mets are my favorite team in the NL, and they pulled out a gritty 3-2 win over Los Angeles to take their series in five-games. It featured reckless baserunning from Chase Utley (he'll see justice next season), but more importantly, it featured the clutch hitting of Daniel Murphy, who hit home runs off Clayton Kershaw (twice) and Zack Greinke. And he practically stole the Game 5 win all by himself, taking third base as it was left unattended after a walk to Lucas Duda with him on first.

Both League Championship Series are excellent matchups. The Blue Jays and Royals played for it in 1985, with KC moving on to win their only World Series. The Mets and Cubs have plenty of history together, the most famous being the Mets charging past them in 1969 to win the NL East and the World Series title that year. Both teams have excellent starting pitching, and the team that pitches will take it.

All four teams have gone a long time without a title: The Blue Jays since 1993, Mets since 1986, Royals 1985, and the Cubs famously (or infamously depending on your worldview) since 1908. If the Mets don't make it to the Series, we'll see history with the Cubs in for the first time since 1945.

I'm predicting it will be the Mets and Royals in this year's World Series. Enjoy the games, everyone.