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Here are five things to watch for when the postseason gets
underway on Friday:
Can Judge cap historic season with championship?
Aaron Judge's home run chase, where every at-bat was appointment
viewing and which culminated with him breaking Roger Maris
61-year-old single-season AL record with his 62nd long ball on
Tuesday, captivated fans everywhere.
Now he will look to cap it off by bringing a championship back
to the Bronx for the first time since 2009.
Judge is all but certain to win the AL MVP award after posting a
.311 batting average, .425 on-base percentage and knocking in
131 RBIs.
But the individual awards are unlikely to mean as much to the
team-oriented Judge as a championship parade through New York.
The Yankees had a rollercoaster season. They started red hot,
winning 44 of their first 60 games before cooling off
dramatically in the second half and righting the ship in
September to claim the AL East.
To win consistently in the playoffs, the Yankees will need Judge
to continue being the dominant player he has been all season.
The Yankees await the winner of the Cleveland Guardians-Tampa
Bay Rays best-of-three wild-card series.
Dodgers dynasty?
The dominant Dodgers won a club-record 111 games behind a lineup
that features many of the top players in the game including
outfielder Mookie Betts, first baseman Freddie Freeman and
shortstop Trea Turner.
But despite their spectacular regular season success over the
past decade, the team has just one World Series title to show
for it, which came at the end of the pandemic-shortened 2020
campaign.
Now they are looking to add another to silence the doubters and
make the argument that they are, in fact, a dynasty.
"2020 was something incredible, but we get some criticism for
the shortened season," Dodgers left-hander Julio Urias told
MLB.com.
"But winning another one in Los Angeles would be incredible.
That's what we're trying to accomplish."
The Dodgers will face the winner of the San Diego Padres-New
York Mets wild card series.
Astros on collision course with Dodgers?
Extra security might be needed if the Dodgers face the Houston
Astros in the World Series given the bad blood between the
clubs.
Despite Judge's heroics in New York, the Astros are the
favorites to represent the AL in the Fall Classic after winning
106 games and running away with their division.
If the two best teams in baseball during the regular season meet
in the World Series, expect passions to flare both on the field
and in the stands.
The Astros won their lone title by beating the Dodgers in a
seven-game dog fight in 2017.
That victory became controversial when an MLB investigation
revealed that during the season the Astros had illegally used
technology to steal signs and relay what pitch was coming next
to their batters, sometimes by beating on a trash can.
MLB allowed the Astros to keep their title but Dodger fans have
never forgotten, and every meeting between the teams since has
been tense. The bright lights of the World Series will only
magnify passions on both sides.
Subway series?
The Mets led the NL East nearly the entire season but were swept
in a three-game series by their division rivals the Braves last
weekend to be consigned to the wild-card round.
While it was a disappointing finish to the regular season, the
Mets can handle the busy schedule as they boast one of the
deepest rotations in baseball with the likes of Max Scherzer,
Jacob deGrom and Chris Bassitt.
The Mets and Yankees both being in the postseason raises the
prospect of a all-New York Subway Series. The teams faced off in
an engrossing World Series in 2000, which was won by the Yankees
in five games, and baseball fans from the Bronx to Queens will
be hoping for an encore.
Happy ending to season that almost didn't happen
The 2022 MLB season threatened to be severely shortened or
possibly not happen at all when team owners locked out the
players in early December amid a labor dispute.
Commissioner Robert Manfred went so far as to announce the
cancellation of games he said would not be rescheduled before a
deal was reached in March.
In the end, the 162-game season was held in its entirety much to
the relief of fans, who have been treated to one of the most
entertaining seasons in recent memory.
The expanded playoffs that kick off with the wild-card rounds on
Friday promise to deliver a thrilling conclusion to the season
that nearly wasn't.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, editing by Ed Osmond)
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