It's Labor Day weekend, and we're almost certain of who six of the playoff qualifiers will be, so it's time to start thinking late-October (or in this case, early-November, too.)
This isn't so much a prediction of who's going to be playing the Fall Classic, but who we'd like to see playing as late as Nov. 5th -- if it's a seven-game World Series, that is:
1. Freeway Series (Angels-Dodgers): Sorry, East Coasters and fans in cold-weather cities, but night games in November beg for LA/Orange County locales. We'll take the commutes over the chill, and a Mike Scioscia-Joe Torre matchup is intriguing, too.
2. Yankees-Dodgers: No explanation needed here, is there? Torre-Mattingly-Bowa-Manny v. the Yankees, New Yankee Stadium, Jeter in a renaissance year, oh, enough already.
3. Phillies v. anybody: There's something special about a team going for back-to-back titles, especially now that nobody has had a chance to do so since the 2001 Yankees were upset by the Diamondbacks. Either the Yankees or Angels would make for especially intruiging opponents.
4. Angels-Cardinals: You gotta love the matchup of managers and styles of play, and the game needs its best player -- Albert Pujols -- in its showcase event.
5. Tigers-Cardinals: Can we right the wrong of 2006, three years later? Just kidding, Cardinals fans, but you know that's what Tigers' fans would be thinking.
6. Red Sox-Dodgers: There are more than enough ties between these two teams, led by a dread-locked one playing left field in LA these days
7. Yankees-Cardinals: Old-school.
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