Do you know what the best thing about baseball’s postseason is, besides the fact that the Yankees are no longer present in this one?  Anything can happen, and we fans get to witness it.  A career .265 hitter claimed on waivers in the middle of August bats .350 in the NLCS, belts 6 extra base hits (including 3 home runs), and wins the NLCS MVP Award.  A former drug addict turned AL MVP frontrunner misses almost the entire last month of the season just to come back strong and help handle the New York Yankees, at times without even swinging the bat, on his way to his own ALCS MVP Award. These are the reasons I watch. Well, that and the two phenoms that will be alternating time on the mound come Wednesday.

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After a nerve-racking road win in Game 6 of the NLCS Saturday night in Philadelphia, Cody Ross of the San Francisco Giants was justifiably awarded the NLCS MVP trophy after torching the greatest playoff rotation ever assembled.  Ross got very hot at the right time, just like the Giants really.

My opinion of Ross has always been that he is a serviceable Major Leaguer with a chance at a decade of service.  He is athletic enough and is a good enough clubhouse guy to keep getting contracts.  The reason I write this, however, is to inform the world that the man called “Smiles” is a New Mexico native, and we are all very proud of him.

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After Colby Lewis struck out Derek Jeter to end the eighth inning, I had goose bumps as he walked off the mound, slowly striding towards an ecstatic Rangers’ dugout. If you didn’t, you’re either not human or a Yankees fan.

There’s a moment, right before he reaches his teammates at the edge of the dugout, where he gazes into the depths of the roaring crowd and seemingly realizes the magnitude of his historic performance.  Such a moment kind of defines the Rangers’ spectacular season, don’t you think?

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The Golden Sombrero presents MLB Look-alikes Playoff Edition: Ian Kinsler and Efraim E. Diveroli

We all know who Ian Kinsler is, but who is Efraim Diveroli?

The New York Times’ C.J. Chivers wrote about him in 2008,

In purchasing munitions, the contractor has also worked with middlemen and a shell company on a federal list of entities suspected of illegal arms trafficking.

Moreover, tens of millions of the rifle and machine-gun cartridges were manufactured in China, making their procurement a possible violation of American law. The company’s president, Efraim E. Diveroli, was also secretly recorded in a conversation that suggested corruption in his company’s purchase of more than 100 million aging rounds in Albania, according to audio files of the conversation.

Goose Gossage Award (Reliever of the Year)

National League:
First Place Vote – Brian Wilson (San Francisco)
Second Place Vote – Billy Wagner (Atlanta)
Third Place Vote – Heath Bell (San Diego)

American League:
First Place Vote – Rafael Soriano (Tampa Bay)
Second Place Vote – Neftali Feliz (Texas)
Third Place Vote – Joakim Soria (Kansas City)