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*Note. Make sure you vote for the Best Of Shyzer soon! Check out the post below for more details!*

*Note #2. I typed this before any of the playoff games started so as not to influence my prediction*

It has begun. The ever so sweet, succulent, fulfilling joy of playoff baseball has finally come full circle and I for one couldn’t be happier. October truly is the best month of them all when it comes to sports, for not only do you have playoff baseball, but you also begin to separate the men from the boys in football.

I’m still not sold on any one team though. Last year, I knew the Marlins were going to win it from the beginning. They had the perfect mixture of skill, hunger, depth to pull off the upset and I honestly think I was the happiest non-Marlins fan to see them win it all last year. You could just sense from the aura they gave off that they wanted it and by God they were going to get it, just like you could with the Angels the year before. I think I was the only person in the country rooting for them to beat the Cubs and it was funny to see how everybody thought the Yankees were going to win since they “only” had to beat the Marlins. Oh how they were wrong. (And side note, I’m so damn happy the Cubs didn’t make the playoffs. Is there any other team that seems to have less fun playing ball or play with less intensity then the Cubs? You know, it wouldn’t hurt to smile here and there guys. You are playing baseball, remember? Maybe not going to the playoffs this year will teach ya a thing or two…)

But this year is a bit different. Out of the eight teams, I’ve only been able to narrow it to three. The Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, and Boston Red Sox. The Yankees are too flaky and are on the verge of collapse, the Angels aren’t that strong offensively after Vlad, the Dodgers need more hitting and lots of it, the Cardinals pitching won’t be able to win a 7-game series, and the Braves just…well, suck. They always lose. Always.

The Bo Sox are trying to ride two dominate pitchers to win it all in Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez. It’s worked before (ie, the 2001 Diamondbacks with Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson in what has been voted as one of the best World Series of all time) so there is some precedent for this method being able to work. But my problem is this…it’s the Red Sox. They always find a way to lose. I’m not trying to kick them while their down, but hey, it has been 86 years. So until they prove otherwise, I have to rule them out. I think they’ll knock out Anaheim with relative ease, but win the World Series? I don’t know…(But God, how awesome would that be if I was wrong?!)

The Twins are easily the “worst” team in the playoffs, yet they have probably the best pitcher, Johan Santana. This guy went 13-0 after the All-Star break. He didn’t lose a game. Not one. Oh yeah, and that’s never been done before. Not once. The man is a beast and I think it will be because of him alone that Minnesota knocks off New York in the first round and face Boston in the ALCS, but I question whether or not they have the depth to win a best-of-7 series. So I think Boston knocks them off and advances to the World Series.

And enter, The Houston Astros. See, here’s why I’m going with Houston. They’ve got a little mixture of the 2003 Marlins AND the 2001 Diamondbacks. A month ago, nobody, and I mean NOBODY thought they would be in the playoffs. And then out of freaking nowhere, they win something like 18 out of 20 games, come roaring back from the dead, and snatch the Wild Card! That is extremely Marlin-esque. But they also have the players needed to win a championship. Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt are a pretty damn good 1-2 pitching lineup and their offense with Beltran, Berkman, Bagwell, and Biggio is killer.

So here’s how I see it all playing out. In the AL, Minnesota beats NY in 5 games. Boston beats Anaheim in 4 games. Boston beats Minnesota in 6 games.

In the NL, Houston beats Atlanta in 5, St. Louis beats Los Angeles in 3. Houston then beats St. Louis in 6 and to wrap it all up, Houston wins the World Series in 7 games.

Now let’s have some fun and see how this baby turns out.