Dane Cook is pissing his pants right now.

There's only one 2007 National League Wild Card Tiebreaker Game presented on TBS, there's only one October!

That was one of the better baseball games I've watched in a long time...definitely the best since the Yankees/Red Sox in 04, and probably better since we didn't have to listen to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver yapping the whole night...the TBS crew, probably doing their first non-Braves game ever, was excellent. I can't name either of those announcers, and that's the way it should be.

Anyways, who gives a flying Tom about the announcers. In case you didn't see it, the Rockies just beat the Padres 9-8 in 13 innings to win the Wild Card and face the Phillies in the first round. It's really unfortunate that one of those teams will have to be eliminated right off the bat. Summary....back and forth game throughout. Former Bucco Josh Fogg (aka Dragonslayer) pitched to expectations (badly), but surprisingly Jake Peavy wasn't much better. The game was deadlocked at 6 and both bullpens were lights out until the 13th, when Rockies manager Clint Hurdle made a curious move putting in very unreliable Jorge Julio to pitch (0-7 on save chances this season, most of those with the Marlins). When Julio entered the game, I muttered to myself, "Ballgame." At first it appeared I was right, as after a leadoff walk and a gopher ball to Scott Hairston the Daddies led 8-6. What I didn't expect was the complete collapse of Padres closer Trevor Hoffman in the bottom half. Hoffman is the alltime MLB saves leader, and I guess that really means one thing: he's old. And the Rockies exposed that. Double by Matsui, double by Tulovitzki, triple by Holliday, intentional walk to Todd Helton, and then light hitting Jamey Carroll ended the game on the always exciting sac fly. Holliday was knocked out on the slide into home, and there will be much debate on whether he touched home plate or not (my opinion: not enough conclusive evidence either way). But it was an amazing game nonetheless.

The Rockies are easy to root for: a small market team that develops its own talent rather than signing big name free agents. They overcame over 10 years of losing and the handicap of their circus ballpark to go on an amazing tear, overshadowed by the Phillies, to make the playoffs. They remind me a lot of the Pirates for obvious reasons, and watching the game made me imagine that kind of a scene at PNC Park. So the Rockies are officially my bandwagon team for October.

Now that all our first round matchups are set, it's time for my predictions, and who I want to win as well:

National League
Cubs/Diamondbacks: The Cubs are one of the most annoying teams in baseball, sort of like the Red Sox a few years ago. We know you're cursed, we just don't care. The Diamondbacks, after a significant upgrade in uniforms, rode the good karma to an improbable division championship. I will be cheering for the D-backs, but I don't think they have enough hitting (last in NL batting average) to survive facing a playoff rotation. Cubs in 4. ACCC

Rockies/Phillies: This may be the best division series ever. Each of these teams went on incredible winning streaks in the last month of the season to dramatically make the playoffs. It's hard to go against either team right now, as they are both playing amazing baseball. There's no way this series doesn't go 5. The sentimental choice is the Rockies as outlined above. However, the Phillies will have karma on their side, stemming from their regular season game at Coors Field, in which the entire team ran onto the field during a rain delay to help the grounds crew with a tarp that was blowing around everywhere. The home team Rockies were nowhere to be found during that incident, and it will come back to bite them, sadly. Phillies in 5. PCPCP


American League
Angels/Red Sox: This is a great looking series on paper. The Angels are mainly a pitching team, but have the bats to get the job done. The Red Sox are, well, the Red Sox. You pretty much know what they have by now. The biggest question with the Angels is if they'll score enough runs, while the Red Sox have to be worried about their bullpen. Again, hard to go against either team in this series, but someone has to lose. I say the home team wins each game. Btw, I'm cheering for the Angels. Red Sox in 5. BBAAB

Yankees/Indians: The last of what are four captivating series. The Yankees won the season series 6-0. That means one thing: the Indians are due. They clearly have the talent to keep up with the Bombers, and that 6-0 record is an anomaly that has to even out with time. C.C. Sabathia hasn't faced them yet. The Yankees pitching is still a huge concern despite their strong second half. This reminds me a lot of the hockey series between Ottawa and Pittsburgh last year. Since the Pens won 3 of 4 regular season games, everyone was picking them to win the series. Everyone forgot that the Senators had an equally talented team, and that the law of averages would kick in. It did, and the Sens won in 5. I know baseball is different, but the same principles apply. Indians in 3. CCC

No more predictions beyond the first round. I'm tired.