Last year’s postseason ratings took a nose dive as nobody outside of St. Louis and Detroit cared about the World Series. So, surpassing last year’s ratings shouldn’t be hard, especially since the Red Sox and Cubs have returned to the playoffs. Not since ’04 have the playoffs been this anticipated. There are questions galore for every participant involved. To gear up for the ’07 postseason, I offer seven major questions that will determine the winner of the Fall Classic.

1) Will Alex Rodriguez continue to shrink under the glaring postseason spotlight?

A-Rod has put on a show for the ages this year, posting gaudy numbers consistently throughout the whole season. A-Rod offset his cold slumps with blazing streaks. Rodriguez appeared to have the AL MVP locked up way before the Yankees shored up a postseason berth. Yet, who cares? Rodriguez’s stats in the regular season won’t mean anything if he continues his October woes. However, if A-Rod continues to prove that he is the best baseball player in the league, well the Yankees might not have to worry about their other issues.

2) Is that the Yankees’ biggest problem?

The good news about the A-Rod situation is that the Yankees have learned to succeed when their star is burned out. The bad news is that A-Rod’s psyche has taken a backseat to the teams’ pitching woes. The Yankees can flat out rake and play sound defense, but after Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte, the rotation is uncertain. Even the bullpen is not solidified. So, if these Yankees want to win their first title in seven years, the pitching staff is going to have to get off to a hot start.

3) Can anybody cool off the Colorado Rockies?

The Rockies won 14 of their last 15 games to make it into the playoffs. They are just hot.  
Todd Helton and Matt Holiday are powering the lineup while their no-name pitching staff throws well enough to keep the team in games. The Rockies seem primed to continue their hot streak in the playoffs but there are two things I see as potential road blocks. First, the Rockies are bad away from home (they were 20 games over .500 at Coors Field, three games under on the road). Then, they are a wild card team, which means they will never have home-field advantage at any time in the playoffs. But who knows, maybe it is their destiny.

4) Did the Phillies really take the division?

Yes, all Mets fans can take solace in knowing that the Phillies took the division, more than the Mets lost the division. The Phillies had one thing the Mets didn’t have, the best shortstop in the NL East. Jimmy Rollins epitomizes what the Phillies are all about. Rollins is not the prototypical leadoff man, but he is their leading man. No disrespect to Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, but J-Roll is the MVP of that team and National League.
Rollins, first at bat in the game-clinching game on Sunday, tells the whole story. Rollins rips a single, steals second base, and steals third base and eventually scores off a base hit. Rollins played in all 162 games and joined the exclusive club of 20 home runs, 20 doubles, 20 triples and 20 steals. If J-Roll, continues to roll into the playoffs the Phillies might have to make a new statue.

5) If Lou Pinella delivers a championship to Chicago will Armageddon occur?

The lovable losers’ last postseason trip was highlighted by an overzealous fan reaching for a souvenir, which helped spark the Florida Marlins late-inning rally. Those Cubs never recovered. Cubs’ fans were left feeling totally cursed. Even though the ’04 team seems better constructed on paper the ’07 Cubs seem to have an edge in the psyche category. After, Sweet Lou’s June 2 ejection, the Cubbies played like a team with a purpose. Before the ejection the Cubs were behind the Cardinals and Reds, and the goal was to get to the playoffs. Now, that the goal has been reached, will the Cubbies become complacent?

6) Are the Baby Backs ready to grow up?

The Arizona Diamondbacks ushered in a youth movement this year, so expectations weren’t exceptionally high, yet they pulled it off. Even when Randy Johnson went down, these youngsters banded together and continued to play above their heads. The Diamondbacks’ pitching and defense are the only venom in their arsenal. On the flip side, the offense is garden variety at best. However, I like their chances to advance for the same reason they might fail: minimal postseason experience.

7) Are the Indians and Angels just tune ups for the two Juggernauts?

The colossal ALCS in ’04 was big because the Yanks vs. Sox always make good television. With the stage set once again for these two superpowers to meet in the ALCS, who do the Angels and Indians think they are to get in the way of great ratings? They are who we thought they were; two teams capable of giving the big boys a lot of trouble. The Indians have the best 1-2 punch since Randy Johnson and Curt Shilling and the Angels always have a certain magic to them in the postseason. The Indians’ pitching is leaps and bounds better than the Yankees, plus their offense is built for postseason ball. The Yankees’ offense is too streaky. When they are on, they are murder’s row. When they are not, they are the Bad News Bears pre-Kelly Leak. The Angels are hurting, literally. Bartolo Colon and Gary Matthews Jr. aren’t available and Vladimir Guerrero is relegated to DH duties. The injuries might be too much to overcome, but the Angels still have the rally monkey.

At the end of the day these seven questions are potential problems blocking these teams from reaching the top of the mountain, but that is not what makes this postseason one to remember. It is not about the unknown but rather the known. We all know that the Yankees and Red Sox draw big. We know that the Phillies’ and Cubs’ fans are game for whatever. We know that the Angels and Indians are not two teams glad to have been invited to the dance. But most important of all we know that we won’t have a repeat of last year’s paint drying postseason.