Baseball season nears its end and the playoffs are nearly upon us!  Can the Astros’ one two combination of Verlander and Cole tame the Yankees’ bats?  Will the Yankees continue hitting all those homers?  Will the Twins finally break their years of futility against the Yankees?  And can the Dodgers win the title after two disappointing Octobers?  I would say that even though the Yanks, Astros, and Dodgers are the top teams, the other clubs in the hunt are all capable of surprising us.  Nothing is certain in the age of the opener, the endless home runs, and metrics for everyone.  But we will know soon who excels and who goes home.

Elsewhere…

• The less said about AB, the better.
• Dan Girardi retires.
• NBA training camps about to start
• WNBA playoffs continue
• Colchester upsets Tottenham

A programming note: as there are a fair number of Jewish holidays next month, I might not be so reliable as usual.  (There will definitely not be a post on October 9, due to Yom Kippur.) So please bear with me.  Thanks!