PIKER'S PICKS: MLB PLAYOFFS

October is here, which means autumn, Halloween, and the World Series. Personally, I fell in love with baseball all over again this year.  It was the Year of the Pitcher, with no-hitters and perfect games and almost perfect games.  I began watching "Baseball Tonight" religiously, and besides the home runs and highlights, I couldn't wait to see the incredible defense on display in each installment of Web Gems.  My brother and I rediscovered our love of baseball cards and started collecting for the first time in 20 years.  Stephen Strasburg electrified the baseball card market and the league for a little while.  Despite Strasburg's devastating injury, which I believe he will come back from, an influx of dyamic rookies -- including Jason Heyward, Buster Posey, and Aroldis Chapman -- ushered in an exciting new era of baseball.  With baseball's tainted recent history, we can only hope and pray that this new generation is performance-enhancer free and natural talent will rule the day.

Though I didn't get to see any games this season outside Southern California, I took advantage of my close proximity to Dodger Stadium by seeing the Yankees twice, the Padres, the Rockies, the Brewers, and the Giants when they came to town. But the crown jewel of my baseball season was the All-Star Game.  I've always wanted to go to the All-Star Game, but never had the chance.  Never in a million years would I dream I would get to go as a friend of Major League Baseball.  My brother and I were treated to a VIP ticket package which included entry to a luxury suite for the Futures Game, a table in the Diamond Club  for the Home Run Derby, and fantastic seats for the All-Star Game itself.  We stayed in the same hotel as the players, hung out with baseball executives and former players, got a few Strasburg cards at Fanfest, and attended many of the surrounding events and celebrations. We were inside baseball, and it felt amazing.  My brother talked to Joe Girardi while waiting in line at the hotel lobby Starbucks.  I posed for a few pictures and sat down for a chat with Andre Agassi in the stands just before the start of the All-Star Game.  Tremendous thanks to my awesome friend who gave my brother and I the phenomenal gift of the All-Star experience.

I'm a Yankee fan through and through.  Have been since I was 5-years-old and wore a Yankee hat in my kindergarten picture.  Though I want to see a Yankees-Reds World Series, a couple of factors will keep that from happening, namely the Yankees pitching and the Phillies.


AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION  SERIES

New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins

Piker Picks: The Yankees

Texas Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Rays 

Piker Picks: The Rays


NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES

Cincinnati Reds vs Philadelphia Phillies

Piker Picks: The Phillies

Atlanta Braves vs. San Francisco Giants

Piker Picks: The Giants


AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Piker Picks: The Rays

NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Piker Picks: The Phillies


WORLD SERIES

Piker Picks: The Phillies

PIKER'S PICKS: WEEK 4

Week 1:  Piker sat out to get the lay of the land.
Week 2:  9-7
Week 3:  7-9
Week 4:  Going for double digit wins.

Piker's Picks in Blue


Denver
@Tennessee         -6.5


Baltimore
@Pittsburgh          -2.5


Cincinnati             -2.5
@Cleveland


Detroit
@Green Bay        -14.5


Carolina
@New Orleans    -13


San Francisco
@Atlanta               -7


Seattle                  -2
@St. Louis


NY Jets                -6
@Buffalo


Indianapolis        -7
@Jacksonville


Houston              -3.5
@Oakland


Arizona
@San Diego       -9.5


Washington
@Philadelphia   -5


Chicago
@NY Giants       -3.5


New England     -1
@Miami