VEB Open Thread — Monday, 10/05/20

The Cardinals were eliminated from the 2020 Postseason on Friday evening, falling to the Padres in the decisive game of the best-of-three Wild Card series. The four Division Series will begin this week, starting with the two American League series on Monday.

The matchups include the Yankees-Rays, Astros-Athletics, Marlins-Braves, and Padres-Dodgers. The AL series will be played at Petco Park and Dodger Stadium, respectively, with the NL at Minute Maid Park and Globe Life Field.

Couple of questions to think about on this Monday:

1. What team are you rooting for in October with the Cardinals out? — For me, it’s the Marlins. After losing 105 games and finishing a whopping 40 games behind the first-place Braves, a year ago, let alone the COVID-19 mess the team got into this summer, for the Marlins to be in the position they are in is truly remarkable.
2. These Division Series actually include matchups of teams from the same division. Though all teams within a division have their share of scuffles, there is some pretty bad blood between the Yankees-Rays and Astros-Athletics. Will any of that bad blood boil over during this ALDS? — I really hope we can leave brawls out of these series, simply because neither team (or any fan) wants to see a player sidelined due to an injury from a fight or due to discipline purposes. I probably wouldn’t bet against seeing a brawl, just because of all the history here. Nevertheless, I can always hope for the contrary.