Can the Yankees capture their first Commissioner’s trophy and World Championship since 2009, or can the Dodgers win another World Series in this decade after winning it all in 2020, the COVID- shortened season. The Dodgers do want to legitimize their greatness, and with the prolific Shohei Ohtani and several spectacular players, they have the chance to accomplish just that. Ohtani is the certain Most Valuable Player of the National League as he finished the 2024 regular season hitting .310 with 54 homers and 130 RBIs along with an astronomical 1.036 OPS, on base plus slugging percentage. Anything over .900 is excellent and over 1.000 is Hall of Fame good if you keep putting those kinds of seasons together, which he has in his seven year career. The 31 year old Ohtani’s WAR is 9.2. The Oshu, Iwata, Japan native is third in the Majors in WAR. Aaron Judge was the leader with a 10.8 and Bobby Witt Jr., the superb Kansas City Royals shortstop, finished second with a 9.4.

WAR stands for Wins Above Replacement, meaning if the player is playing the team gets that many more wins than they would get with his replacement playing if he were injured. Judge’s 10+, and Witt Jr’.’s 9+ and Ohtani’s 9.+, mean the difference in winning your division or getting a wild card, or not making the playoffs at all. The Yankees finished 94-68 this season with Judge in the lineup. Without him, they would be projected to go 84-76. which would have just barely gotten them into the playoffs as the No.6 seed. The Dodgers had the best record in baseball at 98-64. Without Ohtani, they would be projected to go 89-73, which, with the tiebreakers, might have gotten them into the playoffs as the Braves, Mets and D-backs all finished 89-73. So WAR is a major metric. The Dodgers have home field throughout the playoffs and World Series if they “matriculate” that far, and the Yankees have the home field through the ALCS if they can advance that far as well. Judge hit .322 with 58 homers and 144 RBIs. He was third in batting average points, so he was just shy of winning the triple crown in hitting for average, homers and RBIs. Witt Jr hit .332 and Vlad Gurrero of Toronto hit .323. The last to win the Triple Crown was the Tigers Miguel Cabrera in 2012. Maggie hit 44 homers, drove in 139 and batted .330. There have only been 17 triple crown winners in baseball’s 148 years of existence. The last to accomplish the feat before Cabrera was Carl “Yay” Yastrzemski in 1967. So it’s highly uncommon. Judge came close and he or Ohtani could achieve that milestone before their careers are done. Judge is 32 and Ohtani is 30 and aren’t going anywhere for a while provided they both stay healthy. So, exciting times ahead in baseball. Exciting October ahead in MLB as well.

Here are predictions for for the 2024 MLB Playoffs

All Wild Card games start today with ABC, ESPN2 and ESPN broadcasting. FOX, Fox Sports 1 and TBS will join the coverage in the NLDS and ALDS going forward through the respective championship series . FOX will broadcast the World Series. The Fall Classic commences Friday, October 25th unless the League Championship series end on Saturday, October 19th. If that’s the case, the World Series would begin Tuesday, October 22nd. Game 7 of the World Series is slated for Saturday, November 2nd if the NLCS and ALCS extend beyond Saturday, Oct. 19th. If the respective championship series ends Saturday, 10/19, the Fall Classic would start Tuesday, 10/22, and Wednesday, Oct. 30th would be the date of Game 7.

NL Wild Card Series

Mets over Milwaukee Brewers in 3

San Diego Padres over Braves in 3

Picked the Braves to win it all; MB (Brownie) had the Orioles. I had Braves over Rangers and MB had the O’s over the Braves. MB in good shape, and we both didn’t anticipate Ronald Acuna Jr., stellar starter Spencer Strider and slugging third baseman Austin Riley being lost for the season, with Acuna and Strider going out early, and Riley going out in August. Chris Sale, who’s been terrific this season, possibly earning the Cy Young, has back spasms and may not be able to pitch in this series. Just too many hurdles for the Braves to overcome.

AL Wild Card

Houston over Detroit in 3

Baltimore over KC in 2

National League Division Series (NLDS)

Philadelphia Phillies over Mets in 4

LA Dodgers over Padres in 5

American League Division Series (ALDS)

Astros over Cleveland in 4

Yankees over Orioles in 5

National League Championship Series

Phillies over Dodgers in 6

American League Championship Series

Astros over Yankees in 6

World Series

I like soon to be 32 year old Bryce Harper (October 16th, 1992), who hit 30 homers and drove in 87, and finished with a 4.8 WAR, he battled some injuries this season, shortstop Tre Turner who hit .295 with 21 homers, 62 Ribeyes and 19 stolen bases, and the Phillies’ stellar starting pitching, led by right handed starter Zack Wheeler, who finished the 2024 season 16-7 with a 2.57 ERA and an 0.96 WHIP, walks plus hits per inning-key stat for pitchers, anything under 1.00 is superior, to get the job done for the City of Brotherly Love. The Phils capture their first Fall Classic and World Championship since 2008. The Phillies only other World Series title came in 1980. So Philly, one of the most electric sports towns in the country, is chomping at the bit for this. I like the Phillies to secure it for their tremendous American city.

Phils over ‘Stros in 6

Most Valuable Player in the World Series

Bryce Harper