The playoffs are here

The baseball playoffs got underway yesterday.  The Giants couldn't get there this year, but I've taken a bit of a liking to the Minnesota Twins, even if they are in the American League.  They have an uphill road starting with the Yankees; after the drubbing they took last night, I don't have high expectations.

Each year as the baseball season winds down, I am reminded of the great opening lines of Bart Giamatti's essay, The Green Fields of the Mind:

"Baseball breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone."

A bit dramatic, but not far from the truth.  Thank goodness the hockey season has begun.