Looking Forward to the End of Baseball and the Beginning of Basketball

By Daniel Richter
Web Content Contributor

Summer has tragically come to an end which means our days of going to the pool and tubing the river are numbered. As the temperature outside goes down (hopefully) and we begin to move indoors, two of our country’s most popular sports are waiting for us to plop on the couch. Baseball is about to enter the playoffs and basketball is on track to have an extremely interesting season.

Major League Baseball’s playoffs start at the beginning of October and is shaping up to be a good one. In the American League, the New York Yankees are looking red hot and the Houston Astros have an opportunity to make history and become the first team to win the League’s MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year Awards all in one year with Alex Bregman, Justin Verlander or Gerrit Cole and Yordan Álvarez. They already made franchise history by winning 107 games this season. Last year’s World Series Champion, Boston Red Sox, will not be entering the playoffs and the Cleveland Indians who have made the playoffs the last three years will not either.

In the National League the St. Louis Cardinals return to the playoffs for the first time since 2015 and are finishing out the season incredibly strong. The Washington Nationals are headed to the wild card game after coming out on top over the Philadelphia Phillies after Philly had signed the Nationals former MVP Bryce Harper. The Los Angeles Dodgers are looking incredible as they always do. Let’s see if they can actually pull it off this time.

The National Basketball League starts in a couple weeks on Oct. 22 and with all of the trading that has been going on in the off season nobody knows what to expect out of a league filled with new power duos. The Los Angeles Lakers and 4x MVP LeBron James traded three players and three first round picks to the New Orleans Pelicans to acquire 6x All-Star Anthony Davis. It will be interesting to see how these guys mesh with the Pelicans number one draft pick Zion Williamson.

Also in Los Angeles, the Clippers picked up 2x Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard who just led the Toronto Raptors to their first championship in team history as well as 6x All-Star Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Houston Rockets picked up MVP Russell Westbrook from the Thunder as well to reunite him with former Oklahoma City 6^th Man of the Year and 2018 MVP James Harden. 

The Brooklyn Nets acquired 6x All-Stars Kyrie Irving from the Boston Celtics and the injured 2x Finals MVP Kevin Durant from the Golden State Warriors. The Golden State Warriors lost a lot of their best players and will most likely be led by 2x MVP Steph Curry and 5x All-Star Klay Thompson. But the Warriors also still have defensive beast Draymond Green and they picked up D’Angelo Russell from the Brooklyn Nets so don’t count them out.

October has a lot in store. Who knows what teams and players are going to break out and shine and who knows who is going to crack under the pressure. So, gather some friends and watch some quality sports all fall long!

Featured image by Daniel Richter.