This American League Championship Series has a late '70s, early '80s feel to it, which is great. The American League used to routinely go through Kansas City and Baltimore, two cities with great traditions of winning, now restored after many dormant seasons.
It won't have the same cache as Jim Palmer facing George Brett, but the team aspects are just as compelling. The Royals got here by becoming the first team in LDS history to sweep a team (the Angels) that had the best record in the league. And the Orioles swept a Tigers team that started the last three AL Cy Young winners (Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and David Price).
Here are five questions.
Cruz
What are we to make of Nelson Cruz?
He has 16 postseason home runs, one more than Babe Ruth. They have all come since the start of the 2010 season, and no one else in that time has hit as many as 10 home runs. He adds a different dimension this time of year with his power, and he led the major leagues in home runs (40) this season. As a team, the Orioles led the majors in homers (211). One through nine in the order can go deep, which makes pitching to them so difficult. In spring training, when trying to decide what to do with 235-pound rookie second baseman Jonathan Schoop, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said, "How would you like to have him ambushing pitchers from the No. 9 spot?" And that's exactly where they put him, and that's exactly what he did. Just as first baseman Steve Pearce did from all spots in the batting order. Pearce is going to have to play a big role again because the Orioles aren't likely to reinstate first baseman Chris Davis from the suspended list for this series (Davis would be eligible to return no earlier than Game 6). But he is in shape, as he has been playing in the Instructional League.
What can you do with the Royals' speed?
Kansas City led the majors with 153 steals, 31 more than the next most in the AL. The Royals have proven in this postseason that they will run at all times. In the wild-card game against Oakland, they tied a postseason record with seven stolen bases, they became the first team in playoff history to steal six bases when they were behind and the first team to steal four bases in one inning. They also will run anyone, including Billy Butler. Defending a running game is right up Showalter's alley. With Showalter's help, his catchers, Caleb Joseph and Nick Hundley, are adept at slowing down opposing teams. Chris Tillman, who will start Game 1 for the Orioles, has become one of the best pitchers in the game at holding runners.
Miller
How good is the Orioles' bullpen?
It is one of the best. During the regular season, it had a 3.10 ERA and a .229 batting average against. The Orioles won the LDS against the Tigers in part because of the bullpens: the Tigers' pen was horrible, the Orioles' bullpen had a 2.25 ERA in 12 innings. It's not just the arms, it's the way Showalter uses the pen; no one manager in the American League is better at it. In Game 1 against the Tigers, Showalter brought Andrew Miller (in 20 innings for Baltimore this year, he's issued four walks to go along with 34 strikeouts; no one wants to face him these days) into the game to start the sixth inning -- earlier than usual -- because he needed Miller to pitch against Miguel Cabrera and the Martinez boys, Victor and J.D., and Alex Avila; four batters faced, no runs. And, in the clinching Game 3, Showalter intentionally walked Nick Castellanos in the ninth inning of a one-run game -- he put the go-ahead run on base -- because he knew that closer Zach Britton's devastating hard sinker makes him a double-play machine. And, of course, Hernan Perez grounded into a double play to end the game, and the series.
Moustakas
Is something special going on with the Royals?
Absolutely. They made the playoffs for the first time since 1985. In the AL wild-card game, they became the first team in postseason history to be behind by four runs in the eighth inning of a winner-take-all game, then come back to win. They became the first team in history to win three straight extra-inning postseason games. They became the first team in history to win consecutive postseason games with an extra-inning home run in each game. In the LDS, Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas became the first No. 9 hitter in playoff history to hit a go-ahead home run in extra innings; he hit two home runs in his final 53 regular-season games, and he has two in the playoffs. All of this suggests that something is happening here -- something beyond normal, something predestined -- as only baseball can provide.
Young
Is something special going on with the Orioles?
Absolutely. They traded their closer (Jim Johnson) in the offseason for Jemile Weeks, causing an uproar within the team. Johnson went on to fail in Oakland, and Britton emerged midseason and became one of the best closers in the American League. They lost their catcher (Matt Wieters) to season-ending Tommy John surgery, their third baseman (Manny Machado) to a season-ending knee injury and their first baseman (Davis) to a suspension for using amphetamines. So Joseph came came out of nowhere to replace Wieters, several people replaced Machado, and Pearce replaced Davis by becoming the first player since Cap Anson in 1884 to not hit more than five homers in any of his first six seasons, then hit 20-plus in his seventh. Showalter, who helped build the Yankees and Diamondbacks into world champions, and helped get the Rangers to the point where they were ready to go to the World Series twice, is leading a team to the LCS for the first time. The Orioles won the LDS by beating three former Cy Young winners, and the Orioles have Delmon Young on their team. Sounds like destiny.
The pick: Orioles in seven.