Summer is long gone. Juncos and sparrows have displaced the grosbeaks at the bird feeders and the winnowing of contenders for the Major League Baseball championship has left us with two very interesting teams to compete in the World Series. Just like you all guessed back in March, it will be the Texas Rangers versus the Arizona Diamondbacks after a lively and challenging set of playoff matches. These teams are led by managers who have proven their leadership skills and baseball intelligence, Torey Lovullo and Bruce Bochy. As happy as it made us to see Bochy back in the game and succeeding, as has become his habit, it was truly sad to witness the sorrowful end of Dusty Baker‘s managing career. And the gracious and capable manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, Rob Thomson,once again led his team to a thumping of yours truly’s pick to win it all, the Atlanta Braves for the City of Brotherly Shove. I cleverly chose to favor Baltimore and Atlanta to meet in the 2023 series not long after the All Star Game, but , if nothing else, I have become well acquainted with being wrong.

There were even more teams involved in the post season this year with two wild card teams in each league having a three game series to start the show and the new format proved good. For one thing, the noticeable absence of any New York teams made it easy to , if not root for, at least accept all of the teams involved, especially after The Dodgers disappeared.

The Minnesota Twins had won the “easy” division in the American League and that made them just about everyone’s favorite to be the early dropout, although the Diamondbacks no doubt got lots of votes as well. Carlos Correa and company proved themselves as formidable, however, as they eliminated a very good Toronto Blue Jays team. Jhoan Duran may have been the best relief pitcher out of all the ones we witnessed. Miami was dispatched quickly but one gets the feeling that the Marlins will be back. The days of Yankees and Red Sox dominating the A.L. are surely not gone forever but it’s good to see some competition.

Not having seen much of the Orioles all season, I had mostly a box score reader’s impression before the Rangers swept them, but they definitely appear to be strong and getting stronger. Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and company are for real, and the most important observation is that this organization knows how to build a team. The loss to injury of Felix Bautista hurt, but we all have learned that Texas was not to be denied.

The Atlanta Braves dominated all season but the same Phillies team that finished far behind them in the division got hot at the right time and blew right by them. Philadelphia’s only weak link was the former Brave Craig Kimbrel. For any team to face Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper to start their day requires courage and tenacity. Next year Harper will either have more experience at first base or he can return to right field and give the inconsistent Nick Castellanos a break. Their pitching was much stronger than I had anticipated. Relief dudes need to get better at holding base runners than burning holes in catchers’ mitts all around both leagues.

Houston battled all the way against the Rangers, Seattle, and even the Angels before slipping into first place at the end. We loved the way Dusty Baker worked Mauricio Dubon into just about an every day player and the continuing story of Jose Altuve‘s greatness. Jeremy Pena slipped a bit offensively after his big rookie season but is solid at shortstop, Martin Maldonado is an excellent player coach, and Alex Bregman is a player any manager would love to have . It is a roster full of stars, especially Yordan Alvarez, but the steady, nurturing hand of Baker will be missed. Don’t bet against them next year, though. In fact, despite the urging of Fan Dual and all of those other vampires, don’t bet.

What we liked best about the 2023 season was the emergence of the Arizona team. They are a bit old fashioned but in the best sense of the word. They run hard, steal bases, and chase down fly balls. They bunt effectively. They have youthful exuberance. They play defense well. They gave up a very good fundamental player in Daulton Varsho but got back in trade two gems in Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno. In other words, they have built a very good team and now the whole country has seen them at work. Corbin Carroll took a couple of games to get going in the LCS but watch out, he is rolling now.

Texas has power, starting pitching, and very good defense. Max Scherzer is a good addition and could, one way or the other, make the difference. They need a six run lead going to the seventh inning, but guess what? A lot of times they have it. Adolis Garcia, Jonah Heim, and Josh Jung have all become nationally known names now. We already knew about Marcus Semien, Nathan Eovaldi, and Jordan Montgomery.

This World Series could be one of the best.