Now it’s time for the real playoffs to start. In my day we didn’t have any of this Nancy-boy Wild Card stuff. If we did, the Big Red Machine would have won 15 World Series titles. And the best news is that this year my boy Joey M will be able to watch the games with me since he doesn’t have to cover the games himself. You can always bet the opposite of Joe and win a lot of money, or just follow Pete’s advice. Let’s gamble!

65%: Cardinal fans that will still blame any loss on an east coast bias during the series

15%: Reduction in words used in each broadcast by Joe Buck and Tim McCarver now that they can’t refer to a “curse” every three innings

23: Minutes the average fan will have to explain to his wife/girlfriend why the Red Sox or Yankees aren’t playing

Game 4: NLCS game that’s stopped in the 7th inning for a Bud Selig speech to recognize Tony La Russa’s 3,000th post-season pitching change

3: Beeps per game to cover up Tony Plush f-bombs

$500,000: Price Fox will charge for a tobacco company to sponsor Jim Leyland smoke breaks

98%: Percentage of sabermetric blogs that will try to explain how Yuniesky Betancourt is the worst starting shortstop in the history of the NLCS

56%: Chance that the contract CJ Wilson signs this offseason will be referred to as “cute” by Pujols or Fielder

Giles Tellum