It’s down to two teams, so it’s time for our final power rankings of the year. We’ll post all of the expert picks we can find later today.
1. (1/3/2/¾/5/5/7/9/11/4/2/2/4/3/1/1/1/1) Cardinals: The Dodgers got the publicity, but the Cardinals got the NLCS. Now they hope the same thing happens against the Red Sox in the World Series.
2. (2/2/6/2/1/1/7/10/5/8/9/4/5/5/8/7/7/7/12) Red Sox: It’s hard to call a team lucky after winning a series in 6 games. But going 1 for 47 in the first six innings of the first 3 games and still leading 2-1? That’s fortunate, at the very least.
The departed
3. (3/6/5/4/7/8/4/2/3/2/5/5/6/9/7/9/10/11/5) Tigers: Four of the six ALCS games were decided by one run. Shore up that bullpen, and maybe they can get back to the World Series next year. It will be tougher than they think without Jim Leyland.
4. (4/5/9/10/9/4/3/½/1/3/12/13/24/24/23/20/27/25) Dodgers: More show than substance in the NLCS, the Dodgers might be looking for a replacement for Don Mattingly, too.