Matthew Shrake Disclaimer: article written before October 10th   As September comes to a close and October comes into sight, anxious baseball fans count down the days to the MLB playoffs, also known as the Fall Classic. These fans, including me, have been waiting for October baseball since the beginning of March when Spring Training started. Whether their beloved team is in it or not, every baseball fan looks forward to the weeks of playoff baseball. This year, there are ten teams competing for the championship, five from each league. In the American League, there are the Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Minnesota Twins. On the National League side, there are the Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Colorado Rockies. From my standpoint, I have a few predictions for the playoffs. I think the Dodgers will beat the Cubs to go to the World Series, and that the Astros will beat the Yankees. Once the World Series is set, the Dodgers will take it all and be crowned champions. Finally, the MVP of the World Series will be Cody Bellinger, an outfielder for the Dodgers. The Dodgers have all of the tools to take and overcome the Cubs, the Nationals, the Astros, and/or the Indians. Their lineup is stellar, with big bats like Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger, and Justin Turner, along with key veterans and role players such as Curtis Granderson and Chris Taylor. In addition to their strong lineup, they feature both starting pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Yu Darvish, and bullpen stars like Kenley Jansen. When put together, they are a super team with the tools that can win it all this season. Peter Jones, Class of 2021, has different opinions about the playoffs. He says that the Astros will beat the Cubs in six games because of their pitching rotation and powerful hitting in George Springer, Carlos Correa, and Jose Altuve. Peter thinks that the Cubs cannot win the World Series because of their key losses over the offseason after 2016, including Dexter Fowler and many bullpen pitchers. However, he believes that the Cubs can make it to the final round because most of the team stayed intact and can fight hard enough to win. As a Cubs fan, I want the Cubs to win, but I asked others for their opinions. Here are a few more short opinions from baseball fans of the freshman class: “I think the Cubs will win because they have the best four-man rotation in the game and their offense is stellar.” –Spencer Gunning “I believe that the LA Dodgers will win the World Series over the Houston Astros because of their ability to score runs against any pitcher and their amount of talent and experience in their rotation.” –William Furlow “In my opinion, I think the Cubs will win over the Astros in six games. The World Series MVP will be Kyle Schwarber.” –Eli Aronson “I think that either the Indians or Astros will win the World Series, but I also think that the Cubs have a good shot at winning, too.” –Freddi Mitchell “I think that the Cubs and Indians will be in the World Series and that the Indians will win in six games.” –Bella Campise “I believe that the Cleveland Indians will win the World Series due to great position players and like Fransisco Lindor and a stellar pitching staff with names like Trevor Bauer and Corey Kluber. The Indians also have experience and are very hungry to win a championship after blowing a 3-1 lead to the Chicago Cubs.” –Sujan Garapati With all of these responses, you can see that there are a variety of different opinions about this topic. Thanks to everyone who contributed. Now, we can just wait and watch what happens!]]>