Five Very Likely Baseball Tournament (Playoff) Teams

Going into the Labor Day weekend, it is fairly safe to say that half of this year’s baseball tournament (playoff) teams are known. (I refer to it as a “tournament” rather than “playoff” as a protest to the wild card system–more on that in the days to come).

In the American League, in all likelihood, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Oakland A’s and Baltimore Orioles will qualify for the playoffs.

Two National League teams, The Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers are very probable participants.

Among the five managers of those teams, only Mike Scioscia of the Angels has ever guided a team to a World Series victory or for that matter a World Series appearance.

While Washington’s Matt Williams is in his first season, the other three very likely post season managers at this point, Buck Showalter (Orioles), Bob Melvin (A’s) and Don Mattingly (Dodgers) have a combined post season series record of (1-6).

Mike Scioscia