Playoffs??? What Do You Mean Playoffs???

The MLB playoffs kick off today, unfortunately without the Tigers who had a kick to the nether regions of their own to deal with last night. So with the Tigers out, the question is who do you root for (provided you can stomach a Tigerless playoff)? So here's cases for and against all 8 teams.

Minnesota Twins
Hate them for: Nick Punto, the damn Metrodome, and that fact that they just won't die
Root for: AL Central loyalty, their fans are pretty cool, the underdog factor

New York Yankees
Hate them for: They're the Yankees, do I really need to list things?
Root for: Revenge for the Twins beating the Tigers I guess...uh...Derek Jeter's from Michigan, right?

Boston Red Sox
Hate them for: Being the only group of fans more obnoxious than Yankee fans, Kevin Youkilis, months of smug Bill Simmons columns if they win
Root for: Fenway Park to collapse. There is nothing redeemable about this team

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Hate them for: The fact the official team name is "The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim", the Rally Monkey, Vlad Guerrero's pine tard helmet
Root for: Winning for Nick Adenhart, a Red Sox loss.

Philadelphia Phillies
Hate them for: Winning last year, Philly fans
Root for: Ryan Howard seems like a cool guy, the potential reappearance of Pedro Martinez's little person.

Colorado Rockies
Hate them for: Wearing purple, the good chance their fans are also Avalanche and Bronco fans
Root for: Todd Helton to finally win the big one, the fact their best pitcher is named Ubaldo.

St. Louis Cardinals
Hate them for: the way media slobs over them for having the "best fans", the stupid Budweiser song, Joe Buck
Root for: Albert Pujols, and the fact Jim Leyland is probably rooting for them too

Los Angeles Dodgers
Hate them for: Manny being a cheater, employing Jeff Weaver, the fact that dumb Randy Newman song will be played ad nauseam during their games
Root for: Gratuitous screen shots of superfan Alyssa Milano

So there they are pick your side. Me I'm just hoping for some good games
As for how the playoffs are going to turn out, here's my thoughts:

Twins vs. Yankees
Yankees in 4
I don't think there's anyway the Twins can win today after last night's brutal 12 innings. The Twins won't go out without a fight, but the Yankee bats are just too much

Angels vs. Red Sox
Angels in 5
Both teams are pretty equal, but I just think the way the Angels seem to fly around the basepaths at home will be the difference in game 5

Phillies vs. Rockies
Phillies in 4
As long as the Phillies keep it out of Brad Lidge's hands they should be able to out hit the Rockies

Cardinals vs. Dodgers
Cardinals in 4
This may go 5, but the fact the Dodgers may have to beat Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright 2 out of 4 times makes me pick the Cards

ALCS
Yankees over Angels in 6
I think the Yankee starters are a little better than the Angels, and Mariano Rivera is light years ahead of Brian Fuentes

NLCS
Phillies over Cardinals in 7
Other than Pujols and Holliday there really isn't a dangerous bat in the Cards lineup. While the Cards may have the best 2 pitchers in the NL, Philly's rotation is a bit deeper and that will make the difference in a 7 games series

World Series
Yankees over Phillies in 6
It's going to be a bunch of 7-6 games, and it's going to come down to who can get the last three outs. Rivera vs Lidge. My money's on Mariano.