The grind of the Major League Baseball regular season has finally come to an end and for those fans that had the patience to stick with their favorite team over that 162 game marathon, they are now bracing themselves for the sprint that is the MLB playoffs.
Despite how entertaining it might be to watch your favorite team play a four game series against the Pirates, it’s time for the playoffs to usher in a new brand of baseball where everything matters just a little bit more.
Every pitch, every managerial move, every strike, and every walk matters more, simply because you no longer have the time to make up for bad play in the postseason.
When October starts, you have to get things right the first time and if your team is lethargic or sloppy out of the gate, they will probably be sitting on the couch in a matter of days, contemplating whether or not to rip the speakers out of their television so they won’t have to listen to Joe Buck anymore.
While success in October is a team effort, it’s hard to deny that the baseball playoffs are a time where individual players shine the brightest and can single handedly turn around a game or even a whole series with one swing of the bat or one dominant pitching performance.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at the most important player for each playoff team as we eagerly await the start of the 2010 postseason.