With the AL championship series set between the Yankees and Tigers, and still waiting to see who faces the Giants at this time, what are all of your thoughts on the match-ups, and what's happened so far?

I also have what might be a silly question. How does the rest of the country view the Giants? I follow them on a daily basis, and get to know the players personalities, quirks, trends, etc... and after 162+ games it starts to feel like they are more like buddies, part of the family, rather than athletes. So when I look at my own team I see a bunch of guys I like, but they don't seem so big and scary like other teams. The Reds were certainly scary. But I'm wondering if I was a Reds fan, I would feel the same about the Reds?

I'd like to see a Giants/Yanks Series. I think the Jints could win and it'd be (IMO) the best pairing of the teams who are now fighting for their pennants.

Obviously I'm pulling for Detroit. I would like to see Leland win and ride off into the sunset. Verlander and Cabrera are something special and I like watching them at this time of year.

ill be rooting for the giants/tigers. can't stand to see the cards/yankees in the world series.

I like the Giants, Blibble. I see them as a gutty team that claws every game with a terrific pitching staff and a lineup with a superstar surrounded by average guys, who hustle. I enjoyed Hunter Pence while he was in Philly because he played hard and was off-beat. He was pretty productive even though he isn't a great situational player. Lincecum getting knocked around surprised me this year.

The Cardinals are the epitome of a team, built for postseason play. The staff is deep, and the bullpen handles pressure with the same success their lineup has for two postseasons.

I agree about the Cardinals. I also want to say I agree with your prediction about the Reds going to the World Series... Even though they collapsed to the Giants, I see why you picked them. They seem to have everything, from the lineup, starting pitchers and bullpen.

I feel the Giants are overmatched in the NLCS, but Giants GM Brian Sabean called them "Cockroaches". He said you can put 8 of them in the microwave, and 7 will still coming running out at you. I'm hoping they can put together some more hard-to-kill performances against the Cardinals!

The Giants looked really good tonight. (I didn't see the whole game, but I wish I had).

Congrats to the Giants!!!!!

Oh man, so I gotta decide between rooting for BL's team or Lilo's? Might side with Lilo since I really hate cockroaches.

But actually I've enjoyed getting to see former Astro Hunter Pence get a taste of the glory with SF.

I am happy for San Francisco playing again so shortly after their last win! It should be a great series.

Go Tigers!

The Tigers scare me. The Giants will have to be the shocking underdogs again in the World Series if they want to win.

Maybe we might want to think about walking this guy....

SAN FRANCISCO -- The ball went screaming toward the centerfield seats, you could almost hear the seams crying, and as early signs go, this was like waking up to a buzzard outside your window. Justin Verlander, on an 0-2 count to Pablo Sandoval, had just brought a pitch that would skin the hair off an alley cat, a fastball high and in, 95 m.p.h.

You and me, we don't think about swinging at such a missile; we think about ducking, diving, maybe crying. Sandoval, who is not quite 6 feet tall, yet tips the scales at close to 300 pounds, is not you or me. The slugger with two-toned hair who has become an RBI machine in San Francisco's postseason -- and whose bat was kissed by the gods Wednesday night -- got wood on that pitch and turned it around in a hurry. It landed in the crowd. And the Giants -- like that scene in "The Untouchables" when the bad guys kill their first G-man and leave him in an elevator -- hung a warning sign on the Tigers in the very first inning of this 2012 World Series:

"Touchable."
...
Mitch Albom Column

I know I'm posting this after a big Game 1 win over Verlander, but after they beat the Cardinals (which I didn't expect), I thought the Giants would beat the Tigers. I think the Giants will do a better job getting to the Tiger bullpen than the Yankees did, and if the game is tied in the 7th, I give the advantage to the Giants as Bochy handles the relief corps and late innings better than any manager in the game.

WOW! What a great game for the Giants! Congrats!

Bumgarner's performance was an extreme boost for the Giants. I know the Tigers have struggled a bit against lefties, but Bumgarner had been roughed up in the postseason.

I thought sending Prince Fielder home with nobody out in the second was a little too desperate for the Tigers. I also agreed with Leyland leaving the infield back with nobody out and the bases loaded.

It's kind of a baseball quirk that the most important hit in a World Series game is a 22 foot attempted sacrifice that died next to the foul line.

LAMONT YOU BIG DUMMY!!!!!!!

Sorry about your boys, Lilo. The Giants are just unbeatable! Congrats, Blib!

Blibble, you must be cooling the champagne right now, huh? Giants take a 3-0 lead and Cain hasn't pitched yet. The remarkable thing about the Giants' team is how loose they are. Late in a WS game, up by only 2 runs they're laughing and joking.

Sorry, Lilo. I like your team and your manager, but this match up is brutal for the Tigers.

PANIC IN MOTOWN!!! PANIC IN MOTOWN!! It's been horrible. Sad just sad...

Bad offense not bad luck

Obviously I'm super happy right now! There was a time when I wondered if the Giants would ever win a championship in my lifetime, now I've seen two in a three year period. I can't believe it!

Klyd, the looseness of the team has been their attitude since the 2010 season, there are some real characters in this bunch, including Hunter Pence who fit right in. Their attitude makes them very lovable!

Lilo, I'm sorry your Tigers went down the way they did, I can imagine your pain. From what I hear, Leyland wasn't too popular at times with Detroit fans during the season, but I have to say his post game interview was classy. I can see why he's been a manager for so long in baseball. The Tigers will be continue to be competitive, they have a good team and will probably only get better.

Congrats Blib!!! The Giants deserved to win and did so quite convincingly! I hope the Tigers will be back.

Congratulations to the Giants! They were fantastic!

Congratulations Blib, the cockroaches are unbelievable!

to think that the Giants had a AAA team some years ago and they had Barry Bonds for so long without winning anything, and now they're the real dynasty of baseball, it's crazy!

Congrats Blibble. My little boy really got into baseball this year and we watched a lot of playoffs. I had a feeling the Tigers time off was going to crush their momentum. Plus they were mediocre most of the season and just got hot at the right time. But the Giants' resiliency has been on full display since Game 5 of the NLCS. The pitching in the final 3 NLCS games, plus all 4 World Series victories, was nothing short of astounding.

hell yeah. the four teams that swept the LCS and waited until game 7 of the other series are 2-16 in World Series games. wow!

There have been 28 postseasons since MLB moved to a 7 game series for the LCS. I'm kind of surprised that in that time there have been 18 series that were 4 game sweeps.

Actually there have been 27 postseasons since the 7 game format to the LCS was introduced in 1985. I forgot the strike year of 1994. But as I reviewed the post seasons on Baseball Reference, there have only been 6 LCS games that were 4-0 sweeps.