I hope that you are correct about the Indians. They have made great strides this year and are going to be relevant with Francona. But they lack a superstar hitter, which I think will be a deciding factor.
It is very nice to see the Pirates do well this year, particularly after their collapse last year.
I don't want to sidetrack the thread by focusing on baseball, but I wouldn't be too worried about lacking a superstar hitter in the lineup. In the postseason teams with effective pitching can remove the impact of an individual slugger by pitching around or not challenging him. It was done to Bonds, and I've seen it happen to Ryan Howard, who tried too hard to make something happen by expanding his already expanded strike zone. a team with a balanced lineup removes this option.
