Baseball is losing its appeal

As the final week of the baseball season begins, I can't help but notice how most of the playoff-bound teams are the ones that make the playoffs every year. For example, look at the Braves and the Yankees, my two least favorite teams in baseball.

The Braves have a monopoly on the NL East. They have won their division every year since 1994, and the only reason they didn't win it then was because a strike cut the season short. You have to go back to 1990 to find the last time Atlanta was not atop their division. Yet somehow during that time period they've only won one World Series, in 1995. That, in my opinion, is their saving grace. I always look forward to seeing the Braves lose in the playoffs, and I enjoy it immensely every year.

The Yankees are a similar story. They have also made the playoffs every year since the strike. One year, 1997, they incredibly did not win their division, finishing in second place behind the Orioles. Every other year they've been in the playoffs, and they've played in the World Series in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2003.

I haven't even mentioned the Red Sox, Cardinals, and Astros, three other perennial postseason teams. The casual baseball fan will easily lose interest in the sport if the same teams win year after year after year. I'm already getting disgusted with the whole situation. I hope the Red Sox win the AL East and the Indians win the Wild Card. I hope the Braves get swept in the first round of playoffs. And I hope the White Sox play the Phillies in the World Series. Not likely.