New York Yankees

On a night where ace CC Sabathia did not have his best stuff, The New York Yankees still managed to squeeze out a victory at Target Stadium in game 1 of The ALDS. CC Sabathia was not himself, but managed to get out of jams and kept The Yankees in the ball game.

In the first playoff game at brand-new Target Field in Minnesota, the Yankees' quest for a repeat of a World Series Championship began successfully Wednesday night against the Twins with a 6-4 win.

The Yankees sent ace CC Sabathia to square off against Twins' ace Francisco Liriano in Game 1 of the ALDS.

Statistics can prove anything, but more often than not, they mean nothing. I enjoy bits of trivia, not because I want to win a bet with my friends, but because they can shed light on trends and highlight new things. As a baseball fan and sports junkie, I love hearing something and saying, "Wow, I never knew that."

Keeping that in mind, here are a collection of stats, facts, and notes about your American League playoff teams, thanks to Elias Sports Bureau, SABR, press officers, and media reps. Enjoy the information overload.

During the regular season, quality baseball, consistent pitching, and measured tactics are the key to victory. Come October, and these methods go out the door. It's all about who can hit the most homeruns. Outside of simply including the Yankees starting nine, here are the most prolific power hitters in the 2010 postseason.

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No matter what they say, over the final three-plus weeks of the season, the Yankees played as if they favored taking on the Twins in the first round of the playoffs over securing home-field advantage and having to play Cliff Lee and the Rangers.

New York (95-67) seems to have gotten what it wanted and will open up the best-of-five American League Division Series in Minnesota (95-67) on Wednesday night.

It's playoff time!

I know fans of the Yankees, Twins, Rays, Rangers, Giants, Phillies, Reds, and Braves are all gearing up with their jerseys, hats, and probably car flags to show their support as the playoffs get underway this afternoon.

What happened during the season means nothing at this point. Every team starts 0-0 and it become a whole new, albeit short, season.

The calendar has turned to October, the weather has gotten chillier, and the regular season of the 2010 MLB season is finally over.

Playoff baseball has arrived!

The Yankees, who earned the Wild Card, finished 2010 at 95-67, just one game behind the Tampa Bay Rays, who won the A.L. East division over the defending champions.

First off, let me say that I'm a die-hard Yankees fan and I have been since I was six years old.  I'll be pulling for them to win number 28, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

This isn't the same team that won it all last year.

While they can pull it off, I think I've come up with five good reasons why they may have to wait until next year for 28.

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With the postseason set to begin on Wednesday, the Yankees announced their roster for the American League Division series against the Twins. As expected, AJ Burnett is on the roster––although he is not in the starting rotation––while Ivan Nova and Javier Vazquez has been left out.

The Cincinnati Reds have been a dark-horse pick by a lot of fans for a few years and the team put it all together in 2010. Dusty Baker is now taking his third National League team into the playoffs.

Will this be the year he gets that ring?

The Reds offense, led by slugger Joey Votto and lead-off hitter Brandon Phillips, gets to face the toughest staff in the postseason in the Philadelphia Phillies.