Opinion

There was a point during the American League Wild Card Game that Ned Yost was crowned King Bonehead of Manager Earth, with his punishment being eternal mockery.

Weeks of enthralling exposition during the MLB postseason has fans geared up for the upcoming World Series climax. The final slate will have a big bar to match in order to not disappoint.

Part of the beauty of the postseason is discovery. So here's a piece of advice: It is not necessary to wait all the way until February before sending your new crush, Lorenzo Cain, a Valentine's Day greeting. Jarrod Dyson, Terrance Gore and Mike Moustakas? Them, too.   

Kansas City is, after all, the corporate home of Hallmark Cards, Inc.   

And now, clearly, America's Team.   

Home teams have failed to take advantage of the edge they worked all season to secure in the early going of the playoffs. That's true in both National League Division Series, which saw the road clubs grab 1-0 leads Friday.

Losing Game 1, even at home, is no big deal in the two series that follow. In this round, however, it puts a boatload of pressure on the higher seeds due to the best-of-five format. They don't want to head out on the road needing to win both games just to force a deciding fifth contest.

If you need proof of how fickle and unpredictable baseball can be, all you have to do is look at what happened on Friday with Clayton Kershaw getting lit up, Kansas City getting an extra-inning homer for the second-straight day and Delmon Young getting another big postseason hit. 

The first two days of the American and National League Division Series have lived up to the expectations of the fans, but with Day 3 of the MLB playoffs schedule full of intense action, the anticipation continues to climb.

The 2014 MLB season won't reach its conclusion until a World Series champion is crowned, but fans of most teams are already looking ahead to what promises to be an exciting free-agency period.

The Detroit Tigers made a statement when they acquired David Price from the Tampa Bay Rays at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

The 2014 postseason was supposed to be Mike Trout's coming-out party. It was his chance to shine on the big stage and solidify his status among baseball's immortal talents.

It isn't over yet, but so far things aren't going swimmingly.

LOS ANGELES — To think you know baseball is to be a stupid, stupid fool. 

No one understands this game, or why things happen how they happen, particularly when everyone expects exactly the opposite. That is why you watch in October. That is why jaws can routinely be picked up off the floor with a snow shovel in the autumn.

It is why the sport is beautiful, because the seemingly impossible can always trump perfectly sound reason.