Playoff time has rolled around again, and I thought in addition to giving you my playoff predictions, I'd let you in on the curse looming large over the Yankees. (For those who don't want to read the whole post: bet the farm against the Yankees winning the World Series.)

Thanks to one of the most fantastic finishes I've ever seen to a baseball game, the Colorado Rockies are in the playoffs, and the field is set. The first round match-ups look like this:

NL
Colorado Rockies at Philadelphia Phillies
Chicago Cubs at Arizona Diamondbacks

AL
Anaheim Angels at Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees at Cleveland Indians

Before I give you my predictions, let's go back a few years to 2000. Remember the 2000 World Series? If you don't, you probably live somewhere outside of the state of New York. Indeed, this tiresome series was played between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets: the first time since California baseball that two teams from New York met in the World Series. This was the last of four championships the Yankees would win in the 90's (remember that 2000 counts as being in the 90's, for some odd reason). The most memorable moment of the 2000 World Series was when Roger Clemens (former Red Sox) threw a broken bat at (or near) Mike Piazza (former Dodger), nearly causing a fight.

This was the clue. This is where all the trouble started. Consider that two of the key players in this series--Clemens and Piazza--were at one time major players for two of the Yankees biggest rivals: the Red Sox and the Dodgers. Is it a coincidence that it was Clemens that threw the bat at Piazza? Perhaps. But what's certain is that by this time everyone in America had gotten fed up with the Yankees and New York. Something had to give.

September 11th, 2001. Among all the terrible things that happened, MLB and the NFL postponed their games for a week, resulting in the first MLB World Series played in November. And what a memorable series it was. The heavily favored New York Yankees vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks: a still fairly recent expansion team with two aces from other teams. The series went seven games, and even though New York was an emotional favorite, they ended up losing in the bottom of the 9th to a franchise that took almost no time winning its first World Series after entering the league.

Thus began the curse.

A curse can't be predicted, of course, and its nature is revealed slowly over time. As observers, we can but try to discern its ways. I had some guesses as to how the curse worked early on that were proven wrong, but at the end of the day, one thing remained true: the New York Yankees were being punished. Why, you may ask? 26 World Championships, world-class arrogance, an unrestrained budget, and the idea that they could buy themselves a World Series victory year-in and year-out. In other words, the Yankees are being punished for unrestrained capitalism. I call it the 9/11 Curse.

So, how does it work? The curse has many variants, and little by little I'm figuring out its true nature. Here was an early variant:

The Strong Version: The Yankees will reach the World Series every year and lose.

The strong version of the curse didn't take long to be disproved. Indeed, the very next year the Anaheim Angels in an unprecedented post-season run surged through the playoffs and claimed their first every World Series trophy (I was in attendance for game 5 of the World Series). They, of course, beat the Yankees on their way, which led to the weak version of the curse:

The Weak Version: The Yankees will reach the playoffs every year, and will always lose to the eventual World Series champion.

This would mean that a National League team would beat the Yankees in the Series, or the American League team that beat the Yankees would go on to win the World Series. This holds for 2001 and 2002. In 2003, those wacky Florida Marlins (who've been to the playoffs twice, both times as a wild card, and have won two World Series [i.e., bet the farm on them if they ever get into the playoffs]) defeated the New York Yankees in the Series, preserving the weak version of the curse.

And who can ever forget 2004? The Boston Red Sox, down 3-0 in the ALCS to the New York Yankees, beaten 19-0 one of those games, somehow miraculous win four games in a row--the first 3-0 comeback in the history of sports--and go on to win their first World Series in...how long? 86 years? Something like that. Again, the weak version of the curse is preserved.

Indeed, it took until 2005 for the weak version of the curse to be broken. The Angels and the Yankees faced off in the 2005 ALDS, and, of course, the Angels sent them packing, since the Yankees are incapable of beating the Angels in a playoff series. Then, however, the Chicago White Sox and the umpires of the ALCS conspired to send the Angels back where they came from (LA? Anaheim?), and the White Sox won their first World Series in...how long? 98 years? Something like that. Thus, we're left with the current version of the curse:

The 9/11 Curse: The Yankees will reach the playoffs every year but will not win a World Series.

Simple, but effective. The weak version of the curse was defeated yet again in 2006, when Detroit, who beat the Yankees in the ALDS, lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in five games.

The curse seems rather potent. But when will it end? For that, we have to examine the various World Series since 2000.

Who, you might ask, is the last repeat World Series champion? Why, the Yankees, of course, who won three in a row from 1998-2000. Since then? Well, let's see:

-Arizona Diamondbacks
-Anaheim Angels
-Florida Marlins
-Boston Red Sox
-Chicago White Sox
-St. Louis Cardinals

No repeat champions. Not only that, but few likely champions. I mean, look at that list! Who would guess that the Arizona Diamondbacks would become the youngest franchise ever to win a World Series in 2001? And the Angels?! Is that a joke?! Growing up an Angels fan, it was exciting to see the Angels still in the hunt for a playoff spot in August! They're famous for their futility. And they started off the season 4-16--their worst 20 game start ever!

And then you have the Florida Marlins: A recent expansion team that's constantly surrounded by contraction and displacement rumors. The team that was most famous up to that point for winning a World Series and then dismantling their team (proving that you can buy a championship). It just doesn't make sense!

The fact that the Red Sox and White Sox won in consecutive years, breaking two of the most famous curses in baseball (behind the most famous of all, of course, belonging to the Cubs) should raise some eyebrows. And even though the Cards and Tigers series wasn't as notable, it can't be ignored that they were two of the original teams that had not moved since being founded. Also of note: the Cards hold the worst ever record for a World Series champion.

So, here's what I think. What the Yankees are guilty of is trying to use old-school strong arm tactics in the era of free agency, and it's not working. They want a dynasty, and dynasties just aren't possible any longer. Thus, the full curse reads something like this:

The 9/11 Curse: The New York Yankees will get to the playoffs every year, but will fail to win a World Series until every other team in Major League Baseball has won one (dating back to 2001).

There you have it. So, Red Sox fans and baseball fans everywhere, rejoice! Yes, the Yankees are going to field a great team every year, and will be perennial favorites, but, mark my words, they will not win a World Series for a long, long, long, LONG time.

***

Back to this year...

Considering that at least one wild card team has been a part of the Series since 2002, this is how I figure things will pan out:

NLDS
Philadelphia Phillies over Colorado Rockies
Arizona Diamondbacks over Chicago Cubs

Yes, that's right: The Cubs will have to wait another year. Though their winning would fit the historical pattern, they just don't have the team (or the chemistry) this year. Maybe next year.

ALDS
Red Sox over Angels
Yankees over Indians

First off, the Angels can't beat the Red Sox, and the Angels have their own curse to deal with (they'll never win anything until they ditch the "Los Angeles" part of their name, and they staple Arte Moreno's tongue to a boat). Second, the Indians are "just happy to be here". Plus, everyone wants to see the Yankees and the Red Sox, right? Right...?

NLCS
Philadephia Phillies over Arizona Diamondbacks

Take that, Arizona, for stealing Curt Schilling and winning what should have been Philly's championship!

ALCS
New York Yankees over Boston Red Sox

Take that, Red Sox, for humiliating the Yankees in historic fashion! Now, it's back to business: Roll out the red carpet for the Yankees as the Phillies roll over and die, right?

Right...?

World Series
Philadelphia Phillies over New York Yankees, 4-2

Yes, the Yankees will win game 1, and they'll win it in impressive fashion. Then Philly will take game 2, getting the split they so desperately need. Back to Philly, they'll take advantage of the momentum and win the next two, going up 3-1. But the Yankees aren't done yet (or so they think)! They take game 5, to bring the series back to the Bronx. They may be down in the series, but all the pressure's on Philly! Having to travel back to New York, away from their cushy hitters' ballpark, to raucous Yankee stadium, where history lurks around every power alley... Right?

Right...?