October is finally here. Teachers and students are settled into their routines. The weather is cooling down, or at least it is supposed to be. And baseball fans are gearing up for another wild postseason. While fans of the Mets are relegated to simply hoping that their putrid offense does not prevent Jacob deGrom from winning the Cy Young Award, Yankee fans are expecting to add to their collection of World Series titles.

Shane Palma, Editor in Chief to The Shield, and social studies teacher Mr. Simone, have decided to put their baseball acumen on the line by predicting each round of this year’s playoffs. Let’s see if they allow their brains or their hearts to dictate the selections.

National League Wild Card

Shane Palma: Colorado Rockies over the Chicago Cubs

Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado will look to take out the Cubs in what should be a high scoring game at Wrigley Field. Even with postseason veteran Jon Lester on the mound, the hot hitting Rockies will edge the Cubbies and move on to the next round.

Mr. Simone: Chicago Cubs over the Colorado Rockies

Home field advantage will be the difference in this one as Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez both hit home runs, sending Chicago fans into a frenzy, believing they have a chance for another title.

American League Wild Card

Palma: New York Yankees over the Oakland Athletics

People might see this as bias but trust me it’s not. Just like the Minnesota Twins of last year, the Oakland A’s have come out of nowhere and reached the postseason for the first time since 2014. This game figures to be a battle of the best bullpens, but a stronger and finally healthy Yankees team will prevail.

Simone: Oakland Athletics over the New York Yankees.

Shane got this one right… almost. The better bullpen will prevail. Unfortunately for Yankee fans, that distinction falls to the A’s. One inning each from Jeurys Familia, Lou Trivino, Fernando Rodney and Blake Treinen will send the New York faithful home much earlier than expected. Fortunately, the team is built for the long run. And the addition of Bryce Harper next year should give the fans cause for optimism.

National League Division Series

Palma: Milwaukee Brewers over the Colorado Rockies; Los Angeles Dodgers over the Atlanta Braves

The Brewers might just be the best team in the National League, and I think they make a statement by sweeping the Rockies. Led by MVP favorite Christian Yelich, it’s hard to see any team stopping Milwaukee. The Dodgers barely made the playoffs in a season they went all in. After trading for Manny Machado and Brian Dozier, Los Angeles has a lineup built for the playoffs and will handle the up-and-coming Braves in four games.

Simone: Chicago Cubs over the Milwaukee Brewers; Atlanta Braves over the Los Angeles Dodgers

The Brewers may have gotten the best of the Cubs in the tiebreaker game, but over a five-game series, the experienced Cubs will prevail. The lack of a top-notch ace will ultimately derail the Brewers who will be forced to wait until next year. The Dodgers certainly did make quite a splash at the trade deadline by acquiring Machado and Dozier. But the Braves will pull off the upset in this one behind a monster postseason performance from, no, not Ronald Acuna. It will be delivered by third baseman Johan Camargo.

American League Division Series

Palma: New York Yankees over the Boston Red Sox; Houston Astros over the Cleveland Indians

Before you argue against the Yankees pick again, let me explain. Chris Sale’s average fastball velocity has gone down drastically in each of his starts since the beginning of September. David Price is almost unusable against the Yanks who dominate him every time out, and Boston just does not have a deep bullpen behind them. While Boston might have a lineup advantage, the Yankees will move on after a hard-fought, five-game series. On the other hand, the Astros will be confronted with one pitcher duel after another as Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton take on Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Carlos Carrasco. In what should feature some low-scoring games, Houston will come out on top in four games.

Simone: Oakland Athletics over the Boston Red Sox; Houston Astros over the Cleveland Indians

I really have no logical reason to select Oakland over the team with the overall best record in baseball. This is a hunch pick that the free-spirited Oakland A’s will play loose while the pressure of high expectations in Boston will ultimately be too much for the Red Sox to overcome. As for the other series, I’ll go on record as saying that the winner between Houston and Cleveland will be the eventual World Series Champion. In a classic five-game, edge-of-your-seat, classic showdown, the acquisition of Roberto Osuna, recently cleared of his legal issues, will prove to be the difference as the Houston Astros prevail.

National League Championship Series

Palma: Milwaukee Brewers over the Los Angeles Dodgers

This one might come as a shock, but the Brewers are just the overall better team. They have amazing chemistry and continue to punish the baseball. I wouldn’t totally count the Dodgers out of this series (Cody Bellinger has started heating up lately), but I foresee a World Series in Milwaukee’s future after a six-game series win.

Simone: Chicago Cubs over the Atlanta Braves

Experience again will be the difference as the Cubs finally start playing the level of baseball that was expected of them all season. But the young Braves push them to the limit, forcing a game seven, where the hero will be Tommy LaStella. That’s right. LaStella pinch hits in the bottom of the ninth and punishes Braves manager Brian Snitker, who misused his bullpen all year long.

American League Championship Series

Palma: New York Yankees over the Houston Astros

A rematch of last year will again be as close as they come. With Luke Voit coming out of nowhere and Aaron Judge finally back to form, the Yankees seemed poised to finish the job from 2017. Unfortunately for all Houston fans (I’m talking to you Mr. Simone), the Bronx Bombers will finally get the best of the Astros and take the series in seven.

Simone: Houston Astros over the Oakland Athletics

The magic carpet ride for the A’s ends in a hurry as the Astros sweep Oakland is four games. ALCS MVP Tyler White proves that his extended time in the minor leagues was well worth it.

World Series

Palma: New York Yankees over the Milwaukee Brewers

Ok, this prediction might be slightly biased. The Brewers lineup will be strengthened by the addition of the designated hitter, but the momentum of the Yankees incredible victories over Boston and Houston is too much to overcome. I believe it will go the full seven games. However, the Yankees’ rotation receives clutch performances from Masahiro Tanaka, C.C. Sabathia and J.A. Happ, giving them the edge to take home ring number 28.

Simone: Houston Astros over the Chicago Cubs

Full disclosure, I did want to predict a World Series appearance for the Milwaukee Brewers. In one of the worst trades of recent memory, the Astros handed flame throwing Josh Hader (and others) to the Brewers for Carlos Gomes and Mike Fiers (Yankee fans… you’ll know this name shortly). And I thought it would be a great opportunity to see Hader against the team with the largest run differential this year. But when Shane picked them, I decided to go in a different direction. In 2014, Sports Illustrated predicted a Cubs/Astros World Series for 2017. So I’ll go with this star-studded series one year later. In a matchup of the last two teams to win the World Series, the Astros starting rotation proves to be too much for the Cubs. Astros win in six and become the first team to repeat as champions since the 2000 New York Yankees won their third straight. It would set up an exhilarating 2019 season as the Yankees hope to prevent a three-peat from the dominating Astros.