It's October and that means one thing: Baseball playoff time.

Sure, my favorite team has already packed up its mitts and bats and is now unpacking its golf clubs. It's okay, I'm more than used to it by now. It's never easy being a Philadelphia Phillies fan.

Yet, I find myself strangely more excited than usual for these playoffs. It's the eight best teams looking to knock each other out, and like at a dwarf convention, none of them stand heads and shoulders above the rest.

Sure, you have the teams with a wealth of pitching. There's the Atlanta Braves, with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine starting and John Smoltz slamming the door shut at the end. In Arizona, there's no avoiding the two-headed monster that is Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson. Never, ever underestimate the Oakland Athletics' near-holy trinity of Tim Hudson, Barry Zito and Mark Mulder.

Then there are the teams with the sluggers. The new Murderer's Row of Derek Jeter, Alfonso Soriano, Jason Giambi and Bernie Williams wearing New York Yankee pinstripes. The San Fransisco Giants have cleverly disguised Babe Ruth's reincarnation as Barry Bonds, who, by the way, has a major chip on his shoulder for never winning a postseason series. The St. Louis Cardinals, with Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen and the pesky Fernando Vina, quite simply have the best everyday lineup of any team.

As far as defense goes, all you have to do is watch Torii Hunter and Doug Mientkiewicz and know the Minnesota Twins are as solid as can be. Same can be said for the Cardinals, who have five possible Gold Glovers.

The Anaheim Angels have an advantage that they know they will be underestimated, and nothing pushes a team harder than proving its worth.

Yet, each team seems to have a vital chink in its armor. The Yankees, though dangerous, are not the same team as before, especially with Mariano Rivera ailing. The Braves' offense features walking stiffs Vinny Castilla and Julio Franco. The D-backs lost offensive hero Luis Gonzalez for the postseason with a separated shoulder. The A's can be shut down with good pitching. The Giants and Cardinals are somewhat questionable in the pitching department, and the Angels and Twins face a lot of inexperience in the throbbing pressures of October ball.

No one team figures to be an overwhelming favorite. It looks like it's going to be a competitive and dramatic month of baseball, possibly even more so than last year's playoffs, Sept. 11 overtones aside. Who can forget The Flip by Jeter, or the overpowering joy of winning evident in the three walk-off wins in the World Series? Envisioning Luis Gonzalez's Series-winning bloop and his reaction still gives me the chills. Here's to hoping that we are about to witness some more classic memories.

Starting today with the first pitch of the Twins-Athletics game, the playoffs ought to be a refresher in why baseball is America's Pastime. A notoriously ugly season is about to get a major facelift with the beauty of drama and surprise this playoff season should bring. Moments and stories such as the steroid controversy, labor strife and the All-Star Game fiasco shouldn't cast any shadows over what is about to happen.

This October will be beautiful, simply because each team seems so even. There's no clear-cut favorite or automatic winner. Each game, each inning, each pitch in each series might determine who the ultimate winner will be.

Whichever team wins its last game will do so because of hard-nosed determinism and a healthy dose of luck. Nothing gets better than that.

If I had to pick my favorites, I'd say the A's over the Cardinals in six games. The Cardinals are the most balanced team in either league, which means they are capable of winning by any means possible. In the American League, the A's are simply magical and have more than enough ability to finally defeat the Yankees in the postseason. If it is these two teams in the World Series, expect baseball to be played at a perfunctory level.

Expect drama, expect memories, expect some of the best postseason ball you'll ever see. And whatever winner you expect at the end, don't forget to count yourself in.