This has been a bad year for team's that were the favorites in their respective league; for example, The Miami Heat, Lakers, Red Sox, Yankees, (Patriots in last year playoffs), The Eagles the start of this year, The Canucks the Cup Finals, and as of last night the Phillies who looked like a legitimate Juggernaut with 4 aces this year; however their best pitcher Halladay got out-dueled by his friend and similar pitcher Chris Carpenter. Carpenter out-dueling Halladay last night capped off 2 weeks of high baseball drama that was unfortunately kicked off by the Red Sox collapse.  It was the 3rd straight decisive game 5 that was settled by just 1 run and all 3 of the games featured at least 1 great defensive play; in many ways this current crop of baseball is reminding me of early 90s style baseball with lower run scoring and more small to mid market teams like the 4 remaining Brewers, Cardinals, Tigers, and Rangers having success. With the decline of steroids older players like A-Rod are breaking down more and are much less valuable than they were as compared to the late 90s/early 00s when you had guys like Bonds and Clemens dominating into their 40s. It is also interesting to note how dissimilar the 4 remaining teams are.  There is not some underlying theme like they are Moneyball teams or Big Market teams, or young teams. As a baseball fan, I just hope that these next 3 Series are as good as the first 4 and I am rooting for a Brewers vs. Tigers  World Series Match Up.