It's mid-October, and for baseball fans, this means that the Major League Baseball postseason is in full swing. Right now, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers are battling for the National League Pennant. The Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers are in a battle for the American League Pennant.  These are four great teams, but where are the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, or even the Philidelphia Phillies (the three highest salaries in baseball)? Is baseball better with small market teams this year?   

This year big salaries do not mean anything. USA Today states the highest salary of the four teams left in the postseason is Detroit Tigers at $105 million. This is nearly half of the highest salary New York Yankees, $202 million. By the way, the Tigers sent the Yankees home in the first round of the playoffs.  The Red Sox had one of the worst collapses in the history of baseball and failed to make the playoffs.  The Phillies (2nd highest player salary in baseball) also was just eliminated in the first round by a surging St. Louis Cardinals' team. With the way the Tigers and Cardinals put it to the Yankees and Phillies, they more or less told them that they could take their big payrolls and have a good Christmas because they can forget about going to the "Fall Classic."

I cannot be happier that those three teams are no longer in the postseason. Some people may feel that having all of these small market teams in the postseason is bad for baseball, but I completely disagree. Sure, there are a ton of Red Sox, Yankees and Phillies fans everywhere, but baseball has more than three teams. The quality of baseball hasn't gone down any, and the nearby St. Louis Cardinals have a chance to win a World Series Crown.

The League Championship Series have been very entertaining so far and have not shown any lack of quality. Nelson Cruz hit the first Grand Slam Walk off Homerun in postseason history when the Texas Rangers defeated the Detroit Tigers in Game Two of the American League Championship Series (ALCS). This hit took place in the bottom of the 11th inning. ESPN states Albert Pujols had a batting average of .556, one homerun and five RBIs after the first two games of the National League Championship Series.

Here in Terre Haute, we have many St. Louis Cardinals fans. This small market Cardinals team has miraculously made the postseason after the Atlanta Braves had a late season collapse. The Cardinals then, not even expected to be in the postseason in early September, showed what they thought of that and took down the National League's best team in the Philadelphia Phillies. Now, the Cardinals have made it a series with the Milwaukee Brewers and have a very good chance at winning the pennant. This isn't too bad for a team that wasn't even expected to make the postseason.

Baseball might not be as popular this year without its big market teams, but if anything, the competition makes up for it. The four teams left are pretty equal talent-wise, and it should make for a great World Series. This year, baseball will show that you don't need the Yankees, Red Sox or Phillies in order to have a good League Championship Series or World Series.