This season was an exciting blur of baseball. The New York Yankees barely squeezed into the playoffs as a wild card, the Toronto Blue Jays are looking to take it all and the New York Mets are hoping to defend well enough to keep Toronto’s stellar offense at bay. And for Cleveland fans specifically, the Cleveland Indians finished one and a half games back from second place in their bracket and finished off the season with a sweep of the Boston Red Sox.

Many look outside of the U.S. to see their favorite to win the World Series this year. Toronto is home to the league’s best offense this past season with 852 total RBIs. This has been the Blue Jays’ best season in 22 years and may be their first World Series appearance since before the average senior here at Case Western Reserve University was born. With two of the three top scorers in the league on just this one team and the recent return of their shortstop Tulowitzki, many baseball fans have their money on Canada’s sole MLB team to bring home the championship this year.

Out in the other half of the league, the Mets are quite possibly the favorites to challenge Toronto this year. The Mets had the top defense this season, allowing only 585 RBIs to be scored against them during the year. The Mets, however, have had nearly half a century go by since their last visit to baseball’s biggest series. The last time this New York team reached the World Series was in 1969, before the classic Beatles hit “Let It Be” was released. The Big Apple is no stranger to successful sports teams, but the refreshing vision of the Mets bringing home the championship is one many New York fans will welcome with open arms. As for Yankees fans in America’s largest city, they may not be enjoying life as much, as the Yankees just barely squeezed into this year’s post-season as a wildcard.

Looking at more local events, the Cleveland Indians finished off their season with a sweep of one of the MLB’s most legendary teams, the Red Sox. Looking deeper into the stats and onto next season, Carlos Santana’s batting this season was above and beyond the rest of the team. He hit 19 home runs and 85 RBIs in total this past season alone, making up nearly 15 percent of the entire team’s scoring throughout the year. Had the Royals not had the stellar season that they did, the Indians were well within range of their next closest competitor in the bracket, the Twins, and could have made it into the playoffs. A disappointing end to a season that Sports Illustrated predicted would be the first championship winning season for the team in the past 67 years. However as is the usual for Cleveland fans at the end of a season, “there’s always next year” rings loud and clear throughout the city.

Even if your team didn’t make it into the playoffs this year or even if you’re not a huge fan of baseball, the Blue Jays and Mets are looking to make history by winning their first championship in decades, and the rest of the teams in contention are seeking an upset with every fiber of their beings. This season will play out into an exciting World Series no doubt, and you should not miss out on the thrill of America’s Favorite Pastime. If you’re a Cleveland fan, don’t be too distraught. The team looks good, and there may be some promising postseason play in the near future.