I was prepared to treat this year’s Major League Baseball playoffs with casual indifference. I had no real ties to any of the teams. And after the Yankees went up 3-0 and the Cardinals went up 2-0 in the LCS, I was all set.

Then the Red Sox made an unprecedented comeback to eliminate the Yankees. And the Astros won three games to go up 3-2 before the Cardinals evened their series. Now they have pulled me back in. And whether the National League is represented by the Cardinals and the Astros, I’ll be watching the World Series.