OK, the Ortiz Watch is over - he's not going to win the AL MVP, and even for all the chatter was an unlikely candidate. Still, it'd be nice to see him get some votes.

Moving on to the playoffs, it's now time to introduce the Apocalypse Watch.

In the short story "The Last Pennant Before Armageddon," W. P. Kinsella writes about a manager for the Chicago Cubs who, in the middle of the World Series, learns that if his team wins, it will be the end of the world as we know it. And, as you can imagine, he does not feel fine.

We've dodged a bullet twice with the Cubs since the story was published in the 1985 collection The Thrill of the Grass. If the third time is the charm, though, you may want to get your affairs in order.

(The kicker, if memory serves, is that the Cubs are playing the Red Sox in the Doomsday Series. I have to check on that.)

Anyway, in our first installment of Apocalypse Watch, the Cubs took a 1-0 NLDS lead over the Atlanta Braves. Most of the Chicago offense was provided by Kerry Wood... their pitcher. Now, Wood can hit... for a pitcher. That he was both the winning pitcher and drive in the game-winning RBI suggests an outside power at work - and not necessarily a higher one.