Good morning!

The MLB playoffs are upon us and questions abound. Will Shohei Ohtani take the Dodgers to the promised land? Will Aaron Judge and Juan Soto lead the Yankees down the Canyon of Heroes?

Has Baltimore regained its mojo by winning its three-game series against the Yankees? Can Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo and Mark Vientos reprise the Miracle Mets of ‘69?

Will Cleveland win its first Fall Classic since 1948, when they beat the Boston Braves in six games and all but five of the 59 wins amassed by pitchers Bob Feller, Gene Bearden and Bob Lemon were complete games?

Last year’s surprise team was the Diamondbacks who finished 84-78, the same number of wins that this year’s Cinderella team the Detroit Tigers have at this writing.

The two biggest Tigers fans I’ve known are Crosby Hunt and the Late Bill Burnham, whose grandson Jay is the voice of UMass sports. Burnham would call the Sunday Sportspage talk show that Gary Sanderson and I hosted and bellow: “Number one Tigers fan calling!”

Hunt and I grew up together in Deerfield where his father Mo Hunt taught English and coached the Deerfield Academy track team. At night he listened to Ernie Harwell on WJR and grouse the next morning during recess that Chuck Dressen hadn’t pulled Don Mossi, or that Gates Brown had struck out with the bases loaded.

Hunt threatened to cancel his subscription to Sports Illustrated in 1968 after the weekly brushed off Mickey Lolich’s three wins against St. Louis with a mere black-and-white photo.

“Learning about baseball through the radio helped instill the sense of magic the game still holds,” Hunt recently texted. “My biggest sports thrill to this day was hanging out with Ernie in Lakeland one afternoon during spring training.”

A seance with Burnham failed to materialize, and so I asked Hunt how the Tigers could go from 37-46 and fourth place in June to being the best team in baseball since the All Star break.

Hunt, who lives with his wife Deborah in Gainesville, Florida, said he found some old Marie Laveau spells in an abandoned house in Cedar Key.

“Been trying a new one every season, this one finally took. First, they called Parker Meadows back up from the minors and he’s saved a run a game in center field. Second, they got Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter back from the IL. Third, they traded Jack Flaherty to the Dodgers for shortstop Trey Sweeney and benched Javier Baez. It left them with two starters— [presumptive Cy Young winner] Tarik Skubal and a kid from Triple-A whose ERA was over five and three of every five starts were bullpen games that A.J. Hinch has managed brilliantly.”

The Dodgers are favored on FanDuel — bet $100 to make $320 — and Detroit is a 41-1 longshot. Bet them at your own risk, says Hunt, the spell might not work in the postseason.

****

The UMass football team is in Oxford, Ohio, today to play a university named for the Myaamia tribe of the Great Lakes Region. It’s Homecoming Day at Miami of Ohio, and the RedHawks need a win after losing to Notre Dame, Cincinnati and Northwestern by a combined score of 68-25. That’s not bad, actually.

The Minutemen are 17-point underdogs but coming off their first win, 35-31, against Central Connecticut State. UMass scored a fourth quarter touchdown and then held on for dear life to give Don Brown his 100th career win as a head coach.

“When we needed a fourth quarter stop, the defense gave it to us,” texted a UMass insider. “When the offense needed to control the ball they did to the tune of 12 minutes and 43 seconds. This is a great group of hard working young men.”

The Homecoming game drew only 10,847 fans into McGuirk Alumni Stadium, despite good weather and a social media ad blitz. Add it all up and the biggest takeaway from an exciting, close win against a competitive team is that UMass never should have left I-AA.

****

Amherst College grad Jim Still and his family have established a scholarship to The William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia in honor of their son and sibling Colin Still, who died a year ago February.

A silent auction includes threesomes to several top-ranked golf courses including the Kittansett Club in Marion, Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, Merion Golf Club in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and Maidstone Golf Club in East Hampton, New Jersey. Other items up for bid include club level seats to a Philadelphia Eagles game and home rentals on Cape Cod and the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana.

Those interested in learning about Colin or to bid on the silent auction, go to cbsscholarshipfund.org. Bids close at the end of the month.

****

During Monday’s rain delay in Detroit, a Rays broadcaster interviewed Roberto Clemente’s son Luis, who spoke of his father’s heritage. “Dad was so proud of being Puerto Rican that he made our mother travel back home so we would all be born in Puerto Rico. Our culture is so strong. All the players in the game today understand that dad was their Jackie Robinson.”

****

SQUIBBERS: NFL All Access played a clip of Cleveland’s Myles Garrett after he tackled Giants rookie Malik Nabers. “You’re a bad boy,” Garrett told Nabers. “Keep doing your thing.” Nabers replied, “You too, sir.” …. Last year’s leading rusher at UMass, Kay’Ron Lynch Adams, transferred to Michigan State and fumbled the second half kickoff against BC on Saturday to help the Eagles upset the Spartans, 23-19, in a driving rainstorm at sold out Alumni Stadium. … Minnesota Twins analyst Dan Gladden recalled a special moment playing at Fenway Park: “On the 4th of July about dusk I hit one over the Monster and some little town beyond left field started their fireworks. It was the only time I ever got fireworks in a road game.” …. At this writing Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase had allowed one earned run in 30 appearances since July 7. His ERA in 73.1 innings is 0.61. … Caitlyn Clark played in 15 of the 22 WNBA games that topped a million TV viewers, this season, reports Sports Business Journal. … WFAN’s Suzyn Waldman after Alex Verdugo hit into a double play on Tuesday: “Earl Weaver said, ‘If you’re going to hit into a double play, at least have the good sense to strike out.’” …. Penn State racked up a record 718 total yards in last week’s 56-0 win against Kent State. … Six of MLB’s top seven attendance leaders hail from the Senior Circuit. The Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies and Padres all drew over three million fans, followed by the Braves, Cubs and Cardinals. The Red Sox were 11th. Oakland was the only team to draw fewer than a million. … Joe Castiglione will call it a career tomorrow when the Red Sox wrap up the season against Tampa Bay. What he lacked in boffo pipes, Castiglione made up for with his anecdotes and baseball knowledge. … Retired Steelers guard Willie Colon, on playing in football crazy Pittsburgh: “I go to Walmart to pick up some stuff for the house and I’m goin’ up the aisle and this lady’s coming at me and she bumps her cart right into mine and looks me right in the eyes, ‘You’re Willie Colon?’ I’m like yes, ‘Can you stop going offsides?”

Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@icloud.com