The American League Wild Card Series kicks off with a climactic showdown between the American League's finest eight teams...

The Detroit Tigers are priming themselves for a historic World Series run. Fueled by a lineup of all stars and a pitching staff to match, the Tigers were expected to run away with the AL Central, but a sluggish start to the season allowed the White Sox to walk away with the Division, prompting the Tigers to happily settle for one of the other five slots. However, with their star-studded lineup, expectations are sky high for Detroit to make their big step forward. Will they?

Expectations are always sky high when it comes to the New York Yankees. A team of veterans who's always looking for a World Series, but has yet to crack that threshold recently. Even with the likes of Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi and Mariano Rivera, the Yankees have yet to make it to the big dance recently. But they hope for this to change this season. With a few shrewd trades for Paul LoDuca to replace injured Jorge Posada and the promising Brett Gardner and Melky Cabrera coming up to replace the injured Johnny Damon, the Yankees hope they've finally gotten the pieces to compete for a trophy. But they'll have three American League Rivals to make it past first...can they? Or is this another sad Bronx Tale?