What's your Big Papi moment?

It seems like every Red Sox fan has one and that's because the story of David Ortiz and his impact on his team and adopted hometown can't be measured simply in numbers, even though those numbers are remarkable.

And here we are. We've reached the end of another thrilling MLB season. The last teams left standing are battling it out for the right to advance along the path that (hopefully) ends in a World Series championship, while the rest are left to dream of next year's possibilities.

This is a tough one.

On the one hand, if someone told you at the start of the season that the Patriots would make their way through the Tom Brady-less first quarter of the year with three wins in four games, you'd probably have been thrilled. It's an incredibly positive result.

And yet that success is tempered significantly by the 16-0 shutout shellacking they took at the hands of the Buffalo Bills. It obviously doesn't negate the success of the first three weeks, but it definitely lends a shading of perspective to the situation.

(Note: Boston's two October regular season games are also being included in this analysis.)

Quite a ride, wouldn't you say?

Thoughts on this year's MLB playoff teams

The long slog of baseball's regular season has come to an end. As of this writing, just 10 teams remain in the hunt for a World Series championship. Two-thirds of the league has returned home to await next spring when, as is often said, hope springs eternal.

Slow and steady wins the race. At least, I hope so.

Week 3 wasn't a great one for either Stella or I, but it was ever-so-slightly better for me. I managed a 9-7 record on last week's slate, while she went 8-8; in essence, we simply flip-flopped our Week 2 records, leaving Stella with the same three-game lead she had after the opening week.

LOS ANGELES The three-ring binder chock full of tidbits Vin Scully wants to talk about on the air will soon be flipped shut for the last time.

All things considered, it could have been worse.

Things looked good for me going into the last few games last week where I promptly finished with three straight losses. I wound up going 8-8 overall; not bad for a week featuring so many surprises.

The recent weekend sweep of the New York Yankees by the Red Sox was a thing to behold, as it not only solidified the team's playoff position for the first time since 2013, but effectively ruined anyremote chance that the Yankees could get in. It also sent other teams in baseball the clear message that, despite their many ups and downs along the way, this team is peaking at the right time.