Outside The Confines: The postseason has begun!

The annual postseason tournament got under way, and other MLB news and notes.

It’s October! And that means that postseason ball is here, and it’s already proving to be as interesting as one could hope, with the Tigers and Royals both winning the first game in their series, which means if things continue on this course, we might have an ALDS that is three-quarters AL Central. The postseason is always so wonderfully unexpected.

In other major news, troubled MLB legend Pete Rose has passed away at age 83.

Here’s more on Rose’s passing:

• Tom Verducci shares the story of a 2015 road trip he took with Rose from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.
• Ben Nicholson-Smith shares that Rose’s controversial legacy with forever overshadow his onfield greatness.
• Tyler Kepner breaks the news over at The Athletic. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Tom Verducci looks at how Rose’s competitiveness drove his success and his downfall.

Let’s get into today’s links and enjoy the insanity of the postseason.

Here’s your first home run of the postseason.

• In massively unexpected news, the San Fransisco Giants have a new president of baseball operations: Buster Posey. (AP)
• Dan Schlossberg looks at the new promotion of Posey to head honcho.
• Stephen Douglas looks at the unusual celebration between the Mets and Braves as they both clinched their postseason berth together.
• Matt Martell shares a story about attending a White Sox game the same day Ty Madden made his Tigers’ debut.
• Matt Eddy looks at which active MLB players have the most World Series rings.
• Karl Rasmussen looks at the wild stats that divide the Astros and Tigers.
• The Tigers will return to what got them through the second half: pitching chaos for the rest of the wild card. Story by Cody Stavenhagen. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Juan Toribio looks at how the Dodgers are going to go into the NLDS.
• Ben Clemens gets into the Monday Mets-Braves doubleheader.
• Marlins are clearing house…

• Adam McCalvy shows how the Brewers move to the cusp of elimination.
• Tom Dierberger looks at the unfortunate history the Brewers made with their loss.
• Andy McCullough looks at each playoff team’s fatal flaw. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• The White Sox have hit rock bottom, and Dan McGrath thinks it’s exactly what Jerry Reinsdorf deserves.
• Karl Rasmussen shares that the Diamondbacks owner is placing blame for their season squarely on a postseason acquisition.
• ESPN shares the finalists for the Frick Awards. (ESPN)
• The Athletic staff make their postseason predictions. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• David Laurila breaks down the high tension of the first game of the Tigers/Astros Wild Card series.
• The FanGraphs staff try to determine who is going to win the World Series.
• Tom Dierberger shares fan reactions to the “Strauss” branding on postseason batting helmets.
• Your future AL Cy Young winner.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.