With the Major League playoffs just a month away, there are several teams of particular interest to me:

1. The Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays have never had a .500 record in their history, but with just over 20 games to play, Tampa Bay is 32 games over .500 and has the best record in the American League. Who would have thought they'd be leading both the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees in the American League East at this point in the season? 

You'll learn more about their many young stars, such as pitchers Scott Kasmir and Matt Garza and position players B.J. Upton, Rocco Baldelli and Evan Longoria come playoff time.

2. The Chicago Cubs. It's been 100 years since the Cubs won a World Series, but this could be their year. The Cubs have the best record in the National League at 31 games over .500, and have shown that they can win games with their hitting, pitching and defense.

The Cubs have the veterans needed to make a deep postseason run in players like first baseman Derrek Lee, third baseman Aramis Ramirez and outfielders Alfonso Soriano and Jim Edmonds. Chicago also has great starting pitching led by Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden and Ryan Dempster, and a talented bullpen featuring Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood.

I'd love to see these two teams meet in this year's World Series. You may have different teams you'd like to see reach this point, but I find it fun to have a rooting interest in two teams going into the playoffs. It will be fun to see what happens.