Mizzou in the Majors . . . in the Playoffs !!

The Texas Rangers will be playing the Tampa Bay Rays this week in the first round of the MLB post-season. That means former Tiger Ian Kinsler (03) will be in his first post-season since reaching the major leagues. Unfortunately, fellow Ranger and former Tiger Doug Mathis (05) has been left off the post-season roster, even though he had been called back up to the Rangers late in September.

■ Yankees? Rays? Rangers have no reason to fear either squad (DallasNews.com)

New York, Tampa Bay; Tampa Bay, New York. It didn't matter.

Well, it did to Ian Kinsler.

He admitted after a regular-season-ending 6-2 loss to Los Angeles that he found himself constantly looking at the scoreboard in left field for updates on the Yankees-Red Sox and Tampa Bay-Kansas City games. An 8-4 Yankees loss that ended in the seventh inning of the Rangers game ensured Texas will open the Division Series at Tampa Bay on Wednesday. It also brought Kinsler a little peace of mind.

"Sure," Kinsler said when asked about concerns over where the Rangers would be going. "I wanted to know whether or not to pack a jacket."