Surprise teams to square off in 2000 American League playoffs

If you would have picked the Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics to win their respective divisions at the beginning of the season, you would be fairly wealthy right now. Of course, you would have won very little money if you bet on the New York Yankees to win the AL East again, which they did. The A's and the Wild Card champion Seattle Mariners haven't had a day off in a while, as they've been in a three-way dogfight with the Cleveland Indians for the last two playoff spots. The Yankees, on the other hand, have taken plenty of days off recently, as they are in the midst of a seven-game slide. Like they've done all year, the White Sox have quietly won, and remain a mystery in the postseason.