Playoffs? You wanna talk about, playoffs?

Me too, although I don’t know why I’m in such a hurry.

Not counting the pesky play-in game (although I’ve got to admit, Rockies-Padres is a smidge more inspiring than Florida A&M-Alcorn State on a Tuesday night in March), the baseball postseason doesn’t begin until Wednesday.

Plus, Major League Baseball has built an extra day into the first round. Thanks, guys. There’s no slice of Americana quite like a World Series Game 7 in Boston or New York on the first night of November with a game-time temperature of 31 degrees.

And never mind that you or I or a trained hippopotamus could have correctly picked seven of the eight playoff teams on April Fool’s Day.

All that said, it’s still the best time in the world to be a sports fan. Everybody in the NFL except New England, Indianapolis and Miami is 2-2. The 64 people who care about the NBA and NHL are giddy with training camp delight. And the game that was a first love for most of us is about to take its grandest stage.

Here is one man’s prophecy of how it shall unfold:

Red Sox vs. Angels – Much as I would have adored seeing the Yankees draw a team that could beat them at least once in a hundred tries, this is the match-up I wanted for the Sox. John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar’s combined 37 wins doesn’t change the fact that they are John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar. Big-game giant Curt Schilling now will face the eminently hittable Jeff Weaver in Anaheim (or is it Los Angeles? Burbank? Irwindale?) in Game 3. Oh, and if one of the first two games at home slips away, the extra off day would permit Josh Beckett to bounce back in Game 4, or give playoff veteran Tim Wakefield the ball and spare Beckett for a potential Game 5. Prediction: Sox in 4.

Yankees vs. Indians – Cleveland couldn’t buy a win against the Yankees during the regular season, but the Indians do have C.C. Sabathia taking the bump at home in Game 1. Then comes the gruesome mismatch of Andy Pettitte vs. Fausto Carmona in Game 2. Bombers head home no worse off than 1-1, and the Indians won’t be able to summon the Tigers’ disarming lack of awe from last fall. Prediction: Yankees in 4.

Padres vs. Phillies – I’m going to assume San Diego wins Game No. 163 solely on the basis that I know Nick Masuda is rooting for the Colorado Rockies. Well, that, and Jake Peavy is pitching the tie-breaker. But leaves him unavailable until Saturday, when the Phillies already will have a 2-0 lead. Ryan Howard had another monster second half and will keep the NL East champions on his broad shoulders for at least one more round. Prediction: Phillies in 5.

Diamondbacks vs. Cubs – All things being equal, I would take Chicago. But, c’mon, this is the team with home field advantage in the NL playoffs against a team that would have finished fourth in the West. And this is October. And these are the Cubs. Prediction: D-Backs in 3.

Red Sox vs. Yankees – Pitching and defense. Pitching and defense. Pitching and defense. Prediction: Sox in 6.

Phillies vs. Diamondbacks – Pitching and defense. Pitching and defense. Pitching and defense. Prediction: D-Backs in 5.

Red Sox vs. Diamondbacks – It’s the battle for Drew family honor. There are so many parallels to the 1997 and 2003 Florida Marlins here that it scares me. Expansion team that won a World Series too soon on the strength of free agency, hit rock bottom, then rebuilt from the ground up. The X-factor is that Brandon Webb is already way more accomplished than Beckett was in ’03. He’s the kind of guy who could channel Randy Johnson or Orel Hershiser, win two games and save another one if the cards fall that way. Not to mention that Arizona is battle tested from that ridiculously tight NL West stretch run. Prediction: D-Backs in 7.