C'mon guys don't tease us like this.

33 runs in two games?

I don't know what the record is but I don't believe any professional baseball team has ever scored 33 runs in its first two postseason games.

Isn't the competition supposed to get tougher in the playoffs?

Maybe the Auburn Doubledays are out to prove this isn't a normal season.

The first four seasons that Auburn has been affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays have been great. The Doubledays have won four Pinckney Division titles; you can't argue, the Blue Jays have done a better job of supplying talent than the Houston Astros, which Auburn had been affiliated with for the previous 20 seasons.

While Toronto can't do anything right with regard to the Syracuse SkyChiefs, they can do nothing wrong with the Doubledays.

And admit it, we're spoiled now.

We expect to win the Pinckney Division title every season, where else should the division crown named after our beloved Leo rest?

It was different this season though. On August 1, the Doubledays were 20-21, but right in the thick of the race, beneficiaries of a weak division.

But then a 25-9 finish turned a dogfight into a cakewalk.

After a sweep of Oneonta, the Doubledays have some time to rest and reflect before taking on Staten Island for the New York-Penn League championship.

For the players, this is their last week in our city. The majority of them will never return as they hope to make their way to their dream, the majors in Toronto.

Doubledays fans should thank the players for giving them some great memories, a no-hitter, offensive outbursts and, of course, the Pinckney Division title and a berth in the championship series.

But I hope the Doubledays can take it one step better than their predecessors and win the New York-Penn League championship.

Win it for yourselves; it's your hard work that got you to this point. You deserve to celebrate your achievements.

But look at the name of the city on your road uniforms: AUBURN.

The city of Auburn has had a storied 47-year history in the New York-Penn League. Some great players have come through here, from Mel Stottlemyre and Tug McGraw to Billy Wagner and Kenny Lofton. From Rick Dempsey to Morgan Ensberg and Johan Santana.

The reasons why a NY-P team resides here in our 10-year-old ballpark are the results of the same hard work of many people, the kind that got you to this point.

You know Leo, our "Mr. Baseball," a gentleman who epitomizes what our city is about. You know plenty of others, the thousands of fans who came out and cheered you just as hard when you were 20-21 or 45-30.

On Sunday, you played in Oneonta, one of the NY-P's oldest cities, in front of a paltry 441 fans. As recently as 10 years ago, the NY-P had teams in cities throughout upstate New York.

Small cities like Elmira, Utica, Watertown and Geneva had teams. Your shortest road trip is 90 minutes to Batavia; 10 years ago it was 30 minutes to Geneva or an hour to Watertown or Utica.

But now you ride a bus for hours to Niles, Ohio and Brooklyn. The NY-P League is leaving the small cities behind for bigger markets, cities that should be in higher leagues, like full-season A or Class AA.

There is talk about changing the minors, with the possibility of the NY-P season starting in May and stocking teams with less-experienced players. Decades-long traditions are being cast aside.

You represent the old guard of the New York-Penn League.

In what may be the final season of the NY-P League as we know it, go out and bring the championship home to Auburn.

The loyal fans have waited a long time, 32 years, for an undisputed championship. Show the NY-P League that it isn't all about the big Staten Islands and Brooklyns, show them the little Auburns still count for something.

We don't expect another 33-run outburst, just win two more games, win the championship for yourselves and for some of the best baseball fans.

Sciria, The Citizen's sports editor, can be reached at 253-5311, ext. 258 or citizensports@lee.net