It was a year that was, and a year that could have been.

The MLB postseason is underway, and it looks to be an intriguing field on the surface.

The big spotlights will be on the Phillies to see if they can maneuver their way past the Braves - and then the Dodgers or Diamondbacks - to gain a passport back to the World Series. There also are the Astros, who quietly snuck up on everyone and appear to be on track.

Then there’s the Orioles and the Twins, two of the game’s better feel-good stories, who both could break through.

In this week’s - and final season - version of my Behind the Plate column, I will take a look at the postseason as well as some teams who could have got there. It was fun for me, and I hope you enjoyed it this season.

Home Cookin’ ... The Phillies-Braves series looms as another good one. It may be hard to believe, but these clubs have only met two other times before this season. And there probably was some karma behind it.

Their first meeting was in 1993 with Jim Fregosi’s “Macho Row” crowd. It was a classic meeting that featured the Braves’ premier pitching staff of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Steve Avery - as loaded a foursome could be for a World Series ticket on a team that won 105 season games. The Phillies countered with Curt Schilling, Tommy Greene, Terry Mulholland, Danny Jackson and Ben Rivera.

Besides Lenny Dykstra’s key double in Game 5 of the series, fans may have forgotten Jackson’s heroics in Game 4. He scattered nine hits and allowed one run over 7 2/3 innings and knocked in the winning run with a two-out single for a 2-1 victory.

Last season, the teams ironically met 30 years later in the NLDS. In the opener, Nick Castellanos helped set the tone for the series when he drove in three runs and made a sliding catch in the ninth to stifle a Braves’ rally.

From there, the Phils bounced back from a 3-0 shutout by the Braves’ Kyle Wright, who outdueled Zack Wheeler.

They ended the series in the next two games with 9-1 and 8-3 victories. Aaron Nola twirled six shutout innings and received homers from Rhys Hopkins - remember him? - and Bryce Harper in Game 3, while Brandon Stott slugged a three-run shot and J.T. Realmuto added an inside-the-parker in Game 4. Who was the winning Phillies pitcher in Game 4? It was current Braves reliever Brad Hand.

That was a Braves team that won 101 regular season games.

Fast forward to this season, and the Braves won 104 regular-season games, and held most of the league’s hitting marks. The Phillies slightly improved from 87 to 90 wins, posting a 49-29 slate from June 1 to Sept. 1.

A few weeks ago, I couldn’t see the Phillies getting back to the World Series. Since then, Wheeler and Nola look razor sharp, and the bullpen is solid. A big turnaround has been Trea Turner, who hit .333 in both August and September after a .218 clip in July. Remember the staged standing ovations to help lift his spirits?

After they stole five bases in a 3-0 shutout Saturday night, the Phils may have found some magic again.

Escape From New York ... Before the season, expectations were high in the Big Apple for both the Mets and Yankees, but their fortunes fizzled at the All-Star break like a soaked firecracker.

The Mets’ formidable frontline starters Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander battled through injuries and inconsistencies, and both were shipped off. Offensively, Jeff McNeil’s, Sterling Marte’s, and Daniel Vogelbach’s projected big seasons never materialized, and the Mets went from a 101-win team to a 75-win team.

As predicted by many, manager Buck Showalter was gone and GM Billy Eppler bolted on the heels of an anticipated injured list scandal. A source told me that new bossman David Stearns will bring in Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell to run the club.

As far as the Yankees, they too were hit with their share of injuries - primarily Aaron Judge and the starting staff. The overall lineup failed to connect, and the team has several holes to fill. D.J. LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres both had off years at the plate. The future of GM Brian Cashman apparently is still up in the air, which would also affect manager Aaron Boone.

The Yankees made a late run to finish with an 82-80 record, but it was their lowest win total since they had 76 wins under Showalter.

Both teams infused some young blood into their respective lineups in the last two months, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out in spring training.

Speaking of New York talent that sputtered, where have you gone Mike Vail and Celerino Sanchez? And speaking of Showalter, look for him to be a strong candidate for the Angels’ position.

Bucs, Reds, and Twins ... At the end of April, I thought the Pirates could be one of the game’s Cinderella stories with a 19-9 record. They were a young team with some veteran presence, yet they pumped some life back into Bucco fans.

However, their inexperience began to show during the summer when they limped their way from May 1 to September 1 with a 41-64 record. They did finish with an overall 76-86 record, a 14-game improvement from their 62-100 mark last season.

The Reds also were an early surprise and managed to stay in the running for the NL Central crown until the end. They were 44-39 on July 1 and finished the final stretch with a 38-31 record. This also is a young team that truly worked off their chemistry, as they hit just .247 and had a 4.79 ERA as a team.

Cincinnati’s 82-80 was good for third, and it also left them with plenty of hope for the future.

Minnesota posted two impressive victories over Toronto in the AL wild card round, and they now have Houston. For their sake, they don’t have the face the Yankees again this season, having a 2-16 postseason record against them.

The Twins have won the AL Central three times in the last five years, and they have begun to embed themselves in a nice spot. It brings back plenty of memories of the days of Bert Blyleven, Rod Carew, and Harmon Killebrew.

No LA-LA Here ... The Dodgers battled through a rash of injuries to win the NL West.

Veteran starter Clayton Kershaw has managed to pull it all together after a slow start for a variety of reasons, and finished with a 13-5, 2.46 line. However, Kershaw is 13-13 in the postseason after their Game One drubbing against Arizona.

Offensively, they won 100 games, and the foursome of Freddie Freeman (.331, 29 homers, 102 RBIs), Mookie Betts (.307, 39, 103), Max Muncy (.212, 36, 105), and J.D. Martinez (.271, 33, 103) should make you think twice about just Atlanta being dominant.

Trivia Time ... Realmuto was the first catcher in postseason history to hit an inside-the park homer. The last catcher to hit one in the regular season was Arizona’s Damian Miller in 2002.

Who was the last Phillie catcher to achieve it during the season? It was Bob Boone on July 10, 1976 against the Padres. Other Phillie catchers since 1950 to accomplish it were Andy Seminick (1950), Del Wilbur (1951) and Joe Lonnett (1957). Seminick also did it in 1947.

Final thoughts ... A special thank you to Richard Ochs, Jim Bechtel, and Mitch Thomas, all of whom were regular contributors to the column. Hearing from readers makes it all worthwhile. Also, thanks to editor Emmett McCall and assistant editor Rod Heckman, who made it all possible.

Hope your enjoyed, and see you in the spring!

Feedback ... Your comments, thoughts, and ideas are welcomed at tnsports@tnonline.com