Sports!!

The MLB playoffs are here and its about time. I love this time of year bc the intrigue of the NFL and college football are just starting up and then you have the MLB playoffs right in the midst of it. These playoffs do not include the Yankees, and frankly, I don’t mind. Its nice to have some new teams in the playoffs this year. I think each and every team has a realistic shot at winning it all. Sure, there are a couple teams that stand out, but the MLB playoffs are a different season, as it is with all playoffs in sports. The White Sox battling it out for the division title with an extra game just adds to the spice of things and give the potential of an All-Chicago series. I would love to see that, but as you will read below, I don’t think it will happen.

Cubs – Dodgers: Joe Torre is in the playoffs, but the Yankees aren’t. I think that’s perfect justice with the Yankees not bringing him back last year. Although, they probably wouldn’t be in the playoffs without Manny’s heroics. Unfortunately, they don’t have the pitchers to go toe to toe with the Cubs powerful rotation. As long as Big Z doesn’t implode (him starting Game 2 should help), the Cubs should win easy. There is the potential of a sweep, but I am saying Cubs in 4.

Brewers – Phillies: These two teams are pretty similar if you ask me in their general makeup. A solid beginning of their rotation, a dangerous lineup and a smart defense. But the Phillies have Ryan Howard which will probably make the difference in this series. I am taking the Phillies in 5

Rays – White Sox: The White Sox had to play an extra game to get in, but as long as they got in, right? These Rays are probably the story of the year and have been great at home. They’re young, hungry, and out to prove they are better than everyone is giving them credit for. The White Sox have a team that is good, but doesn’t always show up. I am taking the Rays in 5

Angels – Red Sox: This is going to be a dogfight of a series with some elite pitching going head to head and each lineup being as dangerous as the other. The Red Sox probably have a slight edge in experience, but the Angels did win it all in 2002. The Angels have K-Rod…but the Sox have Papelbon. This is a toss up of a series, but the Red Sox don’t have Manny and I think that will hurt just a little. I am taking the Angels in 5.

I will be blogging after each round, but my World Series pick right now is the Cubs over the Rays. The Cubs finally get over their “curse.” The White Sox took forever between WS wins and so did the Red Sox, so its about time for the Cubs. They great story of the Rays won’t result in what they’re hoping, but they’ll come close and be back fighting for it again next year.

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What a baseball season so far, eh? Its been exciting to watch and follow and its hard to believe that we still have a lot of baseball left to play. So, here is my breakdown, division by division. At the end I will throw out some predictions for the end of the season, playoffs, and World Series.

NL East: Where are the Mets and Johan Santana? Calling the Mets…where are you? Ok, so the Mets didn’t quite work out as planned through the first couple months of the season, eventually firing their manager. The don’t have the depth in pitching they probably need and their big bats are inconsistent. They’ll scare the Phillies and Marlins, but thats probably about it. Speaking of the Marlins, where did they come from?! I love how they bring some great players through their system, have them be productive and then go on a fire sale.This is a team that just decides to pop up every few years and win a World Series out of nowhere. They’ll contend. The Phillies looked in control but their pitching depth could hurt them. They probably have one of the best lineups in the game with Utley, Rollins, and Howard. They won the division last year, looking to do it again. The Braves…not much to say. Decimated by injuries. Losing Glavine and Smoltz was huge. Their rotation is ok, but at times inconsistent. And their bullpen is less than desired for the most part. They have some big bats, but they don’t always show up. When they do, it is quite a show. Chipper is their best story as he tries to chase .400. If they put together a solid second half, they just might contend for a wild card. The Nationals…no comment.

NL Central: The only teams that are worth noting are the Cubs, Brewers, and Cardinals. Two of these teams made some nice trades for pitching. The Brewers got CC Sabathia and that gives them a great 1-2 punch with him and Ben Sheets. If they don’t win the division, they’ll be the team to beat in the wild card race. The Cardinals didn’t make any moves, but are staying right there with these two teams even with Pujouls missing some time. They always put themselves in the mix of things, so watch out for them birds. But this may indeed be the year of the Cubs. They came flying out of the gate and haven’t missed a beat. Big Z has been lights out, Dempster has been great switching from the bullpen, and they just added Rich Harden. Through in Ted Lilly and a 5th starter of their choosing, and they just might have the best rotation in baseball this year. Now, Harden is an injury risk, but if he pans out, this just might indeed be the year of the Cubbies.

NL West: Honestly, is there anything to say about this division? The Dodgers and Joe Torre are a story, but not doing much right now. The only two solid pitchers in the division are on the same team, the D-backs. They started off hot, but have cooled out in the desert. Being above .500 in the division is a huge accomplishment. The Rockies have been a little disappointing, and will probably need a 35 game win streak to even contend for the wildcard. The D-backs, on the arms of Haren and B-Webb, will more than likely take this division unless something freaky happens.

AL East: What an exciting division to watch! Let’s start from the bottom and go up. The Orioles are, well, the Orioles. At least they are making some noise and didn’t roll over and play dead. The Blue Jays…if they weren’t in this division, they would be contending for the division title. The Yankees. Different regime, same disappointment. You’d think with their millions of dollars they spend they would be nearly unstoppable. At least they are bringing in young guys for their rotation. If you haven’t seen Joba Chamberlin pitch, you don’t know what you’re missing out on. The Red Sox, the defending champs, are just hanging around right now. They could probably run away with this division anytime they want but are just focusing on each game. Powerful lineup, solid pitching, great defense, the makings of another World Series champion if they reach it. However, they do have to deal with the young upstart Rays. Ever since the dropped “Devil” from their name, they have been a ray of sunlight in the east. Young lineup, but smart. A solid rotation. One thing they lack is experience, but they may not be a problem. The race for the AL East is now a three team show, and the team no one expected to be here just might surprise everyone. And what is even more surprising, their is a distinct possibility that neither the Red Sox or Yankees make the playoffs. I saw a stat when they played each other a week ago and it was the first time since 1997 that neither team was leading the division. Now I wonder, when was the last time neither team made the playoffs.

AL Central: This has been an interesting division. Teams that are in contention are surprising. The Royals are the only team that are where they are usually, near the bottom, although they made some noise early. Kinda disappointing they couldn’t stick around longer. The Tigers were supposed to run away with this division, but the White Sox are doing that. The Twins are in contention and no one thought they had a prayer with losing Johan. Its been sad to watch the Indians though as they were so close last year, but are now already beginning to look towards next year. The wild card probably won’t come from here, so you gotta win the division to get to the playoffs. With the White Sox, Twins, and Tigers all still gunning for that spot with half the season left, it will be another race that will be worth to watch.

AL West: The Angels always seem to win the division. The Mariners were a trendy pick to contend, but they find themselves at the bottom of the division and their big offseason move, Eric Bedard, on the DL. The A’s might make some noise and the Rangers will continue to be the Rangers. So, the Angels, with some good hitting and some solid pitchers in Saunders and the other Santana, shouldn’t have any problems.

Now, my picks

NL East: Phillies
NL Central: Cubs
NL West: Diamondbacks
NL Wildcard: Brewers

NL Championship: Cubs over Phillies

AL East: Rays
AL Central: Tigers
AL West: Angels
AL Wildcard: Red Sox

AL Championship: Rays over Red Sox

World Series: Cubs over Rays

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Ok, the Red Sox just opened up the season of baseball against Oakland in Japan. Dice-K had a nice homecoming but a rough outing. The Sox and A’s split the series in a season that should be full of the usual along with some surprises. In the AL, I am really interested to see how the Tigers’ powerful lineup does after Maggie’s awesome season last year and the addition of Miguel Cabrera. I also wonder if the D-train will get back on track this year too. The Indians will be in the mix too in that division after coming up just short of making the World Series last year. In order to go farther, their other SPs need to step it up just a little more. The Angels will be rotating about a million guys in their outfield this year, but as long as their rotation is solid, they’ll be a contender. The Mariners did add Eric Bedard to their rotation, but I don’t if he and King Felix can carry them. The Angels are the trendy pick to win and represent the AL this year. If thats true, they’ll have to deal with the biggest rivalry in baseball, the Yankees and Red Sox. Both these teams have, as always, stacked lineups and both have some questions concerning their rotations. The Yankees are finally young at pitcher, but somewhat unproven. They have the potential though to become some really good pitchers over the next couple of years. The Red Sox have their two main starters from last year, Schilling and Beckett, on the DL right now, so they’ll be looking to Dice-K, Wakefield and Lester to really carry that pitching staff for the first few weks.
Over in the NL, the biggest news is Santana chose the other New York team, the Mets. The had that disappointing finish last year, allowing the Phillies to win the division. The Phillies won’t be laying down this year. Howard, Rollins, and Utley want to retain that NL East crown and go even farther into the playoffs. Unfortunately, they ran into the red-hot Rockies in the playoffs last year and there wasn’t anything they could do. You can’t forget about the Braves either. Smoltz is still going strong, Glavine still has some stuff left in the tank, Hudson will be a quality starter and if Hampton is finally healthy, they’ll have one of the best pitching staffs in the bigs, which helped them to so many division titles in the 90s. But with the Mets and Phillies in the same division, they’ll be lucky to get the wildcard. Since I am a big fan of them, I want to say they will, but the sportsperson in me says they’ll be just short. Whomever does get the wildcard, it will come from that division though, not the NL West like it did last year. The Rockies had an unbelievable streak there to end the season, but I don’t know if we’ll see that again, or even see them win the division. I think their division has the most question marks. The Padres had the pitching last year, but fell just short. That offense really needs to get going. The Diamondbacks have some great pitching this year too, especially with the addition of Dan Haren. But they need some more offense too. The Rockies are young, have the offense, but play in a hitters park. Its really a tossup on who will win this divsion, especially when you add the Dodgers with Joe Torre as their manager. Then you have the Cubbies of the NL Central. They won it last year in a division where it seemed like the Cubs and Brewers didn’t want the division crown. This year the Cubs look a little tougher. Neither made huge upgrades, but it will probably come down to them again. You can’t forget about the Cardinals either, but they seem to have a lot of questions at pitching and their offense is only going to be as good as Pujols. But now for my predictions.

AL West
1. Angels
2. Mariners
3. Rangers
4. A’s

AL Central
1. Tigers
2. Indians
3. Twins
4. White Sox
5. Royals

AL East
1. Yankees
2. Red Sox
3. Blue Jays
4. Rays
5. Orioles

Divisional Round
Yankees over Angels
Tigers over Red Sox

Championship Round
Tigers over Yankees

NL East
1. Phillies
2. Mets
3. Braves
4. Nationals
5. Marlins

NL Central
1. Cubs
2. Brewers
3. Cardinals
4. Reds
5. Astros
6. Pirates

NL West
1. Diamondbacks
2. Rockies
3. Padres
4. Dodgers
5. Giants

Divisional Round
Cubs over Diamondbacks
Phillies over Mets

Championship Round
Cubs over Phillies

World Series
Tigers over Cubs

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