Baseball Playoffs Are Here

A nice bonus to baseball fans will happen tonight as the Twins take on the Tigers at 5:00. I already touched on this one, but with the unveiling that Miguel Cabrera was picked up by a member of the Tigers organization after being brought to the "drunk tank" following a possible domestic abuse with his wife (this after he allegedly got extremely intoxicated with a member of the Chicago White Sox, who they were playing)...perhaps it's no wonder Miggy is slumping when the Tigers need him most. Advantage: Twins.

Yankees/Twins/Tigers: The winner of said matchup will head to NY to face the Yankees Wednesday evening. Say what you will but neither team poses much of a threat to the Yankees who are the overwhelming favorites to win the AL. The interesting things to watch here will be what kind of start does A-Rod get off to? He hit 2 homers and drove in 7 rbi's in one inning during the last game of the season to bring him up to 30 homers and 100 rbi's. If he gets off to a nice start it could be a big post-season for A-Rod and that may spell goodnight to the rest of the teams. Also interesting will be to see how CC pitches. He has struggled at times in the playoffs and despite a dominant second half he comes off a terrible outing in his latest start against the Rays...if he shakes that and returns to form the Yanks are going to be murder to beat. Lastly, will Joba come out of the pen? If so, how effective will he be? Do they dare bring him in for a big 7th inning? He came out reportedly tossing 95 in a scoreless inning against the Rays this weekend. At least it didn't take the Yanks too long to figure out where he belongs....
Prediction: Yanks break out the brooms.

Boston/Angels: Here is a rare series where the road team is actually favored, not only in game 1, but on the series...at least according to Vegas. The first matchup of Lackey/Lester looks like a good one for the Red Sox and I must admit I don't think the Angels will be able to get it done here. The Red Sox are simply more talented. You can bring up the Al East's record vs the NL West and the Angels record against Boston and New York all you want...but when you look at the overall talent on both teams the Red Sox are simply better. I don't expect a sweep here but if the Sox take 1 of the first 2, expect them to close it out in game 4. Both teams come in having won a few games in a row so they should both be at optimal performance.
Prediction: Boston in 4.

NL:
Philly/Colorado: If there is a bit of an upset looming I feel this series may be it. The Phillies are in fact the better team, but if Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee don't turn into aces they may be in trouble. Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez quietly turned in one of the more underrated seasons in the majors. His 3.47 ERA as a starting pitcher at Coors Field says all you need to know and the kid can throw serious flames. His biggest drawback is that he walks a lot of guys but his ability to strike out a high percentage of batters often allows him to escape jams. It would not be shocking to see him out-duel Hamels at this point and if that happens the scale swings to Colo. That said I am not by any means dismissing the Phillies and their title defense. Hamels k/bb numbers all year have been pretty good and he got it going in the second half. If Cliff Lee and him throw well and the bullpen of Lidge and Madson don't implode you are forced to deal with a powerful lineup playing in two major home run parks.The Phillies middle of the order is still arguably the toughest to get through in baseball and when they start getting guys like Werth, Victorino and Rollins to hit there is literally not a team in the NL that can compete.
Prediction: Phillies in 5

Dodgers/Cardinals:
The other matchup that Vegas favors the road team. The Cardinals are pretty decent favorites on the road with Carpenter throwing in game 1. The Dodgers backed into the playoffs and at this point it is impossible to like them. Manny isn't swinging a good stick and reliable guys like Billingsley have lost a lot of their luster. The Cardinals, much like the Phillies have a lineup that is near impossible to get through if you let one of their first two hitters on...because Pujols and Holliday are straight murder. The supporting cast of hitters in St. Louis is not as strong as the other teams but those two guys could easily be argued the best combo. At this point it is certainly stronger than the Dodgers and the Cardinals are everyone's pick to win the NL. Be careful here, the Dodgers are managed by playoff veteran Joe Torre and Manny's bat can wake up at a moment's notice. They have one of the best closers in baseball, some capable arms and Kemp, Ethier, Hudson, Loney and Martin vary from very good hitters to dangerous bats. Impossible to side with the Dodgers here, but wouldn't be totally shocking to see them wake up and get it done, especially with home-field advantage.
Prediction: Cardinals in 5.

So I'm a total square. I couldn't bring myself to pick any of the underdogs to win the series despite two of them holding home-field advantage. Anyway, for your conference series predictions:

Yanks/Sox: The classic ALCS that everyone is sick of but secretly wants to see because it is, after all, the Yanks and the Sox. Much of this will depend on Hughes/Chamberlain and CC/Burnett. If CC and Burnett are dealing you have to like the Yankees. If the Sox continue to have figured out Burnett and CC's last start carries over the Sox could easily fly under the radar and steal the AL from the Yankees. Not sure why everyone assumes the Yanks will win just because they are the best team in baseball this year. They have a few question marks and as all of us who read Michael Lewis's Moneyball know - the MLB playoffs is a crapshoot.
Prediction: Soxxxxxxx steal it away in 7 at the new stadium (yes I'm a Yanks fan, and yes I know Babe Ruth will probably appear with a scythe in my dreams tonight).

Phillies/Cardinals:
Everyone knows I secretly adore these Phillies. It's sickening for an ultimate NY fan - Knicks, Yanks, Giants...hell I still like the St. John's Red Storm and Erik Barkley would play point guard on my all-time team...but I did predict their World Series last year and I have admitted, on the record, man-crushes on both Chase Utley and Cole Hamels. Hell, I once even won over an entire bar in Philadelphia on New Year's Eve after many "New York Giants" chants by re-directing about 75 angry glances with a "Cowboys suck" chant (this at least is how my drunk ass chooses to remember that night). Me and Philly have really bonded over the years. That said, I hate Philly. I hate everything about the place. Illadelph only provided one good thing - The Roots. The Eagles are a hideous disgrace. The Sixers, other than having Iverson, are detestable. I hate all of their college teams including Temple. The entire state of PA in fact is a terrible place. The ugliest and worst city (Pittsburgh) with the most annoying widespread fanbase in the country. No, I think it's time me and Pennsyltucky split forever and it starts with me siding with the St. Louis Cardinals this year.
Prediction: Cards in 4. Yeah, that's right.

World Series:
Pujols gets it done. Cards in 7.

While football is in full swing and the MLB playoffs get underway there really may be no better time to be a sports fan. Too many fans of baseball tend to only watch until their favorite team is out...and that's too bad. They miss some seriously good baseball. Sure, it's a boring sport...but when played right, the tension slowly mounting to a final pitch in the bottom of the 9th on a cold October night...there may be nothing better in sports. Enjoy.