Thursday, October 2, 2008

100th Post: Postseason Predictions, Divisional Round

Ahhh, October is in the air. The weather is cooling down, football is in full swing, and the baseball playoffs are underway. The only bad thing about this season is that the girls stop wearing skirts in between now and November. However, Halloween slutiness still looms large! Anyway, on to the picks:

Cleveland and....oh yeah...fuck.

Chicago and Los Angeles

This is a tough series to pick. The Cubs have a great advantage in terms of pitching with Dempster, Zambrano, and Harden as opposed to the Dodgers' Lowe...uh...Lowe? To be completely honest I really can't name anyone besides Lowe off the top of my head right now. However, the Dodgers have Manny Ramirez, Jeff Kent, Rafael Furcal, and.....Andruw Jones. Their offense is explosive and Manny is usually an October beast. Couple that with the Cubs having a history of choking in big situations, and there is a Dodger win. Plus we have to consider Joe Torre's management skills and the fact that the Dodgers really have nothing to lose. They have no expectations coming from the shitfest NL West. The Cubs, however, have been media darlings all this year and barely held off the Brewers in their division.

Prediction: Dodgers in 4

Phillies and Brewers:

Wow, this is a tough series. I love the Brewers because they've been so bad for so long and are chock full of young talent. They got CC Sabathia in a midseason deal and he's pretty much carried them on his back to a wild card berth. They would have had a chance to make a deep run if Sheets weren't on the DL. They still have a pretty balanced pitching staff with Solomon Torres at the back end. Their offense is also pretty solid throughout with Prince Fielder, Bill Hall, Corey Hart, and Ryan Braun. However, I don't think they'll be able to match the Phillies in a 5 game series. The Phillies have a better starting rotation with Hamels, Myers, and Moyer (yeah I said it). Their offense is also pretty potent with Rollins, Howard, and MVP Chase Utley. Its tought not to like the Phillies in this posteason, much less this series. Plus they really fucked the Mets again this year, which is always a plus in my book.

Prediction: Phillies in 4. The Brewers will get a CC win.

Chicago (Fags) and Devil Rays.

Fuck the White Sox, thats why. I've stuck with the Rays since February. No reason to stop now.

Prediction: Devil Rays in 3.

Los Angeles of Anaheim and Boston

This is the toughest series for me to predict. I mean the Angels won 100 games but they haven't been tested really all season. Their division has been a joke the past few years. The Red Sox managed to get into the playoffs from the AL East despite trading Manny and battling (steroid related) injuries all season. I really want to pick the Angels here based on pure statistical reason, but I'm going to go with the Red Sox. They have the pedigree and they beat this same team (sans Torii Hunter) last year. The only real question the Red Sox face is their starting rotation. Does Paul Byrd have enough magic to beat another potent lineup? I'm giving the Teixiera/Hunter version of the Angels full respect here but...

Prediction: Red Sox in 5.

Well those are my divisional picks this postseason. I mean it's worthless for me to engage in an in-depth analysis of potential matchups because all these picks could be wrong (doubt it). I'll do a Championship Series prediction when that bridge needs to be crossed (assuming I have any credibility left). However, I will make further predictions right now for the rest of the postseason:

NLCS: Phillies over Dodgers in 6.
ALCS: Rays over Red Sox in 7.

World Series: Rays over Phillies in 5.

Yes, I am predicting the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays as 2008 Fall Classic champions. If I'm wrong, who cares? If I'm right, I'm a fucking genius.

No comments: