Baseball: More playoffs

6:58 AM
I: First, let's eradicate the elephant in the room. The Cory Lidle tragedy is obviously a sad story, but it really could have been worse, so let's be glad it wasn't. At the end of the day, when the uniforms come off, all baseball players are workers in society. They're just more famous for what they do. Anyway, too bad. Sad story for baseball yesterday.

Back to on-the-field: The Oakland A's have no homefield advantage in terms of fan support. Empty seats in a Championship Series? That's unacceptable, especially since they haven't been there since 1990. Detroit will be rocking for Games 3-5, and that is why I want them to win the whole thing at this point. And to think, three years ago they were chasing the worst record ever. Good story.

As far as the X's and O's of the ALCS, this has to go the Tigers way. Thought Zito is arguably the best starting pitcher of the series, he has already lost and the Tigers' starting pitching seems to be throwing a better ball right now. Add in the Rodney-Zumaya-Jones option at the end of a game(And no, I cannot believe I just laid praise on Fernando Rodney and Todd Jones), and this team is tough to score runs on. Their lineup is the second best lineup still going in baseball, if for no other reason than they have the knack of getting those huge hits.

Thoughts on the ALCS?


12:15pm
Way to pick the Tigers after they're already up 2-0. Risk taker. Normally people make these picks before the series starts but since we don't have that luxury I am going to retroactively predict that the Athletics will win this series in five games on the strength of their starting pitching. Of course now that proves impossible and I look like an idiot.

Speaking of starting pitching, what happened to the Athletics? You say that Barry Zito is arguably the best pitcher of the series, and considering the job he did on Tuesday that is definitely arguable. Listen here Mets, Yankees, Angels, and other teams looking to throw millions of dollars at a starting pitcher this offseason: Barry Zito is not that good (despite what Scott Boras may tell you). His numbers this season were strikingly similar to his 2004 campaign where he went 11-11 and had a 4.48 ERA playing half his games in his cavernous home park. His WHIP and K/BB were actually worse and his OPS against and ground ball to fly ball ratio were identical. Sure he has pretty hair and a curveball good enough to bring Candy Cummings back from the dead, but he's not worth the 12 to 15 million a year he will get. In fact, very few pitchers are in a world where Josh Johnson can give you a 3.10 ERA and success on the mound can be as fleeting as a professional athlete's relationship with Alyssa Milano.

And what more can be said about Esteban Loaiza aside from the fact that he should have decked Milton Bradley instead of being a huge gaping mangina about it. Okay, so it really wasn't a big deal but I would have loved to see that fight. Maybe Loaiza would get absolutely owned by our angry young friend but he's got three inches and 25 lbs on Bradley. And who would play peacemaker in that fight? Adam Melhuse or Marco Scutaro?

Bottom line: The A's are down two games to none and the Tigers haven't even pitched their two best starting pitchers. As Scooby Doo would say, "Ruh Roh Raggy..."

NLCS?


1:39 PM
The NLCS is tough, as the Cardinals have the best starting pitcher in the series, but the Mets have the best everything else. Often times, however, it comes down to who has the best starting pitcher to clinch those two games. That leaves the team only needing to take two of the remaining five games, while the opponent has to win four of the remaining five. The trick is, of course, to get those two wins from the stud pitcher. Just ask the Twins.

So, I'm taking Mets. They can probably split the Carpenter starts, and their lineup can definitely outslug the Cardinals' lineup in three of the other five games. If, however, the Cardinals do win, it'll be because Carpenter has two wins and Pujols pulled a Carlos Beltran 2004. (I'm looking forward to see if Carlos Beltran 2006 can pull a Carlos Beltran 2004.)

These first two games definitely set the pace for the series. If the Mets can leave Shea up 2-0, it probably shows St. Louis is out of their league, and the series will be done in four or five games. If the Cardinals can salvage a game at Shea, this series is definitely coming back to New York for Game 6 and probably 7, as the Cardinals should take two at home once they prove they can take one on the road.

I refuse to believe that this is the year either the A's or Cardinals finally break through for a World Series victory after all of their great teams earlier in the decade. Both of them have had consistently better teams come up short in recent times.

I'm not only predicting, but I'm hoping for a Tigers-Mets World Series. Two great crowds, two historical teams...that series will have a lot of juice. What are your predictions and what are you hoping for?

3:45pm
In response to being asked for a prediction, Clubber Lang once said,"Prediction? PAIN." And I too predict pain for anyone watching the NLCS this year. It's going to be ugly, ugly stuff. Bad pitching from both teams involved in a series is just no fun to watch. No fun at all.

It's hard to not see a Tigers-Mets World Series. It was my wish to see the Athletics win the World Series but the odds of that happening are looking bleak after the 2-0 defecit they put themselves in.

I don't have much to say about the Cardinals except that Bruce Bochy is the reason they made it to the the NLCS this year. As long as Willie Randolph is smart enough to not pitch to Albert Pujols I think the Mets will be fine. And speaking of fine Mets, how about that Tom Glavine? Interesting and esoteric statistics are great fun!

Final note on the NLCS: Game 4 is fixin' (yes, fixin') to match up pitchers Darren Oliver and Anthony Reyes in quite possibly the worst postseason pitching matchup in history. I'm calling ELIAS to confirm this.


5:36 PM
That's a great observation about Game 4. While I agree that it's much more compelling to watch well pitched series, I would definitely say that the viewing audience prefers slugfests. I think 10-8, 8-7, 9-6, 11-9 games would be very entertaining for the general audience. And it's those types of games that the Cardinals need when Carpenter isn't pitching, so you have a team trying for those scores. I'd much rather watch a pitching duel, but America wouldn't. Remember, these are the same people who will watch American Idol and Dancing with the Stars over The West Wing and Arrested Development.

Back to baseball, did you notice that it was the Tigers and Cardinals who staggered across the finish line? They really collapsed near the end. Now, the Tigers are the hottest team on the planet. Moreover, the Cardinals just ousted the Padres who had to play well to take their division over the Dodgers. Does this mean anything? Might the Cardinals surprise us, showing their midseason form over their September form, just like the Tigers did? How about this: Which is more likely to happen: The Cardinals win their series OR the A's force a Game 6.

5:57pm
I think the public, more than anything, wants to watch a game that progresses quickly. You can have your 11-9 slugfest, but it better be done in less than three and a half hours. I don't think you can make the Tigers-Cardinals corollary here. Different teams in different situations. The Tigers played themselves out of winning the division, the Cardinals almost played themselves out of the playoffs entirely.

I'm going to say that it's more likely that the A's force a Game 6 than the Cardinals win the NLCS. If either will happen is a different question entirely.