2007 MLB Postseason

Well, I'm not all that confident in betting for the Red Sox, but tradition dictates that I do. I mean, they ended up 8-10 against the god damn Yanks AND got swept by them in the final meeting. And I sincerely doubt a repeat of 2004 would happen.

However, the Sox have a bullpen that is not only deep, but impressive (well, as soon as they bench Gagne, that is).

But hey, as long as the Yankees lose, I'm okay with whatever. I got supreme joy seeing their 9 year Division Championship streak end.

As a life-long Cubs fan, I can only hope that they play well enough to earn the right to be pounded by any one of the AL teams in the WS.

The Yanks are going to win again. I don't know why I think that, probably because they're the Yankees.

AL

NY vs Cleveland
Game 1 Wang vs Sabathia
GAme 2 Pettitte vs Carmona
Game 3 Clemens vs Westbrook

Yanks won series 6-0 but didn't face Sabathia and Carmona pitched well agains them. I don't like the Yanks pitching but Borowski is the Indians closer and he's shit.

I'll still take the Indians 3-2 with Sabathia MVP

Boston vs LA Angels
Game 1 Beckett vs Lackey
Game 2 Schilling vs Escobar
GAme 3 Matsuzaka vs Weaver

Lackey has sucked at Fenway and the Red Sox line up is stacked. Angels are nicked up a bit.
Red Sox win 3-0

NL

Arizona vs Chicago
Game 1 Webb vs Zambrano
Game 2 Lilly vs Davis
Game 3 ??? Owings/Livan Hernandez vs Hill/Marquis

Cubs are hot at the plate. A record amount of doubles(team) for the season and record for most HR in September(team).

Zambrano is starting on the road which is great. He can be a head case but should be less pumped on the road.

The Cubs have better starters and that should carry them to the 3-1 series win.

[b]Philadelphia vs ???[/url]
If it's SD I think the Phillies take it in 3 as the Padres travel will really hurt them. With the Rockies it could go 5 because Coors and whatever the ball park in Philly is called are run scoring heaven. That series will be a slugfest.

too early to tell.

Go Rockies tonite.

Go Phils!

"Hey Wang! No offense."

Josh Fogg, the "Giant Killer", will be victorious with his usual dominant 5.0 IP, 5ER, 4BB, 1K game, because the Rockies will score enough to hold off that weak ass SD offense.

Has anyone broken down the Ex-Cub factor yet? Right now I'm hoping for Indians in the AL and either Phillies or Rockies in the NL.

The Padres are fucked even if they win tonight. Rotation outta whack. Too much travel and our only consistant run producers hurt. Damnit.

Between the Padres and Chargers, this town is down.

Still rooting for the Padres though. That is, if they make into the Playoffs.

For major league baseball's sake, let's go Cubs!

All of these Yankee predictions are nonsense. They start on the road against two of the toughest pitchers in baseball, plus they're facing a pretty impressive line-up that can tattoo the Yankee starters & pen. Wang gets to start on the road where he's not nearly as impressive, plus I'm sure the Cleveland grounds crew will make the infield as hard as possible for his sinker.

Yes, the Yanks have the best 1-9 line-up in the game, but their pitching isn't where it needs to be, I don't think.

I also don't get how the Angels are the only team that can beat the Yanks. Last I checked, the Yanks were the 4th best team in the AL. This is MLB...hardly anything expected happens.

The Red Sox are lined up as good as they can possibly be for the post-season. I really like their chances, plus they get home-field for the first time in, oh, 60 years. Besides, today is the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Impossible Dream!!! (Oct 1, 1967, Sox beat the Twins to win the pennant by 1 game over Minn and Det)

Over in the NL, Philly's on fire, but their pitching needs to settle down a bit for me to really like them. I like the Cubs and I like Arizona, but aren't they opening against each other?

The Phillies don't travel well, but starting in their home park will help out. If SD somehow beats COL, the travel will hurt them game one (so will Cole Hamels).

And the fact that Peavy won't show up till game 3 is a plus. Of course, the Phillies rotation is not THAT scary either.

Cole Hamels has pitched well in the two times since his injury. Kendrick has been good, though the pressure of the game might hurt. Moyer can get 5 good innings. And Loshe has been alright (though not reliable). Most importantly, Adam Eaton, 610am is reporting, is NOT going to be on the roster. Not even in the bullpen. How's THAT for awesome?

If the NLCS is Philly vs. Chicago, I think Philly takes the series and then face Boston in the World Series. If the NLCS is Arizona vs. Philly, then I'm not as confident. I was convinced that the Phillies wouldn't get in at all, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't end up getting all the way to the end.

Regardless, the real victory is only losing 4 games over the last 17 games and helping push the Mets out of the postseason. Around here, that's as good as a championship. Well, almost.

For sure. But I'm of the belief the Mets lost the season (spectacularly, might I add) as opposed to anyone winning it. 13 out 17 wins for the Phillies sure helps, though.

I gotta say, I am loving the fact the Yankee games are starting at 6:30. You mean I can watch the whole playoff game and not have to drag my ass out of bed for work the next morning after 5 hours of sleep?

And Sunday has a solid 12 hours straight of playoff baseball (assuming all four series are still going). I don't remember a day where there were 4 consecutive games in one day.

Even if the Rockies end up winning this game, Holliday lost the MVP by misplaying a fly ball, then striking out with the go-ahead run on second all in the 8th inning.

11th inning! Go Padres!

Right when that ball flew over his head, I thought the same thing. "There goes the MVP..."

Then the fans chanted M-V-P during his at-bat.

Then it grew silent.

Aaaannnnnddd that will make up for it.

Wow. He didn't touch home. Sucks to be a Padres fan.

That being said, still an exciting ending.

Hilarious. 162 games + 13 innings and the winning run doesn't even touch home plate. Let that one keep you warm for the winter, Padres.

There were a couple missed calls in this game. Atkins double was a homer. It clearly hit the top of the yellow barrier.

After that interview, Holliday knows he didn't touch the plate.

Plus he thanked god for giving him this opportunity. Not cool.

No kidding. I was in the bleachers in Center Field. It was crazy. Way to go Rockies.

As for the call at home. IF he missed...it's a make up call because they blew Atkins HR calling it a double.

And how good is it gonna be to see Todd Helton finally get to play in the Playoffs...without having to be traded to Boston or NY.

Gotta love seeing the Mets(1969) and the Padres(1984) missing the playoffs on their last game. Met fans can never bring up 69' to a Cub fan again. Their collapse was much worse.

This 10/9pm start time is crap. How do they expect big ratings when the games go on past midnight?

As for the 4th series
Colorado vs Philadelphia
Game 1 Francis vs Hamels
Game 2 ?
Game 3 ?

I want Colorado to win because I know Hamels will own the Cubs. The ballparks make it tough to call. The team that wins game 1 wins the series.

So does Webb get the Cy Young over Peavy? Harang? And MVP is either someone on Colorado or Rollins, right?

No question it should go to Rollins. Holliday had a great season, but his home/road splits are pretty telling, and Rollins hit a ton on the road. Plus his 20-20-20-20 season should lock it up.

Speaking of last night's game, was anyone actually surprised Hoffman blew it? When I think of Trevor Hoffman, I think of a guy with a ton of saves, but no memorable ones. I only remember chokes like last night, and last year's All-Star game.

Seriously, can someone please refresh my memory on a relevant Hoffman save?

As soon at the announcers mentioned that he had gotten warmed up and sat down four separate times during the extra innings, I knew his goose was cooked. He had the same trouble with the Dodgers a year ago in the game where we hit 4 consecutive home runs for the tie (and the blown save). The man doesn't seem to deal well with warming up and then sitting down. Must be getting old.

Phils are going Hamels-Kendrick-Lohse-Moyer, I believe. Might not be the correct order, but I imagine it is -- probably don't want Moyer facing this offense until absolutely necessary. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they throw Hamels out on short rest in Game 4 if the Phils are down in the series.

I was going say that I'm shocked at the amount of confidence Padre fans and baseball fans in general still have in Hoffman. Yeah, he's the all-time saves leader, and he was the biggest draw on the team for many years, but he's blown the save in many of the big games he's been involved in. Those of us who were in San Diego at the time still remember him blowing Game 3 of the '98 Series, and last night I definitely felt a little deja vu when he came in. Not saying I want this, but perhaps now that the failure has finally come in an elimination game, Hoffman will be viewed in a different light?

I watched it on DVD yesterday afternoon, and wasn't surprised this morning when I heard he'd lost the WC game.

Poulsonator is right. I think of him as someone I don't want in a BIG save opportunity.

My predictions/hopes for the postseason:

Phillies over Rockies 3-2
D-Backs over Cubbies 3-1
Indians over Yankees 3-2
Red Sox over Angels 3-0

D-Backs over Phillies 4-2
Red Sox over Indians 4-2

Red Sox over D-Backs 4-0

Obviously I'm biased because of my Sox love. And I also love the D-Backs, but I want them to meet so I can hopefully get tickets to game four and potentially be in person to see the Sox win the series. Could be unlikely, but that's how I'm going.

I'm seeing Yanks/Cubs. A part of me thinks to say Phils, but that pitching makes wince. I have this feeling they've gotten lucky lately with that staff and it can't last.

BTW, Hoffman's over-rated. I don't care how many regular season saves he has. What was the last big game he saved? I knew as soon as he came in last night that it was over. When I think of Hoffman, I think Scott Brosius hitting that 3-run shot off him in the 98 WS.

Hoffman shouldn't be viewed in a different light. He just needs to shut it down. Players have figured out the Change up and they can sit on it.

He had 40 saves again this year, but the season is taking a harder toll on him these days. San Diego fans will let a lot of players slide based on the past. We are not used to being competitive every year. If we want a consistantly good team we are going to have to toughen up a bit.

Heart breaker last night. I guess I'm rooting for the Rockies now. I'd love to see the World Series in Coors Field.

PS - Both posts above were made by me and not Gracie.

The only difference between Hoffman and Jeff Reardon is that Hoffman pitched longer.

You and me both. But frankly if the Rox could push the Phillies to a game 5 it would be enough for me. Everything after last night is just gravy.

And Hoffman hasn't attempted to rob a jewelry store. Yet.

I wrote a piece in today's Philadelphia Inquirer about being a Phillies fan in NYC. Hope you like.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opini...anquished.html

While I'd like to see Yanks vs. Cubs I'm not convinced that Yankee pitching will take them that far.

edit: Great article, Alex. The Nuremberg quote made me laugh out loud. As a Yankee fan I'm afraid I can't share your empathy for the Mets fans, though I'm glad Randolph gets to keep his job.

As a Yank fan myself, I took an ugly amount of glee when the Mets started to tank. It's just something I like watching. That said, I'm also glad Willie kept his job. He didn't deserve the boot.

Honestly, if you can trade Beltran and Milledge to get a Santana, you'd better goddamn do it. Better throw Pelfrey and Humber in.

If the Mets only offered Beltran and Milledge for Santana, the Twins would hang up the phone and never answer a call from Omar again. You'd have to offer Pelfrey and Humber, along with Beltran (gotta replace Torii Hunter) and Milledge + ??? to even get in the door for negotiations. You'd also have to make sure to sign Santana to an extension, otherwise it would be a colossal waste.

I've had many dreams about Santana in a Red Sox uniform, but the Sox would have to offer Ellsbury and Buchholz, plus Coco, plus ??? to get him. A staff with him on it (especially when you keep him off of the Yanks roster) is a wet-dream, but I like how the Sox are actually buidling from within, and I'd hate to trade away so much youth.

Still, you have to go after Santana if he hits the market. I'm curious as to what people are going to offer and to see what the Twins will want for him.

So the Rockies win game 1 so I'll take them to win the series. Rockies have some rookies pitching next but the Phillies really need to win behind Hamels.

Not a good loss, but I wouldn't count the Phils out just yet. They faced the Rockies' best starter, and I like the SP match-ups for the next few games.

These 'Frank TV' ads are really annoying. Is this show just going to be four impressions, three of which aren't so good, over and over?

Oh, and GO SOX GO!