October Baseball Rules!

The divisional series' are over now and I want to take a look back at every series and let you know what I think is going to happen next.

Lets start in the National League because that's where my world series champion was swept.

The Dodgers and history destroyed the Cubs. Whether you believe it was the black cat or the goat or Bartman, or as me and the GM believe, the Dodgers just outplayed the poor Cubs, the series wasn't ever close. The Cubs had ever infielder on the team make an error (in the same game). They had bad starting pitching and well bad pitcher overall, they couldn't hit and after the Dodgers scored the first run in game 1, the crowd quit on them.

For a group of fans that want it so bad, they sure did quit on their team pretty quickly. You could tell after Manny's first home run that the team, the fans and that half of the city were dead. Its sad to be honest because every year this team makes the playoffs and loses the pressure just continues to build. I really wanted them to do it this year and really thought they could but whats another 100 years, right?

Lets move on to the Dodgers. Manny is playing out of his mind and Lowe and Billingsley are pitching out of their mind. What I failed to take into account when I made my prediction was the comeback of Rafael Furcal. He makes this team go and he is back and that makes them great. They have won 21 out of their last 27 and that's eerily similar to the Colorado Rockies of last year. I look back on this series and it was terribly easy to pick and I messed it up.

The other National League series featured the fightin Phils against the fightin CC's. Well CC himself didn't even win so really this series had nothing to it. It took a 45 year old pitcher on his worst day of the year for the Brewers to muster anything. I really hope that CC comes back and Sheets comes back and the Brewers stay together because if they do they will be an incredibly fun team to watch for a couple of years. This year it just wasn't to be. Oh and by the way, the Phils won with Utley and Howard having their worst series combined this year, I think.

The American League games were much more interesting even though the series didn't last much longer. First lets start with the Rays and White Sox. This series is like the won the Phils won. I don't really have much to say about it. The Rays pitchers were better, the Rays hitters were better and they fielded better also. The most interesting part of this series was when Grant Balfour and Orlando Cabrera started yelling and kicking dirt on each other like 5 year olds. I would take Balfour in a fight any day. Orlando, here is a little tip, next time you kick dirt at a pitcher, make sure you can hit his 97 mile an hour fastball. He made you look stupid and deserved to point you back to your seat. The Rays don't lose at home by the way so watch out the rest of the way.

Suicide Squadoosh. Ok, so Boston went out to Anaheim and won 2 in a row and everyone wrote off the league's best regular season team, and then them came back across country and won a game in the 12th and everything looked happy for the Angels once again. Then for some crazy reason with 1 out in the 9th and the go ahead run on third Mike Scioscia for calls for a suicide squeeze. I know, I know, the runner was fast and the batter was a good bunter but you had two outs to get him in. The infield was in and it was a 2-0 count. The pitcher throws heat and it had to be the perfect play for that to work. I know, that's the way the Angels do it. Forget it. That was a bad call AND it was bad execution. It wasn't one or the other it was BOTH!

And as for the better team lost the series. I don't agree. You may have had a better regular season record, Lackey, but you played 40 games against the poor AL West while Boston had to works its way through the tremendous AL East. I don't care what your record going into the series was, they pitched better, hit better, and fielded better then you. That makes them better! A team that lets a lazy fly ball with two outs fall in between 3 players doesn't deserve to be one of the last four teams. The Angels were great all season but now they are going to watch the rest from their living rooms and justifiably so.

So that leaves us with the Dodgers versus the Phils and the Red Sox versus the Rays. I think the Dodgers will keep riding high on Manny's back and they will ride that all the way into the World Series. As for the American league, I have never worn out only one of my sox and I don't think the Rays will either. I always wear out both sox and the Rays will beat the Red Sox this time and it will be the Rays and Dodgers for the big trophy. That is my revised picks and well, I was so far off on my first set that I really wouldn't believe me if I were you.

The other hot topic that came out of the divisional series is whether the series' should be 7 games instead of 5. There are lots of differing arguments about this and here is what I think: I think the series' should be lengthened to 7. You are probably saying but that means baseball will be going into November. No, no it doesn't have to and that is why I am for lengthening the playoffs. See, the baseball playoffs are so so so so much better then regular season and by lengthening them you will have to shorten the regular season. Cut 20 games out of the regular season and lengthen the playoffs and it will still end at the same time or even earlier. I love this idea because then the boring part ends sooner and the good part starts earlier. It's great! Hey Bud, did you hear that? It's Great!

Anyway, that's my take on the playoffs so far, and well, a bad guess at what is going to happen next. Enjoy the games and lets play some more ball!


GMs Thoughts:

So you are already giving up on your predictions?? What are you, some sort of fair weather fan? You picked the Sox over the Rays a week ago and now you are changing to the Rays over Sox?

Just so all of you readers now.....I am courageous enough to stick by my picks. Dodgers over Phils! And since I had the Angels winning it all I will take the Rays over the Sox since I didn't have the Sox in this round.