Posts: 128
Threads: 12
Joined: Jul 2003
Twins/Yankees:
Blah blah blah Yankees swept the Twins 7 straight, who gives a fuck. All those games were in April. Minnesota is a much better team than they were then. Johan Santana has emerged from the bullpen to be their ace, and the addition of Shannon Stewart completely changes the look of their offense. These 2 players will be the keys if the Twins have a chance this series. If Johan wins game 1 and Stewart can continue to get on base and make things happen they’ve got a decent chance of stretching the series to 5. But the big concern is with the rest of that offense, which had nobody hit 30 HR and only Hunter came close to driving in 100 with 102. Also, New York’s pitching is ridiculously superior. Minnesota wins game 1 behind Santana, but that’s it. Pettitte, Clemens, and Wells win the next 3. No way any team depending on Kenny Rogers in their rotation goes far in the postseason. Especially against the fucking Yankees. Another big factor, as usual, will be the bullpens.. If Eddie Guardado does not blow a save in this series I will be shocked.
YANKEES IN 4
Red Sox/A’s:
Another year, another first round loss for Oakland. Bottom line is they will be facing Pedro twice in a 5-game series. Oakland’s great pitching can not step up when it counts in October, especially with little run support. This year will be no different, especially without Mulder - not to mention Ray Durham and Jermaine Dye. Zito and Hudson were average all year and neither got any run support. This will not change now especially facing Pedro. Oakland simply does not have the depth in their rotation and in the bullpen to contain a very good offensive Boston team. Kim will step up and get a couple of big saves, and David Ortiz will drive in some big late-inning runs against a weak bullpen. Oakland’s offense, much like their bullpen, really doesn’t scare me, especially against a solid rotation of Pedro/Lowe/Wakefield/Burkett. Throw Ramiro Mendoza in there with tons of postseason experience, and this is a tough team to beat in a short series. Oakland didn’t have a single player hit above .300, with disappointing seasons from Tejada and Durazo. They have no real leadoff hitter and will NEVER win in October as long as they play this asinine, antiquated American League style of not bunting, not stealing bases, and not playing hit and run.
RED SOX IN 5
Cubs/Braves:
The battle of the Superstations! Very interesting matchup. I’ve been hearing all year that this Brave team is going to be different in October because of their offense. But that’s what they say EVERY year about Atlanta, and they bow out in the playoffs EVERY single year. Sheffield, Jones, Jones, Lopez, Furcal, and Giles. All had monster years. If 3 of those 6 play as well against the Cubs as they did all regular season, I’ll be shocked. Lopez will go 3 for 20, Furcal will get on base but not score much because Sheffield will be the only one doing anything offensively. Both Jones’ will suck, Giles will go hitless. All against a very good, young Chicago rotation. And how important is it that Zambrano stepped up and became the solid #4. Him starting means the perpetually shitty Shawn Estes won't. Wood and Prior give the Cubs the best 1-2 punch this postseason, but the big question is whether they can do it in the playoffs. In fact, the same question holds true for the entire Cubs team. Kenny Lofton, Moises Alou, Damian Miller, and Tony Womack (who won’t even play much) are the only players with any kind of significant postseason experience. But as Anaheim proved last year, all of this means absolutely NOTHING. The Cubs have a very underrated bullpen, with Borowski stepping up for the crappy Antonio Alfonseca. If Alfonseca has to pitch more than 4 innings this series, the Cubs are in trouble. Borowski has been their MVP in the bullpen, but their MVP overall has been Mark Grudzielanek who very quietly had a fabulous year getting on base and scoring runs. He hit over .360 against lefties (watch for him to have a big game 2 against Hampton), and always seems to come up with clutch hits. Speaking of clutch hits, the MOST UNCLUTCH SUPERSTAR I’VE EVER SEEN, Sammy Sosa, needs to be Bonds-like this series for this offense. As I said, this is a very interesting series very intriguing pitching matchups with Ortiz/Maddux/Hampton/Reynolds vs. Prior/Wood/Clement/Zambrano. It’s experience vs. youth in this one, with youth winning out.
CUBS IN 5
Marlins/Giants:
Florida is a very, very, very, very dangerous team, reminds me a lot of the Angels last year. Speed all over the place, young gritty players and an average pitching staff/bullpen with the potential to step it up a notch and go a very long way in October. Much like the other NLDS, this is an experience vs. youth matchup. The loss of Livan Hernandez will kill the Giants. I think they have enough to get past the Marlins, but they NEED Jerome Williams to be Lackey-like in the NLCS and possibly beyond. Because after Schmidt, there’s not a whole lot there – Kirk Rueter, Sidney Ponson. Dustin Hermanson, Jesse Foppert. Offensively, Florida is very dangerous. Juan Pierre should get a couple of MVP votes this year, he was the difference in their lineup from a year ago. .305, 65 steals 100 runs. Juan Encarnacion reminds me of a younger, faster, Garret Anderson, but needs to find some consistency in his swing. Luis Castillo was a huge BUST this year SB-wise, but is still capable of making lots of things happen at the top of the lineup, especially hitting behind Pierre who is always on base. As usual the key for the Giants offense is simply to get on base around Bonds. I think they will be able to get the job done, but it will be a much closer series than most people think. Once again the difference will come down to the bullpens. Worrell was huge in the absence of Nen, and the combo of Looper and Urbina can either be really effective or really shitty. I’m going with the latter.
X factors: Edgardo Alfonzo and Jeff Conine
GIANTS IN 4
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