With Major League Baseball's Playoffs in full swing I shall examine the current matchups. First off, unlike many, I am not at all surprised to see the New York Yankees go down. Sure they have a veritable "Murderer's Row" of offensive weapons. But their pitching was suspect all season and weaknesses are only magnified come October. Detroit on the other hand is loaded with good arms. I actually thought the Yanks would get by Detroit and then lose to Oakland (The A's and Twins both have good pitching but Oakland has the superior offense.) I was surprised at how easily the Yankees were dispatched by the young Tigers. So the ALCS presents a matchup of two good if precocious, hungry teams. The squads match up quite well, both with balanced lineups and solid pitching start to finish. The A's have been waiting to break through beyond the first round of the playoffs and I think they ride that momentum into the World Series, winning in 7 games. On the National League side we see the Cardinals versus the Mets. The Mets have been the class of the Senior Circuit all year but now they have some serious injury concerns. Pedro Martinez and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez are out, as is Cliff Floyd. St. Louis has been sort of a sleeping giant all season, playing below expectations. The Cards are playoff tested and don't have the health concerns that New York faces. So I'm going with the Cardinals to beat the Mets in 6. Oakland v. St. Louis. The A's get home field thanks to the ridiculous All-Star Game tie-in. That will indeed be a big advantage. The Cards pitching staff isn't nearly what Oakland boasts but then the A's don't have the game's best player, Albert Pujols. This will be a war. Despite home field and superior pitching, I think the A's can't stop Pujols who has a monster series and carries the Cardinals to a World Championship, in 7 great games.
Award Winners: American League-MVP: This is the most debatable race in years. Everyone loves Derek Jeter here. Jeter had a phenomenal year (.343, 14, 97, 34 sb's) and paced the Yankees. I respect the guy as much as anyone. The Twins dual candidates, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, cancel each other out. David Ortiz was sick all year (.287, 54, 137) and no one in baseball gets bigger hits, but the Red Sox struggled down the stretch. I'm torn between Jeter and Ortiz. Jeter's team won the division and made the playoffs, unlike Ortiz's team. But then the Yankees were freaking loaded top to bottom (some saying it was the greatest lineup ever assembled.) I frown on MVP's whose teams miss the postseason (see Barry Bonds on several occasions) but I cannot say a player was more valuable to his team than David Ortiz. I go with Big Papi. Cy Young: Johan Santana. The dude is simply filthy and the numbers bear it out: 19-6, 2.77 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 245 K's in 233.2 IP, .216 BAA. Absurd. National League-MVP: Like the Twins the Mets have two candidates and it's hard to say who was more valuable, Jose Reyes or David Wright. Lance Berkman put up MVP caliber numbers on a team who had a shot at the postseason. And then we come to Ryan Howard of the Phillies and his incredible and historic numbers, namely .313, 58, and 149. Howard plays the David Ortiz to Albert Pujols' Derek Jeter in this race. Howard's numbers were unbelievable. But any way you slice it Pujols, .331, 49, 137, means more to his team (to a man, I think Philadelphia would say their most integral player was Chase Utley.) Pujols wins MVP number two. Cy Young: Baseball didn't produce a 20 game winner for the first time in the modern era. So we must look a little deeper. 16 wins paced the NL, among those 16 game winners was Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano played on a horrible team and yet went 16-7, with a 3.41 ERA (good for 5th in the league), 1.29 WHIP, 210 K's on 214 IP, and a batting average against of .208. Roy Oswalt and Brandon Webb were money as well. Zambrano gets the nod.
One other baseball note. Joe Torre is a great manager. If George Steinbrenner isn't satisfied with what Torre's done in his tenure (Division titles in 9 of 10 years and 4 rings) then I hope Torre does get fired and lands somewhere else. Maybe he and A-Rod can reunite somewhere they both will be appreciated.
Quote of the Week:
"My goal is simple. It is complete understanding of the universe."
-Stephen Hawking.
-Stephen Hawking.
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