Ronnie Belliard

So I have to admit that Ronnie Belliard has been freaking me out this entire postseason. Every time they zoom in on him and his tongue is hanging out of his mouth licking the area between his lip and his chin I'm left with this creepy/disgusted feeling and I'm hoping they take the camera off of him. I've been trying to figure out what it exactly is that he reminds me of. At first I thought he resembled a Garbage Pail Kid character from the trading card series. But then it hit me...actually I thought of 3 different things that he reminded me of. Here they are:

1) The older brother from the original Weird Science movie after he's been transformed into a pile of talking poo.

2) The Trash Heap from Fraggle Rock

3) Jabba-the-Hut from Star Wars


If only he could grow a really long soulpatch and dye it bright red, then it would be ok.

Apologies...

For not posting the rest of the "live blog." The movie scared me too much. I wasn't able to sleep for days.

By now, everyone must have seen the Tommy Lasorda commercial for the playoffs with the Indians fans. Has anyone else noticed that the Grandpa is wearing an Indians jersey, but a Reds hat? What gives? Is he supposed to be senile and think the C stands for Cleveland? Is he taking a stand against Chief Wahoo (or whatever)? Or is it just Grandpa Cohen, cheering on a couple of his Top Five teams? I don't get it...

Timmy

Sweet, Reyes just went yard in the midst of my typing...awesome. I was listening to Joe Buck talk about how "average" Reyes has been and then he blasts a home run. GFY Joe Buck.

So, my original point of writing was when good 'ol Tim pointed out how Maine threw "5 straight fastballs to Pujols" He then proceeded to go through the pitches on the FOX TRAX.

FYI the speeds of those 5 FASTBALLS were: 78, 84, 95, 93, 78. Nice call a-hole.

Game 6

I wanted to get some opinions going before tonights game and, possibly, some in-game commenting if anyone else is checking this site throughout the course of the game (probably not)

First, I would like to say that I accept any mocking that is thrown my way for my rooting for 2 different teams. I would probably make fun of myself too, but it is what it is and I can't do anything about it. I will say, however, that I've actually have had more fun watching and rooting for the Cardinals then I have for the Yankees this postseason. It's hard to defend the Yanks and they annoy me with the payroll/personel decisions that are made. The Cardinals represent something more fresh and unexpected.

That being said, I fully expect them to win tonight and close the door. Carpenter's on the mound and it should be game over. If they do lose, I would give the Mets the edge in Game 7, especially if they started Oliver instead of Perez, he was great against the Cards in Game 4.

I find it interesting that the Met's fans out there think there is an anti-Met bias that is going on. I actually don't find the in-game commenting to be scewed one way, but pretty much every single sports show I've watched in the past 2 weeks haven't given the Cardinals a shot. My favorite pro-Mets comment came from former GM (and author of quite possibly the worst trade in MLB history) Steve Phililps when he said on Mike and Mike the other day, "The Mets pitching staff will have it's hands full with the Tigers next week" Ummm...Steve, the series isn't over yet buddy.

One thing I will be watching for tonight is to see if FOX cuts to the crowd more or less than the 40,000 times they did so last night. To the tune of 1-3 times between pitches even. Also, if they will use that pitch tracker with the big square on every single batter or just every other...

We will have to wait and see.

My prediction is that Pujols will have a huge game and the Cards will win, if not then the Mets get to lose to the Tigers instead of St. Louis.

Back and as crappy as before

Well, possibly the most important 4-week span of my academic/professional career thus far came to a successful completion on friday, so now I am back and ready to resume blogging.

There seems to be enough coverage of the playoffs going on in this blog, but I'll just quickly add that I'll probably root for the Tigers for 2 reasons. One, they were my grandfather's favorite team...I think he was a big Sparky Anderson fan. Two, its good for baseball when a team with a mid-level payroll has a legit chance to win the world series. It shows that you really can turn a team around in a few years, just like the NFL (except for the Bills...arrrgh), and that perennial bed-shitters like Pittsburgh and Kansas City have no excuse.

Ok, Pasta and I frequently talk during the off-season about how we would "fix" the Yankees. If you dont give a crap, then stop reading right now because the rest of the post is going to be my opinions on what the New York Baseball Yankees should do to build a better team now and for the future.

First, I see that co-poster the Commish was initially pleased with the thought of Torre being fired. I love Torre, but who knows, maybe a fresh voice would have been good. However, if they had decided to can him, I would rather have seen them bring in a guy like Joe Girardi (who is younger than half of the yankees starting rotation) rather than Pinella. Bringing back Sweet Lou would have felt like too much catering to the underachieving Pay Rod. For $25 Million a year, the guy should hit .403 with 67 HR and 183 RBI each year. Or, make less than 10 errors per year. I'd take either one.

OK, lets start with the big move: trade A-Rod. Back in the winter of 03, I sat on Donny's couch while drinking and stated to the room, that included Commish as well, that the Yankees would trade Soriano/Contreras to the Rangers for A-Rod. Although the pitcher was not included in the deal, I actually called a huge trade before it happened. Now I know there are lots of wide-spread rumors going on about where A-Rod might go. I heard Mike and Mike say that the White Sox offered one of their pitchers (the yanks want McCarthy) and Crede for A-Rod. This would fill the gap vacated at third by A-Rod and add youth to the staff.

However, I would go a different direction. I apologize if this trade has already been speculated upon in the media. If it has, I have not heard it, and the trade I will propose was one I have been thinking about since August. I would deal A-Rod to Anaheim for John Lackey or Ervin Santana, SS/3B prospect Brandon Wood and one of their hard-throwing middle relievers, like Donnely or Shields. This is why the deal would work: The Angels need offense, and realize their inactivity at the trade deadline really hurt them. A 1-2 punch of Vlad and A-Rod with Chone Figgins and the OC as table setters would be a very difficult 1-4 in the lineup. Most importantly, A-Rod would likely approve this deal, as he can look pretty out in Cali, and the Angels have a legit shot to make the playoffs every year. The Yanks would get a solid IF prospect, a guy who could step in and hit 8th or 9th with little pressure. If they want to bring him along more slowly, they could always find someone for a one year fill-in. Most importantly, he doesnt make a shit-load of money. For the pitcher, the Yanks could go for proven postseason success with Lackey, or potential with Santana.

Otherwise, there isnt much else to do with the pitching staff. I'd try to resign Mussina for two years and $16M. This is a bargain compared to the shit they get from Pavano or Wright. As for these two, I'd try to deal them for prospects, and eat as much money as needed. They are not the solution to this team's success. I'll admit I was a supporter of the Pavano move, but the Jaret right move was a train wreck waiting to happen, and everyone except Big Stein and Cashman knew it. Last, they need to bring up this Philip Hughes guy they keep talking about. If they arent going to trade him, lets see whats he's got.

Offensively, the only thing to do is to make sure Melky Cabrera gets in to at least 3 games a week. He's still young, but can easily fill in in RF or LF in '08 after Abreu's contract is up. He might not hit 40 HR a year, but hes fast and talented, and seeing young guys come up through the system reminds us Yankees fans of the glory days of 1996. They can work out a rotation where Damon, Matsui, Abreu and Melky rotate between the 3 OF spots and DH spot each game, keeping everyone fresh. Also, Andy Phillips should play first as a defensive replacement from the 7th inning on, hopefully getting one AB per game. Also, he should start at least once a week, giving the Giambino a chance to rest his roid-ridden joints. Lastly for the offense, they need to find a better back-up catcher. There has to be someone better than the porn-stash dude they have now. They should get Bengie Molina who's a FA and sign him to a 3 year 15M deal. He can play 2-3 times a week and will take over full time in '08 when Posada is done.

Here is the line-up as I would like it for 07:
CF Damon
SS Jeter
RF Abreu
1B Giambi (with Phillips playing once a week and for defense)
LF Matsui
2B Cano
C Posada
3B Wood
DH Cabrera

Rotation:
1. Wang
2. Johnson
3. Mussina
4. Lackey/Ervin Santana
5. Hughes/Jeff Karstens (both will be in the rotation in '08 when Johnson is gone).

Overall, the offense may not have as much fire-power without A-Rod, but they will still score a lot. Its kind of a lefty-heavy offense, which works in Yankee Stadium. Plus, they have enough room to allow Cabrera and Wood to gain experience without having to carry the team.

3/5 of the staff is the same, but they are replacing the garbage at the end with high-upside young guys. Plus, they wont be hurting when Johnson is done and when Mussina eventually leaves.

Last, these moves should shed a good chunk of payroll, with more to come after the year: Abreu $17M, Johnson $16, Posada $11.

If anyone has an opinion, let me know.

Muffin

Update

So it would seem as the creator of a blog entitled 'Contract the Yankees' I have been ridiculously and unusually silent these past two weeks, so it's time to catch up.

Co-contributer 'The Commish' was giving Mets fans a hard time earlier today, which is easy to do when you're a Cardinalyankee fan (2006) and Yankeecardinal fan (1996-2000). But, he's right. The Mets have been awful these last two games, and as we speak their entire season hinges on Ollie Perez not crapping the bed. Then, IF they're lucky, they've got Glavine not pitching to save the season on three days rest, which he doesn't make a secret of saying how much he hates. Then, IF they win at least one of the last two in St Louis, they're rewarded with another John Maine start. Finally, IF they push the series to game 7... Steve Trachsel? Ok, I'll take my Peter Gammons hat off now, but as you can tell, things don't look good.

This is depressing enough, on to other topics.

The Borat movie is allegedly the funniest thing to ever happen in the history of the world. I think I'm buying that. There's no way this is not wildy entertaining and incredibly quotable. Since I have nothing original to say, I rely on the American cinema to provide me with amusing comments to make at home and in the workplace. Hopefully, the weird imitation Kazakh accent doesn't offend anyone.

Arizona State needs to find some more intelligent coaching. Last night, down 7 points against USC, they punted from deep in their own territory with about 2:12 and 1 timeout left. The problem? With the new college rules, the clock starts as soon as the ball is spotted after the punt. Which means, even with the timeout, USC just kneeled the ball to end the game. UNBELIEVABLE. ASU essentially elected to not even try to win the game.

Scott Spiezio is likely going to haunt the remainder of my life. That thing on his face is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen in his life. Clearly he is not married or even remotely involved with a female companion. No self respecting woman would be seen in public with such as asinine piece of facial hair, no matter how much its' owner may make on an annual basis. Also, why do I think Jim Edmonds is MLB's version of Bill Romanowski? I'd bet $10 he and his wife are selling pharmaceuticals out of the back of their minivan.

As Joe Mac pointed out, Joe Buck and Tim McCarver are unbearable. And that's about all I have to say about that.

Whoa, total mindblow. I just figured out that there is a feature on Stattracker that instantly shows you each player's fantasy points. Thats Best in Class.

Live Blog Alert!

Steel and Muffin coming at you live(!) from our penthouse apartment, live-blogging the action of Snakes on a Train. For those of you unaware of this movie film, it is the STV (straight to video) bastard child of Snakes on a (Mothafuckin) Plane, starring Samuel L. Jackson. The back of the DVD callis "Grotesque. Creepy." and warns me "Don't plan on sleeping for days!" This does not bode well for my productivity at work.

I should also note that the main movie screen has a bunch of different phrases that pop up, one of which is, "100 Trapped Passengers...3000 Venemous Vipers!" I like those odds! Should be plenty of action!

The DVD background, "Under a powerful Mayan curse, snakes hatched inside a young woman, slowly devouring her from within. Her only chance for survival is a poweful shaman who lives across the border. With only hours to live, she jumps on a train headed for Los Angeles. Unfortunately for the passengers aboard, they are now trapped, soon to be victims of these flesh-eating vipers."

It's on to the action now...

2 More Things

Check out this link: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/08/SPGSJLKSP71.DTL

It's an article by Scott Ostler about Tom Candiotti and how he was in a fantasy baseball league in the early 90's while playing for the Dodgers. Well one of the other owners in the league had Jeff Kent on his team and he was tearing up the league and Candiotti got pissed. So he lied to one of his teammates (Ramon Martinez) so that Jeff Kent got drilled in the ribs the first time he came up to bat in their series.

That's basically the jist of the whole thing but how freaking funny is that? Dude was pissed his team was doing lously so he had someone take out a member of the other team....in FANTASY sports! That's great.


My second point of discussion is..........



CARDS IN 7!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PUJOLS MVP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joe Torre

So this may come as a complete shock, but I hope that Steinbrenner does fire Joe Torre.

When I first heard the news I reacted like every other Yankee fan and thought about what a terrible, stupid move it was, cursing The Boss a little along the way. After all, it was Joe that navigated the way to all those championships back in the late 90's, right? And wasn't it Joe that kept the locker room together when the Yankee's transformed into biggest melting pot of personal ego's in the Major Leagues? And wasn't it also Joe that just seemed to have every managerial move he made work out magically? It's not his fault that Kevin Brown and Carl Pavano sucked. He lost a 1st base, 3rd base, pitching, hitting and bench coach throughout the years, yet still continued to win.

But here's the thing, the Yankee's, like Joe's attitude, are boring. There's no excitement anymore. They're supposed to win every year and when the don't it's like, "Man that shouldn't have happened, I can't believe we lost. We'll get 'em next year" And then that's it.

The thing that angers me the most is that none of the players ever play with any sense of urgency. Maybe it's a result of winning 9 divisions in a row, or playing for a team with 26 rings.
But maybe it's because their manager and Captain are 2 of the most even tempered people you'll ever meet. When the team's down 2-1 and facing elimination do you ever see Joe try and fire up the troops? Or even Jeter for that matter? No, they just sit back and say, We're better then this, we'll get through it, don't panic and we'll win. We're the Yankees.

Well the problem is that they're not winning. They're consistantly losing to teams with 1/3 of their payroll. I think they need someone to come in and shake things up a little and Sweet Lou is just that person. I'm looking forward to the first time he says the team's pitchers suck. Or the first time he calls A-Rod a girl and tells him to get over it when A-Rod pouts afterwards.

Mabe next season when the Yanks are tied 1-1 or, god forbid, down 1-2 again, he'll even yell a little bit and get the players fired up and ready to play with some spunk.

I love Joe just as much as the next person and appreciate his years in the Bronx, but sports is a business and winning is the bottom line. He can go off, lay low for a few years and be remembered as one of the greatest Yankee managers of all time.

And next year maybe the players will show some emotion and not just sit back thinking that everything will work itself out and be fine.

Come on!

I just saw that Fire Joe Morgan already posted my Steve 'Pyscho' Lyons story on a blog. Damn you Joe Morgan!

GFY FJM.

Steve 'Psycho' Lyons

I liked this guy a lot better when he was known for dropping his pants at first base during a White Sox game. Now that he's been hired to 'announce' playoff games he's causing massive internal bleeding.

Last night, they apparently saw Kevin Connelly in the crowd of the Mets-Dodgers game. Kevin is an actor on a show called Entourage on HBO. Many people enjoy this show and it is quite entertaining, unlike Steve 'Psycho' Lyons. They then found Matt Dillon in the crowd. Matt is the brother of an actor on a show called Entourage on HBO. He is not in the cast of the show, nor has he ever appeared on the show. He actually even wins awards sometimes (Crash), and may allegedly be a pretty good actor.

Steve 'Pyscho' Lyons immediately starts rambling on about 'what's wrong with the Entourage? why aren't they sitting together? there must be trouble in the group! I don't understand why they wouldn't travel as an Entourage!'

What a jackass. GFY Steve 'Pyscho' Lyons. Take Chris Berman with you too.

Playoff Thoughts

I've been trying to avoid the MLB Playoffs, for a few reasons. One being my job prohibits me from seeing much in the way of afternoon games. Another being that I have been pretty sick lately. The biggest reason probably being that I am (a) somewhat burned out from fantasy baseball, and (b) am trying to save some baseball energy for the World Series. A few other reasons...

- I was watching the Cardinals-Padres game. Remember like 5-10 years ago when ESPN started getting big, and commentators would point out how difficult it is to hit in afternoon games because of the shadows? In this game, Orel Hersheiser has said "shadows" about twenty times in the five minutes I've been watching this game.

- Chris Berman is like that kid in gym class who was really excited to make all the plays. So he'd be loud, and something that would draw attention to him and he'd make all those exagerrated motions in the field. Then, he'd go to make a play and it would start to go bad, so he'd overcompensate to save the play, and would end up making it 10x worse. Can someone sit him down and tell him that when he makes a mistake, to just stop and take a deep breath? I'm tired of him sputtering through his play-by-play.

- Those Joe Buck commercials. Seriously. Just awful. I don't know why Holiday Inn thinks Joe Buck makes me want to stay there anymore, but I am officially boycotting them. Holiday Inn, you are in with Fox's Pre-Game show, The OT, and the volume of any Fox covered football and baseball games. I hope you're happy. (PS - the annoying guy with the overbite. You may remember him from such memorable roles as the annoying guy from "Happy Hour" and one of the annoying Germans from Beerfest. Glad to see he's making a name for himself in Hollywood. Although I did like his work as the Milk Shake on Reno 911! IMDB is fantastic!)

- Holy shit, I think I just saw Bam Margera in the crowd of this game. Why can't ESPN just lie and say it's him? That would be incredible.

Jim Rome/Chris Everett

This could quite possibly be one of the funniest sports show clips ever.

Watch it 2-3 times and tell me you're not laughing your a$$ off. Hard to believe he would have gotten kicked off of ESPN for something like that.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Jim+Rome

Your 2006 Baseball Playoffs

As previewed by Bring Back Joe McEwing, who returns to blogging with a vengeance, with this correspondence piece from the beaches of San Diego. Apparently Joe doesn't have much work to do on Mondays. ESPN's TMQ will likely declare Jihad on Joe Mac after reading this 5,000 word piece of work.

note: The following is all Joe's, I don't know how I feel about a terrorist attack on the Mets bullpen, but I'm not modifying it. 1st Amendment. And good luck getting the whole thing read before the first pitch today. The only thing I want to point out is I'm pretty sure Kenny Rogers issued a bases loaded walk to seal Detroit's fate the other day. That's not a good sign.

Here's Joe:

Well everyone - I know you have been anxiously anticipating this day for many months now (11 to be exact), and I am happy to say it is finally here. No, it's not the Mets playing a playoff game - that has been anticipated for far longer than eleven months. It is Joe McEwing's 2006 Playoff Predictions! This year encompasses a new twist to the predicting game - as our beloved New York Mets have scored more runs than their opponent enough times to reward their fans with free baseball during the month of October. This leads me to the thought of sports being the only profession where you WANT to work overtime beyond your contract terms. Amazing…..

And on we go. I will do my very, very best to not let my biased opinion towards the blue and orange influence the predicted outcomes of the National League. I will also do my very, very best to not let my biased opinion against the Yankees influence my predicted outcomes of the American League. Please know, however, that this is still a great possibility. Also, know that I am never right. Ever. If I remember correctly, last year I had the Cardinals finally winning it, beating the Angels. But that is all forgotten, and this year I think I've got it nailed.

With that being said, on we go to the first round of the American League Playoffs, commonly referred to as the ALDS:

ALDS: Yankees (AL EAST) vs. Tigers (AL WC)

Your typical David vs. Goliath matchup. Unfortunately for Detroit, they looked like a Goliath themselves before a horrible late season slump pushed them back into the AL wild card on the last day of the season. All these Tigers had to do was beat the Royals (from Kansas City for those of you who only follow major league baseball teams) ONCE in the final three games of the season, and they would have held on to win the AL Central. They proceeded to get SWEPT, at HOME (including blowing a SIX run lead in the season finale), and lose the division by one game to the Twins, who decided to win three quarters of their games in the final two thirds of the year just for the fun of it. The Tigers played their final 50 games at a 19-31 clip, which is reminiscent of a typical 62-100 year that Tiger fans are used to. 50 games is a lot of baseball. Enough to be convinced that this Tiger team didn’t really just hit a slump, but rather fell back to the mediocrity that they are good at. For those of you wondering how this collapse compares to the 2005 White Sox almost-collapse, it's not even close. The Sox went in a 23-26 swoon at one point, which was right before they won 8 of their last 10 to wrap up the division. These Tigers went through a collapse 4 1/2 games worse than that, and didn't respond with a strong finish. What does this all tell me? A few things. (1) The Tigers really aren't that good. (2) The Tigers young arms are tired. (3) The Tigers clutch hitting has stopped. (4) The Tigers really aren't that good. Good things for the Tigers include, and are limited to, the fact that they actually won more games on the road (49) than at home (46) this year. I guess that's good….because to get to the Series they have to win at least one road game in each series. The Tigers have Nate Robertson slated to start game 1 of the series, Justin Verlander in game 2, and (gasp!) Kenny Rogers in game 3. Jeremy Bonderman will go game 4 if the series gets that far.

The Yankees, on the other hand, have been rolling on all cylinders for the good part of the second half of this season. They are looking like the machine that the Boss envisioned when he handed over a book of blank checks to Brian Cashman before the season. The acquisition of Bobby Abreu was one of the best trades made in recent history by this organization. Abreu is in a lineup that really capitalizes on his ability to draw walks, and put Damon and Jeter in front of him and its Christmas every day for A-Rod, Giambi, Matsui, Sheffield and co. This is evidenced by their 930 runs scored (5.74 rpg) this season. The Yanks are running out surprise 19 game winner Chien-Ming Wang in game 1, to be followed by Mike Mussina in game 2. Randy Johnson was scheduled to pitch game 3, but his recently disclosed herniated disc in his back should prevent him from taking the hill. Look instead for Corey Lidle and Jaret Wright to finish out the series. The loss of Johnson looks to be more than compensated by the regained health of Matsui and Sheffield, and the depth that Lidle provided the staff when he came over with Abreu. Experts are saying the loss of Johnson will be a factor in the Yanks quest for another championship, but if you are reading this you know as well as I do that Johnson is nothing more than mediocre anymore and that Lidle is only a hint of a drop off from the Unit. If the Yankees do have a weakness, it's in their bullpen, but thankfully the other 3 AL teams are predominantly pitching-oriented, so that weakness probably will not be exposed to the extent that it could be if, say, both the Sox were in the playoffs again. Look for the Yanks to put a barrage of runs up against the tired, young Tiger arms, and for the veteran pitching to be steady the whole way. The only distracter that will come into play for the Yankees will be the never ending saga of Alex Rodriguez vs. the Yankees fans and media. Look for A-Rod to put a few Justin Verlander fastballs into the centerfield bleachers in game 2 and get off the Yankee-fan-shit-list.


FUTURE: The Tigers have Kenny Rogers….Kenny walk in the winning run to lose the NLCS FREAKING Rogers…on their team. Oh yeah, they also lost 31 of their last 50 and have a bunch of young, inexperienced, scared shitless of Yankee Stadium arms starting the other games. Yankees in 3.


ALDS: TWINS (AL Central) vs. ATHLETICS (AL West)

This is clearly the most intriguing series in the first round. If you are to read only the scores from these games, it might get eerily confused with soccer. The Twins post the most amazing person to only play in 20% of his team's games in recent memory (okay, Randy Johnson was equally as amazing with the 2000-2002 DBacks, but Johan is still amazing), and that is arguably enough to win any series single handedly. The unfortunate part of it for the Twins is that the A's rotation is as solid as any in the postseason, led at the top by the always steady Barry Zito, and followed by Esteban Loaiza, Dan Haren, Joe Blanton and the re-emergence of Rich Harden from the disabled list. Zito has already been announced as the game 1 starter, followed by Loaiza in game 2. Haren pitched on Sunday, so look for him to go game 3 on Friday with his normal 4 days rest. Game 4 will go to either Blanton or Harden, if he is on the post season roster.

The lineup is anchored by comeback player of the year candidate Frank Thomas, but the real key could be the health and production of Eric Chavez, who can provide invaluable left handed protection behind Thomas if he is going right. After a monstrous April, Chavez hovered around the Mendoza line for the rest of the summer while battling tendonitis in both forearms (ouch - imagine trying to hit a Felix Hernandez fastball with TWO sore forearms - amazing he DID manage to hit .200!) He has had plenty of rest in the past week, so if modern medicine can make him right for a month, he will add a dimension that has been missing for most of the year to their lineup. Nick Swisher has had a coming out year, and is fulfilling the prophecy that Billy Beane left for him. Swisher has bounced between 2nd and 7th in the lineup, and also between first base and left field. Wherever he plays and hits, he will be a huge factor in their run production.

The Twins are a team energized by a youth movement that hasn’t been seen in the playoffs in a long, long time. Twenty-two of the thirty-four players on their year end roster were home grown - the majority of them coming through their Rochester, NY affiliate within the last three years. Look for as many as fifteen of them to make the post season roster. The loss of Francisco Liriano to throw-out-your-arm syndrome was supposed to be detrimental to this club, but they responded by going 40-25 since his last win on July 23. That stat alone shows their resiliency and balance of the lineup and staff that was often overshadowed by the pitching dominance of Santana and Liriano. Players like Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, Jason Barlett, and Nick Punto have stepped up and provided play after play to win games. If guys like these were in New York they would be dubbed as having that "Yankee magical aura that knows how to win games" despite their pedestrian numbers (Morneau excluded). Joe Mauer has done a fantastic job handling the young pitching staff, and in his spare time chipped in with an AL batting title (.347). Look for the Rotation to go Santana - rookie Boof Bonser - Brad Radke, and then either Carlos Silva or Matt Garza.

Despite all of this, the most important factor in the Twins race to the pennant is their capturing of the AL Central crown on the last day of the season. This was possible, of course, because of the Tigers blown six run lead on the same afternoon. The division title gave Minnesota home field advantage for this series. If there is any team that needs home field advantage, it is the Twins, as they were an MLB best 54-27 at home this season. Historically, they are 11-4 at the Metrodome in postseason play, although they have lost their last three there.

FUTURE: One of the more amazing mysteries in the 21st century is how the A's turn into the best team in baseball after the break each year, and are clueless before the break (45-43 before this year, 48-26 after). It is as predictable as the Cubs booking a tee time for the third Saturday each October. Equally as predictable is the A's token collapse in the ALDS each year. Look for Johan to put the Twins up 1-0 after the first game, and then the A's battle back to take a 2-1 series lead behind Loaiza and Haren, only for Johan to come back on three days rest in game 4 and win in Oakland, and then the Twins pitch by committee to win game 5 in the dome, with a big hit by Mauer being the difference in the clincher. Twins in 5

Meanwhile, as this drama is unfolding in the junior circuit, the following will be occurring in the more exciting senior circuit:

NLDS: METS (NL East) vs. DODGERS (NL WC)

Ohhhh boy. Two major markets. Two oceans. Two media crazy towns. Two lime lights. Replay of the classic 1988 NLCS. This is the post season series made in media heaven when Yankees - Red Sox is not an option. The Mets have been in cruise control since their 9-1 road trip concluded on June 15 and ballooned their lead to 9.5 games. Mets fans should actually be very wary of this, as teams with 10 game or more margins of victory in their division have only won one of the last ten World Series (see 1998 Yankees). Will they be able to just put it into drive again after cruising for the past four months? My answer is yes. This team is young and hungry, and the veterans that they do have are old and hungry, as few have had postseason success in their life. On Wednesday, Carlos Delgado will give up his title as "current player to play the most regular season games without appearing in the post season." Cliff Floyd had two insignificant at bats in the 1997 World Series with the Marlins, and even though he got a ring, I'm sure he is hungry to contribute to a winner. Paul LoDuca also has never been here before, and Shawn Green was a quick one and done in 2004. Mix those hungry vets to the youth of Reyes and Wright, and then add Carlos Beltran (who can forget HIS postseason in 2004 - 1.558 OPS!!!) and one Super 'Stache and you have a recipe for a big train that is going to roll. But then there is the question of the pitching. Their post season #1 - El Duque Hernandez - didn't even crack the White Sox rotation last October. Rather, he pitched out of the pen (albeit very well) during the post season. How a team can expect to win with a #1 who just last year was a #6 is a big, big question that has to be answered. Fortunately for the Mets, what they lack in starters they make up for in the bullpen. If a terrorist wanted to attack America right now, they ought to focus on the patch of dirt behind the right field wall at Shea, because it clearly has been the most efficient unit in America all summer. The Mets recipe has to be keep it tied through 5 innings with the starter, and then let the bullpen shut the opponent down while the train rolls to victory. Look for John Maine and his 6 inning 2 run habit to be enormous in game four of this series.

The Dodgers quietly led the National League in both batting average and on base average this year - something that should scare the daylights out of a shaky rotation that likes to throw many pitches as it is (see Steve Trachsel and Orlando Hernandez). Some might say that their back to back to back to back home runs to tie a huge game with the Padres two weeks ago is a moment that will launch them through the post season to the World Series. This could be the case, but as evidence by their 10-6 loss the day after the comeback, I think it meant nothing more than another win in the standings. This is a team without much pop in the lineup - their leading HR hitter was Nomar Garciaparra with 20, and they only had one player with 100+ RBI (JD Drew). This will make it very difficult for them to score on the Mets bullpen, as the Mets' pen led the league in K/BB ratio and definitely makes the other team earn it. The one hope that the Dodgers do have is the strength of their rotation - Derek Lowe, Greg Maddux and Brad Penny. It will be interesting to see if Hong-Chih Kuo gets a start in this series, as he has been surprisingly effective in his six starts in September (29.1 innings, 10 ER, including 6 shutout innings vs. the Mets on 9/8). Kuo could be an X-Factor as the Mets have struggled mightily against lefties this year, and the only other left handed option that Grady Little has is Mark Hendrickson. Penny has been erratic since his All-Star Game start, but Lowe and Maddux have been rocks in September. If the Dodgers take one of the first two in Shea, watch out, as they were 49-32 at home, and will be drawing Steve Trachsel and rookie John Maine in Dodger Stadium with a chance to win the series. The only problem is that the Dodgers were mediocre on the road (39-42), and the Mets were excellent at home (50-31), so winning one of the first two in Shea will be tough.

NOTE: Game 2 features Tom Glavine vs. Greg Maddux. Need I say more???

FUTURE: The Mets' lineup will get back on a role, led by Reyes and Wright. However, the rotation will be equally as poor. Look for a few slug fests in this one, with the Mets bullpen ending up being the difference. Mets in 5.


NLDS: PADRES (NL West) vs. CARDINALS (NL CENTRAL)

The Cardinals are back, making their sixth postseason appearance in the last seven years (really - I looked it up), albeit with probably the weakest of all of those teams. They have Phat Albert (likely repeat MVP) and Chris Carpenter (likely repeat Cy Young), and not much else. Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds have been MIA all summer, and David Eckstein found a way to injure his 5'7" frame, although he did return during the final week of the season. Despite this, Tony LaRussa found a way to lead his team to 83 mostly unimpressive wins (save Albert's walk offs, which are too numerous to note here) and the division title, despite being in a tail spin for a majority of August and September. All being said, the Cardinals don't have many positive peripherals to stir up hope going into the second season. What they do have is a new stadium, for whatever that's worth, which is basically nothing more than higher ticket prices. To make things worse, their mediocre close Jason Isringhausen is out for the season with throw-my-arm-out syndrome, and the closers job has been delegated to BRADEN LOOPER. Seriously. The Cards haven't even taken the field for game 1 yet, and they already have their backs to the wall.

The Padres, meanwhile, put together an impressive September (and Oct. 1) going 20-9 to win the division in a tiebreaker over the Dodgers. All seems to be clicking in Lo-Cal at the right time. Jake Peavy has regained his 2005 form, posting ERA's below 3.00 in both August and September, while registering 6 wins in that time. Clay Hensley has been even better over that time period (2.32), and Chris Young put together an impressive finish (2.56 in September). If these top three keep pitching like this, it will make it very tough for Albert to beat them by himself, which is what he has to do. The back end of the staff of course has all time saves leader Trevor Hoffman anchoring it, while Cla Meredith has turned himself into the best setup man in the league. On top of this, the lineup is clicking at the right time too. 38 year old Mike Piazza has found new youth in his knees and once again has led all MLB catchers in home runs with 22 while hitting a respectable .283 and slugging .501. Adrian Gonzalez has proved himself a force to be reckoned with while Dave Roberts has turned into a solid every day leadoff hitter somehow. Geoff Blum has filled in at shortstop admirably for the injured Khalil Greene. The Padres were actually two games better on the road while the Cardinals were a crazy 49-31 at home and 34-47 on the road - all leading to suggest that home field advantage for the Padres, in a pitchers park, with great starting pitching, will be too much for the Cardinals to overcome. On top of this, the Pads somehow lined up Peavy to go in game 1 while they were battling for the division title.

FUTURE: This is baseball, and crazy things happen. Jake Peavy got rattled by Dodgers base coach Mariano Duncan the other week - showing that he is mentally vulnerable to tough situations. Mike Piazza IS 38 years old still, and, seriously, who the heck is Clay Hensley? These are the same two teams that faced off at the same time last year, and the Cardinals outscored them 20-11 in a three game laugher, including pounding Peavy for 8 runs in 4 1/3 in the opener. Yes, the Cardinals are weaker and the Padres stronger this time around, and Braden Looper is now the closer for the Red Birds. But they still have that man Albert in the middle of the lineup, and he seems to find ways to win baseball games (ask Brad Lidge). Once Carpenter beats Peavy in game 1, it sends the Birds back to Busch Stadium with a chance to win it. And they don't call Busch the "sea of red", nor do they call Cardinal fans the best fans in baseball, nor did this mediocre Cardinals team go 49-31 at home, for nothing. Cardinals in 4.


ALCS: Yankees vs. Twins

The Yankees are going to have cruised into this series and will have their ace, Chin-Mien Wang, set to go in game 1 with plenty of rest, while the Twins will have to wait until game 2 if they want to send Johan on 3 days rest, or game 3 if they want to give him 5 days. My guess is they give him 5 days because he would have just pitched on 3 days in game 5 of the ALDS, and send him out for game 3 and then game 7 if needed. Either way he's only pitching 2 games in the series - so why rush him on short rest? If he is slated for game 3, he could be used in relief in games 1 and 2 if the situation arises, as there is a travel day scheduled in between games 2 and 3. The problem is that without Johan pitching one of the first two games in Yankee Stadium, the Twins have pretty much no hope to escape back to the Dome tied 1-1. Thankfully for the Twins they have an outstanding bullpen, which will be needed against this Yankee lineup that likes to see many pitches. Don't look for any Twins starter besides Santana to go much more than 5 innings in any game - for both pitch count and effectiveness reasons. Boof Bonser is going to try to throw a fastball by A-Rod, and A-Rod is going to give him whiplash. These Twins don’t like to lose though, and that goes a long way in the postseason, so look for the series to be a dog fight for the ages. I see the Yankees going up 2-0, but the Twins taking 2 of 3 at home, and then sending Johan back out on three days rest in game 6 at Yankee Stadium. Game 6 will be 1-1, with the Yankees pushing one across late to win 2-1 and take the series. The Yankees lineup is just too strong to think that any AL team has a chance of upsetting them. Yankees in 6.


MVP: Alex Rodriguez


NLCS: Mets vs. Cardinals

The National League will see a repeat of the 2000 LCS when the Mets won in 5 games. The difference in this one is that the home field advantage is opposite, with the series starting in Shea. The Mets will open with Glavine after El Duque pitched game 5 of the LDS. Game 2 will see Trachsel pitching with El Duque back for game 3 and Maine for game 4, slotting El Duque up for game 7. After an emotional Division Series, the Mets will look to reset and play another series. Thankfully the momentum from the game 5 will carry into this series and the offense will be running on all cylinders (think Diamondbacks, 2001, after Tony Womack's walk off single in game 5 of the NLDS vs. St. Louis). The Cardinals will counter with Chris Carpenter in game 1, followed by Jeff Suppan, Jason Marquis and Jeff Happy Weaver (Happy because he throws happy sliders that like to hang glide towards the plate). Although this is the rotation that got through the Padres, the Mets match up much better with them, as they have a tendency to give up the long ball (35 from Marquis and 16 from Weaver in only 83 innings), and the Mets like to hit the long ball (7 of the 8 starters had 10 or more HR). The other main discrepancy in this series is the bullpens, as the Mets have the best in the league and the Cardinals have arguably the worst of all the playoff teams. Combine all of that with the Mets dominance at home and the Cardinals struggles on the road, and this one is going to be a laugher, as the Mets will pounce on all Cardinals starters except Carpenter, who will win his two starts. Mets in 6.

MVP: Jose Reyes



World Series: Mets vs. Yankees

I didn't want to do this. I didn't. I started writing this piece thinking to myself that I wouldn't predict a Subway Series. I COULDN'T predict a subway series. It's too obvious, it's too predictable - gees louise it's like picking all four #1 seeds to go to the final four and then emailing it to your buddies and telling them you are a genius! So how did it come to this? How? I guess the answer is because it's going to happen. That's why. We are entering an era that is going to be reminiscent of the 1950's, with the Mets and Yankees being the clear cut best teams in baseball for years to come, and them oftentimes fighting it out in October to see who has bragging rights for the next 12 months. I was asked recently - by an anonymous chick nonetheless - if I am nervous for the playoffs. And my answer was no, I am not nervous. I am not nervous because I KNOW the Mets are the best team in the league. I KNOW they deserve to be there. This isn’t like 2000 where the outfield consisted of Jay Payton, Derek Bell and Benny Agbayani (man that Hawaiian could hit huh?). This team doesn’t have Rick Reed and Bobby Jones throwing to the two square inch spot they had to hit to be effective. This isn’t the team with no bridge to Benitez. Heck, this team is good, real good. This team has Shawn Green hitting seventh and a reliever with an ERA of 2.09 that no one knows about (quick - name him…….I bet you thought of 3 or 4 guys before you settled on the correct answer of Pedro Feliciano right??!?!?). This team has a hall of fame closer and the most exciting player since Pete Rose hitting leadoff. This team has Broadway David Wright drinking milk and playing third base and a center fielder who put together the best postseason ever just two years ago. This team has a World Series MVP in their rotation and another who has been there and won that multiple times. I am not nervous because I know next year they are going to win 100 games (this year they would've won 105 had they had anything to play for in the last 6 weeks). And then the year after that they will win 100 again. I am not nervous because I can see a dynasty in the making. I see a future rotation of Pelfrey-Humber-Heilman-Maine-Perez and a future lineup of Reyes-Milledge-Beltran-Wright for years to come. Instead of being nervous, I am trying to ensure that no matter what happens, that I remember this as a summer in the sun, a summer of partying, a summer of utter DOMINATION of the rest of the league. God, what I would do to remember 1986….THAT must have been fun.

And you know what? I think when these Mets go into the sixth inning down 5-3 to the Yankees in all of these games that they will still win. They will win because Bradford-Feliciano-Hernandez-Heilman-Wagner will give them as many shutout innings as they need to come back. They'll win because Jose Reyes was touched in his mother's womb and told that he was going to play baseball on the biggest stage and shine in the biggest moments possible. They will win because they are having too much fun on the field to allow themselves to lose. They will win because they CAN win. Because the Yankees are SUPPOSED to win, and they will shutter under the thought of losing the series to their cross town inferiors and what Steinbrenner's response will be. They will win because they have that swagger that you can't teach. That swagger that tells your opponent that you are going to beat him no matter what he does. The swagger that Dave Wright showed when he drove Mariano Rivera's first pitch over Johnny Damon's head on May 19. They are going to win because they are either too young or too old to be intimidated by the Yankees. They'll win because this is my playoff preview, and I say they're going to. Mets in 7.

MVP: Billy Wagner.