The number of games it took was not quite right, but I correctly predicted three of the four first round winners in the MLB playoffs: Arizona, Boston, Cleveland. Still don't have any idea who plays for Colorado. Apparently someone named U. Jimenez started their clincher against Philly.
So the Yankees lose in the first round again. Tough to see Joe Torre go out like that, he's a class act and doesn't deserve the treatment he gets from Steinbrenner. However, the Boss is paying this crew $215 million and probably should be seeing better results. Hiring Joe Girardi would be a good move, he was smart to hold out for something better after the Marlins inexplicably fired him.
For those who watched that game until the end: was the crowd reaction after Abreu's ninth inning homer weird or what? It was pretty much 50,000+ people clapping, but not screaming. It was the appropriate response, as the Yankees were still down two, but it was still sort of eerie.
Updated predictions:
Indians over Red Sox in seven
D-Backs over Rockies in six
World Series
Indians over D-Backs in five
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Baseball playoffs
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.jpg)
4 comments:
I can't see the Indians winning this series, if only for the fact that their bully is bad. Borowski as closer is going to hurt them at some point, and I fear for him having to face Ortiz and Manny in the 9th some game. I think the starting pitching leans towards the Sox a bit. Sabathia/Beckett is a wash. Carmona had a better year than Schilling or DiceK, but wouldn't you rather have Schilling in the playoffs?
So, personally, I see the Red Sox in six games in that one.
I think that the NL series is tough to figure out. I like the DBacks pitching better, but it's really tough to go against a team that's won 15 out of 16 or whatever the Rockies have done. They have a hell of a core lineup with Holliday, Tulowitzki, Atkins, Hawpe and Helton and a pretty nasty bullpen. If the starters can perform reasonably well, they'll win that series. And after the years and years of heartache that Rockies fans have put up with (note the sarcasm), don't they deserve this?
It was sad to see Torre go out like that, simply because he's always been a class act and they did win multiple World Series titles under his helm. He should have not had to deal with those distractions over the last couple of days. If you want to read a good article, check out the Portfolio magazine story on Steinbrenner and his declining health, which also discusses the succession plan (or lack thereof) with the Yankees.
Gotta love the fact that both the Diamondbacks and Rockies have very low payrolls. Should give all teams hope.
I agree/disagree about Torre. I agree that he's a class act and it's sad to see him ushered out like that. At the same time, I think that it's ok for George to have a little higher expectations for the cash he's paying out than a first-round exit again.
As far as payroll goes, let's see what happens in Colorado and Arizona (and Milwaukee and Cleveland for that matter) when all the young guys get to free agency. I'm watching it first hand as the Twins try to figure out if they can pay Hunter, Santana, Mauer, Morneau, etc.
The best-case scenario for the Brewers in terms of retaining their young talent would be to follow what the Indians did in the early '90s: sign guys a couple years ahead of their arbitration years for more than they'd get then, but then cover the first couple years of their free agent years at less than they'd get then. But you're right, it is going to be tricky, especially with them all having roughly the same amount of service time.
Post a Comment