(Editor’s Note: I wrote this in a frenzy to get it up before Game 1 between Texas and New York tonight. I will edit this later. Please disregard my typing errors for now.)
The gods of baseball were very kind to us. We could have been staring down a two week relationship with the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves in the NL and the Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays in the AL. Think about those ratings. I vividly remember reading, back in 1998, the notion that ABC executives would be flinging themselves off of headquarters if they were left with Kansas State in the national championship game that year. Thankfully for them, Texas A&M upset the Wildcats in the Big XII title game and instead, ABC executives were treated to Peyton Manning and the Tennessee Volunteers, beating Bobby Bowden’s Florida State Seminoles. I was upset though. I really enjoyed that year’s Kansas State team. As I’ve grown older though, I’ve learned to appreciate marquee matchups, even if I don’t have a true rooting interest. Because I can always develop one if it’s not already there. Because there’s something special about the marquee. And that’s what we’re getting this year in baseball. Not Kansas State and Tennessee. We’re getting the best pitchers in the game, historic blue-bloods, and easy-to-love up and comers from a major media market. So, rejoice Fox and TBS executives. The gods were kind to you, like they were to ABC in 1998.
ALCS: New York Yankees v. Texas Rangers
Breakdown- The Rangers are the aforementioned “up-and-comer” and I love watching them. Their weakness lies in their pitching depth. Cliff Lee is as good as it gets in baseball and perhaps as good as it has been, for a left-handed pitcher, since Sandy Koufax. And that includes Randy Johnson (I expect a post about this sometime next week, but feel free to call me insane for that comment now.). After Lee comes Game 1 starter CJ Wilson, a free-thinking, straight edge, finesse pitcher who considers himself the poor man’s Cliff Lee. And it works. To have two solid lefty starters, in their prime, is an asset. For Texas though, the question after Lee and Wilson, is who’s next? Tommy Hunter’s numbers might look good to the old-timers (13-4 regular season) but for those of us who can understand tangible stats, Hunter is just an average, back-of-the-rotation guy. And Colby Lewis is more of the same. Perhaps the poor man’s version of Tommy Hunter. Two starters, in a seven game series, is not enough. You need the third guy.
The Yankees may have the third guy in Phillip Hughes, and even though he struggled mightily in the regular season, AJ Burnett certainly has the potential to be that third guy.
The Yankees offense is as good as Texas’ and vice versa. The X-factor is Neftali Feliz, Texas’ closer. He was lights out during the regular season, but someone forgot to tell him to turn off the lights in the ALDS. He was awful. Couldn’t find the strike zone and when he did, he couldn’t place his pitches.
Ultimately, I think Texas’ run will come to an end. I’ll be rooting for them, but the Yankees experience and their experienced closer, Mariano Rivera, will get the job done. Yankees win in 6.
NLCS: San Francisco Giants v. Philadelphia Phillies
Breakdown- This marquee matchup has all the makings of a classic. The Giants were the only team who could hit the Phillies Big 3 in the regular season and the Phillies struggled with the Giants rotation. However, Philadelphia comes in hotter than anyone. They eviscerated the Cincinnati Reds in 3 games, no-hitting them in one game. Philly didn’t exactly tear the cover off the ball though against the Reds mediocre pitching, which has a lot of people concerned.
The key matchup in this series is not tomorrow night’s showdown between Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum. It is instead Sunday’s showdown between Jonathan Sanchez and Roy Oswalt and Tuesday’s between Matt Cain and Cole Hamels. I like the Phillies in the latter two games. So whether they go into game 4 up 2-1, or down 3-0 won’t matter to me. This is a team, Philadelphia, that knows how to step on an opponents throat. They know how to win a postseason series. And they’re peaking at the right time. For me, this is disappointing because I don’t need a reason to root for the Giants. If you are a long-time reader, you know I root for the Giants at almost any time. I just think Philly is too good right now for the Giants and their lackluster offense to contend with. Philadelphia wins in 5.
Mid-Atlantic Bias 