Okay, I know this will be posted after the games actually start, but better late than never (and for the record, I’ve already made my predictions so even if I do check the score of the Twins/A’s game, it isn’t effect/changing my predictions).
But before we get to those playoffs, let’s take a quick look at how we did in our preseason predictions.
AL East – Well look at here… we nailed every team’s final position and were damn close with the win ranges too (Yanks did one game better than we thought; Rays a few games worse than we thought). We look smart! But it doesn’t last long.
AL Central – Ugh, we got the Royals right but missed everywhere else. We did have the Twins in the playoffs, but we nabbed the Sox to win the division. We were right about the Indians not being as good this year, but we didn’t think they’re bullpen would cost them ten games in the end. And the Tigers… well we had them at ALMOST .500. Of course, if you factor out the Royals and National League, the Tigers only went 65-60. Oh well.
(BTW, you know how we were hopeing that the Royals would give up 1,000 runs? Well they came up a little short. They only gave up 971 runs this year, which works out to be 5.99 a game. Oh well, maybe next year, but I sort of doubt it. In fact if we were to make a prediction for the team most likely to give up 1,000 runs next year, we'd take the Indians bullpen on it's own. Worst bullpen I've ever seen. They just sucked. I'm not kidding, they lost like 875 games in the 9th inning this year. It was amazing (capped off by the week were Ortiz beat them twice and for good measure then blew two to the Tigers and one to the Angels. That's right in a span of eight games they're bullpen blew FIVE GAMES!!!)
NL East – We didn’t want to pick the Braves, but we also didn’t want to be the guy who picked against the Braves for the fourth stright year only to see them win the division again… well they didn’t win the division and we should have gone with our gut. We had the Mets in 3rd place (ouch) and the Marlins winning under 60 games. At least we were right about the Phillies and Nats records… but about that Phillies Wild Card, damn it.
NL Central – Can we have this one back? We way overrated both the Cubs and Pirates, though we did predict that the Cubs wouldn’t be as good as everyone thought. Then again if the Cubs had Lee all year they wouldn’t have finished as the worst team in the National League. We were way off on the Reds, who we had in last. We at least got the Cardinals right… sort of. The Brewers disappointed us, just wanted to add that.
NL and AL West – I thought we did these but I guess we didn’t. I know I picked the A’s to win the World Series this year… and I think I had the Dodgers winning the NL West. At least both are in the playoffs.
Now… what you’ve ALL been waiting for, my ALDS and NLDS predictions!!!!!
Twins in four over the A’s – Two teams that have a nasty habit of underachieving in the playoffs face off. This is probably the most interesting match up in the first round, and it’s a shame one of them has to go home considering that they’re both better then all four NL teams. I think in the end the Twins have more magic. Between home field and a more balanced line up, I say Twins. But if Frank Thomas continues this “It’s 1994 all over again!” tears he’s on, then all bets are off. But Twins in four.
Yankees in five over the Tigers – We usually see at least one upset in the playoffs, and this would be the most obvious upset since the other three series are pretty even if you ask us (then again I think everyone picked the Padres over the Cards so maybe not). I know the Tigers come in limping (swept by the Royals who they were 15-1 against this year before this weekend) but they can pitch. And the other thing they can do is score a run. The Yankees rely on their power bats too much to create a run (part of the reason why they’ve lost the last five years) and because of this the Tigers should steal a game. Factor in the Tigers advantage in pitching, it’s hard to really like the Yankees all that much. But I think A-Rod wins them Game Five with a big 7th inning hit (or something like that) and we can all finally move on with our lives.
Dodgers in four over the Mets – The Mets are a mess. If this Mets team had played in the NL in pretty much any other year EVER, they would have choked away their lead and maybe even lost a chance to make the playoffs. But considering that the NL is absolutely brutal (the Cubs, Pirates, and Nats all would have lost at least 100 games in the AL this year; only the Rockies and Giants had a winning record in Inter League Play) the Mets cruised to 97 wins (probably about 87 in the AL). The Dodgers… I don’t know, they’re playing well and seem to be getting breaks. They also are the streakiest team to make the playoffs as far as I can remember. Interesting series for no other reason than it’s NY vs LA (btw, what do you think FOX execs did when they heard that it was going to be an NY vs LA match up? Talk about happy campers… I’m sure they’re praying for a Yankees/Dodgers World Series… but I sort of hope it ends up being San Diego/Oakland… would anyone watch?)
Cardinals in five over the Padres – Ugh… worst playoff match up in years. Carpenter is the difference. (BTW, this is easily the most uninteresting matchup in my baseball life... it's sort of like a NFL playoff matchup in fact. Two teams that are just boring and uninteresting facting off for the right to play a team that is only a tad more exciting. The fun.)
World Series… ugh, I’ll do it just to do it… Twins/Dodgers. But get back to me after the Division Series.
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