October 17, 2008

  • More Postseason TAA

    Well, the NLCS certainly didn’t go my way, and now the ALCS is getting to be dicey as well. You know, with as much heat as the Tigers’ bullpen took this year, I can’t recall them ever giving up a seven-run lead. There were games where the Tigers were up by a large margin early on that they eventually lost, but in every instance I can think of, the other team did at least a little bit of the damage against the Tigers starter. It was never *just* the bullpen. At any rate, I DID say in my last post that I wasn’t gonna take anything for granted (unlike TBS, which was popping the champagne around the sixth inning or so) cuz I’ve seen Boston come back way too many times. Unfortunately, the Red Sox are once again media darlings (Which shouldn’t be that surprising when you consider that ratings-obsessed Fox executives would rather have the large-market Red Sox in the World Series), which is gonna drive me nuts. It’s really amazing how yesterday all the columnists and experts were writing stories about how “the Red Sox won’t do it this time” and now they’ve all done a complete 180 and suddenly every column is on how “they’re gonna do it again.” I was seemingly one of the few people NOT to question having Scott Kazmir start the game instead of James Shields. I thought it was actually a good plan, because the Rays had a little bit of a cushion and if something went wrong, you still had Shields pitching at home, where he’s much better anyways. It turns out that Kazmir wasn’t the problem. I’m also not going to question Joe Maddon’s decision to not bring in a lefty to face David Ortiz. I’m not that familiar with the ins and outs of the Tampa Bay pitching staff, but from what I gather, Grant Balfour is one of their big setup men. It’d be kinda like their equivalent of a Joel Zumaya or Fernando Rodney. Also, there were two out and David Ortiz was in the middle of a big slump. And the eighth and ninth innings just were a textbook demonstration of why you can’t walk people and why you can’t make errors. At any rate, I think Game 6 will be huge. James Shields is the Rays’ big game pitcher, moreso than Matt Garza. Also, there are still a lot of questions being asked about the health of Josh Beckett. One way or another, though, the Rays definitely do NOT want to have to face Jon Lester again.

     

    With the Phillies in the World Series, I’ve been giving some thought to how they would match up against either of the two AL teams. A Phillies-Rays matchup would be a tough call. Overall, I think the Rays have better starting pitching, but the Phillies have a more structured back end of the bullpen, in that they have a definite closer and it’s someone who has not blown a save in over a year. And both offenses hit lots of home runs and steal a lot of bases (and while Tampa Bay’s offense was not that prolific during the regular season, it’s been hot recently). All in all, they seem to be pretty evenly matched. However, even though I’d be rooting for the Rays in this situation, my gut’s telling me that the Phillies would win. Now, if the Red Sox complete the comeback that all the writers and columnists expect them to make, it’s a different story. The momentum carrying them out of doing something like that would be so huge that they could very well sweep the Phillies (just like they did to the Cardinals in 2004 and the Rockies last year). Just so you know, in a potential Red Sox-Phillies matchup, I’d be rooting for the Phillies. Whoever wins the ALCS, my gut’s just plain telling me that the World Series just ain’t gonna go my way this year.