Well it seems like the Yankees and Phillies get to play at least one exhibition game each before heading to the World Series. Both Championship Series are all but wrapped up with cute little bows on them.
If the Dodgers do win tonight they have the great fortune of facing Cliff Lee again. If the Angels win tomorrow and in game six they have to face C.C. Sabathia. We all know how both teams fare against those respective aces. For a second let’s disregard the match-ups. Let’s get down to what really matters in baseball, the subtle nuances.
Some things I learned in the Championship Series round:
1) Ron Darling sounds remarkably like James Woods. I finally realized this because I chose to focus on the tenor and repetition of his syntax rather than listen to…
2) Buck Martinez is a nose breather. He breathes through his nose and while funny in the first inning became quiet annoying in the second. And that was game one. I had to sit through this man’s nose whistles all through the 27 outs of each game.
3) Matt Stairs may look like a Little League dad who goes out and drinks all week and plays softball with his buddies on Sundays, but to Jonathan Broxton, Matt Stairs looks like the monster you always believed was in your closet as a kid.
4) The American League series was a tight one if you take away all the home runs the Yankees hit. Also please imagine a world in which Alex Rodriguez dominates in the postseason, seems bleak right? Well that’s the world we live in now.
5) Tim McCarver is currently in a heated battle with the English language. Who will win I am unsure of but we are worse off for witnessing it.
6) I could have easily gone out and got five of my closest friends and umpired these games. We would have been just as effective and might not have blown so many calls.
7) ManRam takes a shower in the ninth of game four. A leader on the team, he is neither there to console or to praise had the Dodgers pulled the win out. I still do not understand why he is supported by the fan base in Los Angeles.
It may be a long layoff before the World Series. I for one will be stocking up on cases of beer. I have found that’s the only way to truly follow what Tim McCarver is trying to say. It makes watching the World Series more understandable.
Showing posts with label angels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label angels. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
American League CS
So let me get this straight. The Yankees went out and spent roughly the GDP of Kerzblakistan on better starting pitchers and yet they will take on the formidable Angels with…three pitchers. This seems like a bad return on investment.
Joe Girardi has decided to go with a rotation that will have the very spry and not a bit overweight C.C. Sabathia pitch in a possible 3 games this series. To his credit it is not a strategy born of great minds mulling it over, rather it is derived from necessity. You see, it’s October and the Yankees have really only three starters you can count on. Joba Chamberlain is best used as a catch-all pitcher that can go long or short and Sergio Mitre has a propensity to let the opposing team score a lot.
A three-man rotation may cause trouble if they get past the Angels and have to go to a 4-man rote in the Series. But that brings me to this series. The three-man rotation is pure trouble when you consider that two of the three are left handers. The Angels have no problem hitting left-handers. This has the makings of another Steinbrenner blow-up. I for one will not be able to handle a Yankee loss. Not because I am a fan-I am not. It’s because every year the Yankees fail to bring home a Series title they buy more players the next year. Soon it will be the Yankees and a couple teams with the likes of Chris Davis and Barry Zito on them.
The Angels have eight guys hitting .297 or higher on the year against lefties. Basically get used to Angels being on base. Also get used to Scioscia running his little heart out against Posada.
Now the fun part is that the Yankees have an all-star lineup that can crush the ball. Add the fact that Yankee stadium turns pop ups into home runs and you have the makings of a very ugly series.
I guess my main point is this will not be a pitchers series. Scores should average above 5 and very well could take 4 hours to play.
Joe Girardi has decided to go with a rotation that will have the very spry and not a bit overweight C.C. Sabathia pitch in a possible 3 games this series. To his credit it is not a strategy born of great minds mulling it over, rather it is derived from necessity. You see, it’s October and the Yankees have really only three starters you can count on. Joba Chamberlain is best used as a catch-all pitcher that can go long or short and Sergio Mitre has a propensity to let the opposing team score a lot.
A three-man rotation may cause trouble if they get past the Angels and have to go to a 4-man rote in the Series. But that brings me to this series. The three-man rotation is pure trouble when you consider that two of the three are left handers. The Angels have no problem hitting left-handers. This has the makings of another Steinbrenner blow-up. I for one will not be able to handle a Yankee loss. Not because I am a fan-I am not. It’s because every year the Yankees fail to bring home a Series title they buy more players the next year. Soon it will be the Yankees and a couple teams with the likes of Chris Davis and Barry Zito on them.
The Angels have eight guys hitting .297 or higher on the year against lefties. Basically get used to Angels being on base. Also get used to Scioscia running his little heart out against Posada.
Now the fun part is that the Yankees have an all-star lineup that can crush the ball. Add the fact that Yankee stadium turns pop ups into home runs and you have the makings of a very ugly series.
I guess my main point is this will not be a pitchers series. Scores should average above 5 and very well could take 4 hours to play.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Playoffs: American League
Twins v. Yankees
The Twins were not supposed to make the playoffs this year. The same can be said of last year as well. Actually every year they do well after Kent Hrbek retired is pretty much icing. But here they are well into October, keeping baseball in the Metrodome for at least one more game. Unfortunately they are up against the best paid team in baseball - and they still have to play in a marshmallow.
The Yankees’ weakness the past couple of years has come in the arm department. It should also be noted that Yankee players have no actual souls so that could be a minus as well. This year however, they have a great one-two of Sabathia and Burnett and plenty of depth in the bullpen. Their greatest strength in that department may be Joba Chamberlain. He can pitch a few innings of long relief if need be or he can be ready at a moment’s notice to pitch to one batter. A guy that versatile in the playoffs is extremely valuable.
The Yankees also benefit from the Twins coming off an extreme high and may still very well be suffering from champagne hangovers. What’s scary thought is that the Yankees usually have Alex Rodriguez on slump mode right about now. But he has been heating up every month and just had one of the best games of his career to end the season. It turns out his injury at the beginning of the season was a blessing in disguise. But he still has no actual soul to speak of.
Red Sox v. Angels
Let’s disregard the fact that the Angels have three division series losses to the Red Sox. This is a new year and what’s striking is that these two teams are pretty close images of one another. Take away the ability of both Jon Lester and Josh Beckett to turn into K machines every so often, the Angels and Red Sox are pretty much split down the middle talent wise. The regular season record illustrates this with the Angels taking five of nine.
Both squads have extremely talented hitters throughout. What both lack is a step-up stud of a hitter. Neither has the one guy who pitchers would rather pitch around than put anything near them. This has not deterred either from being extremely potent on offense. Rather, the hits are spread out all over. This is a pick em’ series that should go all five.
To pick the winner of this one I flipped a coin nine times and the Angels won. However I remember that I still can’t stand the Rally Monkey so I switched to the Red Sox. Monkeys should be lauded and laughed at for their comical behavior not invoked to spur on a rally. That’s right the Red Sox win because Angel fans worship monkeys. You heard it here first.
The Twins were not supposed to make the playoffs this year. The same can be said of last year as well. Actually every year they do well after Kent Hrbek retired is pretty much icing. But here they are well into October, keeping baseball in the Metrodome for at least one more game. Unfortunately they are up against the best paid team in baseball - and they still have to play in a marshmallow.
The Yankees’ weakness the past couple of years has come in the arm department. It should also be noted that Yankee players have no actual souls so that could be a minus as well. This year however, they have a great one-two of Sabathia and Burnett and plenty of depth in the bullpen. Their greatest strength in that department may be Joba Chamberlain. He can pitch a few innings of long relief if need be or he can be ready at a moment’s notice to pitch to one batter. A guy that versatile in the playoffs is extremely valuable.
The Yankees also benefit from the Twins coming off an extreme high and may still very well be suffering from champagne hangovers. What’s scary thought is that the Yankees usually have Alex Rodriguez on slump mode right about now. But he has been heating up every month and just had one of the best games of his career to end the season. It turns out his injury at the beginning of the season was a blessing in disguise. But he still has no actual soul to speak of.
Red Sox v. Angels
Let’s disregard the fact that the Angels have three division series losses to the Red Sox. This is a new year and what’s striking is that these two teams are pretty close images of one another. Take away the ability of both Jon Lester and Josh Beckett to turn into K machines every so often, the Angels and Red Sox are pretty much split down the middle talent wise. The regular season record illustrates this with the Angels taking five of nine.
Both squads have extremely talented hitters throughout. What both lack is a step-up stud of a hitter. Neither has the one guy who pitchers would rather pitch around than put anything near them. This has not deterred either from being extremely potent on offense. Rather, the hits are spread out all over. This is a pick em’ series that should go all five.
To pick the winner of this one I flipped a coin nine times and the Angels won. However I remember that I still can’t stand the Rally Monkey so I switched to the Red Sox. Monkeys should be lauded and laughed at for their comical behavior not invoked to spur on a rally. That’s right the Red Sox win because Angel fans worship monkeys. You heard it here first.
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