MLB discussion (or, "I swear I never did steroids")

[Wolfman]

Well, wip has told me to get a thread going here if I wanted to. I hope nobody's got a thread buried somewhere else that I'm shittin' on, but here goes nothin' -


I'm a longtime Yankees fan since growing up in northern New Jersey as a kid, and I've stuck with them through good times and bad.

So here we are in the stretch run. Who do you think is going to make it to the playoffs at this point?

Here's my picks (pretty close to the current standings) -

AL East: NY or Boston (whichever one doesn't take the division will be the wild card winner)
AL Central : Chisox (duh)
AL West : Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, USA, Planet Earth (or whatever they are currently called today)

AL wild card: see AL East prediction

NL East: Total toss-up between the current top 4 teams, IMO; but I'll go with
Atlanta at this point. I can see Florida or Washington making a push. I don't think Philly's got the legs for the stretch run (Sorry, Sucka)
NL Central : St. Louis (triple duh)
NL West : Padres will hang on to it.

NL Wild Card : Washington


AL Playoffs:

NY vs. Boston (again. this time with NY coming out on top)
Chicago vs. Anaheim, Chisox winning

Chicago over NY to hit the WS

NL Playoffs:

Atlanta vs. San Diego, Padres winning
St. Louis vs. Washington, Cards winners

St. Louis over San Diego to go to the WS

World Series : St. Louis over Chicago Sox in 6

[wip5150]

Sorry man, but I have to disagree (and it wouldn't be any fun if I agreed anyway) but the Chisox won't win the AL pennant, let alone win the series. Have you seen them over the past two weeks? Since Scott Posednik has been on the DL, they can't hit. Yes, you read that right, Scott FREAKING Posednik. Sure, they cleaned out Johnson's clock yesterday but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

I think that St. Louis may be the team to beat this year.

Discuss.

[Wolfman]

I definitely agree about the impact of Podsednik, but here's the way I see it - neither of the AL East leaders has exactly been lights out so far; Both Anaheim and Oakland have been susceptible; nobody is likely to catch Chicago in the Central based on the year they have had (despite the obvious recent slide). Personally, I think NY or Boston could get hot this month, but I have my doubts about my Yankees and I'm not about to predict another pennant for Boston (LOL).


That said, I think we agree on this being the year of the Cardinals, no matter what.

[wip5150]

True, but if I'm a cardinals fan, I'm worried that I won't have Scott Rolen in the playoffs.

If Houston could get their bats working, they could kick ass in the playoffs with that pitching staff.......but that's a big if.

[Wolfman]

What's to miss about Rolen? 59 games played, 5HR, 28RBI's, .235 AVG. Imagine if he'd been healthy and available all season. That team has been amazing without him. They would be "ugly good" with him added to the mix.

I do agree that Houston could make a nice run though. With Rocket pitching the way he has all year, and Pettite having a nice second half, all they need is those bats. Not to mention Lidge as the closer - guy has been excellent this year. Guys you expect to hit - Biggio, Berkman, Bagwell ... are having extremely subpar years or are out. The biggest boost they've had has been Ensberg with his breakout year. Now that I think about it, that's where your "big if" rears it's ugly face. Hard to find potential for offense in that lineup right now.

[ericgtr]

Okay, it looks like this is our official MLB thread so I'll sticky it.

[BB]

I'm gonna have to go for my Diamondbacks

[ggutt2003]

The D-Backs have no heart. And they get their cue from their spineless manager Bob Melvin. Have you ever seen this guy argue with an umpire? Whenever he does he is always being backed up.

And this thing called the G-Force? What a crock! Luis Gonzales, the #3 hitter has 68 RBI....Not exactly a force. Glaus is a consistent rally killer and Shawn Green is past his prime. I have tried to be a D-back supporter-but they make it hard when they get their asses kicked like last night. 14-1...

[MedicTJ]

Don't feel bad. I'm a Cubs fan and we've got your former manager in the booth.

I don't know how the guy got a managerial job in ANY capacity. Brenly ain't exactly Einstein.

I just wish my team could learn to win consistently like the Braves do. Bobby Cox is a friggin miracle worker. Half that team are kids. And they might win their 14th consecutive division title.

But I'm going with an upset in the NL. I'm taking the Phillies with the wild card to win the whole thing.

Phillies upset St. Louis
Atlanta beats the Padres

Phillies beat Braves for the NL Pennant

And even as a Cubs fan, I'd still like to see the White Sox win it all. I just don't think they can.

Indians over Yankees
White Sox over A's (I think Oak will top LAA in the West)
Indians over White Sox

Phillies beat Indians in 7.

[BleedingPinky]

Oh god I sure miss playing-watching baseball,....

[ggutt2003]

[quote=MedicTJ]Don't feel bad. I'm a Cubs fan and we've got your former manager in the booth. I don't know how the guy got a managerial job in ANY capacity. Brenly ain't exactly Einstein.

Yeah-but he did win the world series!! Not as difficult when you have Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling going for you.

After watching the Mets outscore the D-backs 567-12 over 4 games, I am inclined to pick them to win the wild card. But I don't see anybody taking out the Cardinals. Even without Scott Rolen they are loaded.

St. Louis over Mets.
Braves over Padres.
St louis in 5 over Atlanta.

In the AL I don't think Cleveland has enough starting pitching and the way the Yankess came back today is a real streak starter.

Boston over Angels. Oakland won't catch the California Angels. (Yeah, I know they aren't really the California Angels...It's just easier...)
Yankees over the White Sox. (Cause MLB needs the Red sox yankees to take some heat off the steriod cloud)
Yankees in 7 over Boston. The curse is back.
Cardinals spank NY in 5.

[MedicTJ]

I think the A's can catch and overtake them. But a LOT may change in the next 3 games. The two teams are facing each other right now.

Looking at the schedules, the Angels have it a bit easier than the A's do.

The Angels have 19 games left against sub-par sub .500 teams.

The A's have 12 games left against sub-par sub .500 teams.

Either way, they face each other for 4 games in Oakland Sept. 26 thru 29. This will make me happy that I purchased MLB Extra Innings. Those games are gonna be good ones.

[Wolfman]

Stretch run now, just a couple weeks left. Here's a couple of interesting things I noticed today :


Just how bad is it in the National League Rest (West)? Consider this: Not only could we have a division winner go to th playoffs with a sub-.500 record, but the last-place Colorado Rockies, with a 58-86 (.406 winning pct.) have 5 more games to go before they are eliminated from postseason play! Similarly, the Pirates have almost the same record in the Central and are thirty-four games behind their division leader. Sure, St.Louis is on record pace, but that tells you a bit about how bad things are in the West.

Also - In the midst of (supposed) "steroid drop-off" this year, we have Andruw Jones leading the majors with 49 HR, and is projected for 55 on the year. That's currently almost 10 more than anybody else, and that's coming from a man who has never hit more than 36 in a season. Matter of fact, if Jones stays "on pace" for the season, he will end up with 20 more HR's and 15 more RBI's than he's ever had in a season. Hard work and a new training program? Doubtful ... Jones' numbers have been very steadily similar over the last five years.

[Wolfman]

BTW, I loved this quote from Bonds in the paper today. After nearly hitting two balls out in his first game back, Bonds' reply when questioned - "The only thing that disappoints me is I hate leaving guys on base," he said. "I don't care about anything else."


Heh heh. Whatever .....




The best thing about Bonds coming back? Now we don't have to hear speculation on it like we have all season.