The Deer-claw vs. The Beardface & The Freak

I was right about the Yankees beating the Twins, the Phillies beating the Reds, and the Giants beating the Braves. I was wrong about the Rays beating the Rangers. I did not post a LCS preview but I picked the Yankees to win in 7 and the Phillies to sweep. I may have been slightly off on those. After seeing the Yanks and Phillies dominate the division series, I thought a rematch was a pretty safe assessment.

The Giants surprised me with their hitting, which sprung to life at just the right time. It wasn't easy, but the Giants did just enough to win 4 games. I thought hitting would win the series, but it was the other way around. Both teams had similar pitching depth, but the Phillies had a stacked lineup, with postseason experience. The Giants have new blood that rose to the occasion, Buster Posey.

The Yankees hoped their break from the division series would be the difference maker. Instead, the lineup and pitching looked rusty. Cliff Lee dominated in his one game, and Colby Lewis looked like a Cy Young. In order to win the series, the Yanks needed to knock Lewis out of the game. They failed, and as always in New York, a season without rings is a failure of a season, regardless of how far the team gets.

(Side note about the Yankees: They are currently in negotiations to re-sign Joe Girardi. While many fans are vehemently opposed to this, as Girardi tries to lose games, I am definitely happy to see the Yanks making the right decision. Girardi was a magician on the Marlins, and has a ring on his finger from managing, in addition to the ones as a player. There was nothing he could do to win that series. The Yankees' bats simply fell flaccid. Changing the manager now would not help the Yankees. Cliff Lee would help them.)

(Note about the Phillies: Imagine you had Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay this season. You would definitely be in the World Series, and the Rangers would not be. It was a bad move to trade him, and even worse given the Yankees will probably be the highest bidder for him this offseason. Maybe then Yankees' fans won't pour any more beer on his wife.)

World Series

The Giants have home field advantage, but that is the only advantage they have. The two teams have excellent starting pitching, led by Timmy Lincecum, "the Freak," on the Giants, and Cliff Lee on the Rangers. The Rangers definitely have the edge in hitting, but so did the Phillies. Both teams have a great bullpen, led by their closers, Neftali Feliz on Texas, and beardfaced, Brian Wilson on San Fransisco. This is definitely a tough one to call, but I am picking the Rangers to win. It will be hard fought as neither city has seen a World Series winner, but the Rangers, in my opinion, have a more complete team. We can only hope that this series goes 7 games, and Brian Wilson pitches in every single one. Brian Wilson, the certified ninja.

I would love for Brian Wilson to be a Yankee, but I will not be selfish. His beard is too glorious to be shaved, which the Yanks would make him do. It would be great to see the interactions between him and Nick Swisher, "Six RBIs, what?!" He deserves to let his crazy flow with the Giants though.

(Side note on the playoffs: MLB wants to expand the postseason because they want more money. The NBA and NHL both have sixteen teams make the playoffs and the NFL has 12, while MLB only has 8. Honestly, the season and the postseason are long enough and there is no need to expand. Bud Selig is prone to being wrong though, so this is bound to happen.)

Side note about me: I have not posted for a while and I am sorry. There are a combination of reasons; no motivation since I am not being paid for this, no time since I am employed, laziness, etc. I will make a better effort to write posts on the regular again and I hope you enjoy.

For your entertainment:

Hunt for Reds October

The MLB postseason starts today, with three games on, beginning at 1. This should be an exciting October, with four teams making the playoffs, who were not there last year; Rangers, Braves, Reds, and Giants. All of the excitement will be moot however, with the World Series being a rematch of last season, pitting the Yankees and Phillies against each other again, resulting in the same outcome.

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Texas Rangers -- The Rangers, as a franchise have never won a playoff series, losing multiple during the Yankees dynasty of the 90s. Their first win will not happen this year. The playoffs is all about pitching, and even with Cliff Lee, the Rangers pitching is subpar to the Rays. But not by much. This series will go the distance. The Rangers may be the most fun team to watch, given their "Claw and Reindeer games," but the Rays are the better team. The Rays finished with the best record in the AL, with the Yankees only finishing a game behind them. The AL East was, by far, the best division in baseball. The Rays and Yankees finished with the 2nd and 3rd best records, and the Red Sox and Blue Jays were 2 of the best 5 teams to not make the playoffs. The Orioles, after signing Buck Showalter, were one of the best teams in baseball. The Rays finished on top of all of them, and will best the Rangers in 5.

New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins -- The Twins get what they wished for, a rematch and chance at vengeance against the Yankees. The Yankees have struggled through September, but still finished with the 2nd best record in the AL. The Twins were not far behind, but as I was saying the AL East was the best division, the AL Central was one of the worst. The Twins were able to play the lowly Royals and Indians, which inflated their record. They are dominant at home, and have played better without Justin Morneau than they have with him. He will miss the entire postseason due to effects from his concussion. Like I said though, pitching wins playoff games, and throwing CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte in 4 of the 5 games (if necessary) will be the difference maker. They won't need 4 or 5 games though, as the Yanks will sweep.

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Cincinnati Reds -- The Reds are not supposed to be here. This was the Cardinals year to dominate, and whoever had money on the Reds to win it all, could become very, very rich. The Cardinals faltered, as the Reds went on to dominate all season. It is too bad they have to play the Phillies in the first round. The Phillies have what seems to be a perfect playoff team this year. Pitching is superb and their lineup is dominant. They turned it up a gear in September and their phans are hoping they stay hot through October. There is no reason their hot streak should cool down. The Reds just have to be hotter, and their pitching and hitting has that potential, especially with Aroldis Chapman throwing 100+. It just won't happen for them as the Phillies will win in four.

San Fransisco Giants vs. Atlanta Braves -- This is probably the most intriguing series to watch. The Giants struggled early, but stayed with the Padres, and eventually overtook them in the end. Tim Lincecum is the personification of their season, playing his best towards the stretch. Their hitting was absent for most of their season, but Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval (skadooosh) powered them into the postseason. The Braves played their hearts out this year for the final year of Bobby Cox's managerial career. It really is a feel good story that he was able to make the playoffs in his final year. These teams are very evenly matched up: good pitching, not so good hitting. The Giants have a slight, very slight, edge in pitching, so they'll take it in five. (I hope this one goes five as it will probably be the most entertaining.

Notes about Derek Jeter:

His career is not done, the Yankees season is not done, and he WILL be a Yankee for his entire career. I have been reading way too many freakouts this season about Jeter and the Yankees not playing well. Last I checked, the Yanks finished a game behind Tampa and easily made the playoffs. Derek Jeter struggled through the "year of the pitcher," as did many. I see no reason why he would not be able to rebound next season given how hard working he is. The Yankees are the team that no one wants to play in October given their history. Let things play out before being drama queens and freaking out that everything is going wrong. Until the Yanks lose a playoff series, or Jeter stunningly signs with another team, I will keep hope alive that they will repeat as champions, and Jeter will resign with the Yanks. He is "Captain Clutch" and thrives under the pressure of October, so why should I bet against him, or the Yanks?

Tainted Love

Alberto Contador has tested positive for 40 trillionths of a gram of clenbuterol, a banned substance in cycling. Contador blames the positive test on tainted meat he ate that his chef requested to be brought from Spain. He is suspended and pending further investigation, could be banned for 2 years, losing his 2010 Tour de France crown. Given such a minuscule amount, and that he was apparently told by the testers that "it was a clear case of food contamination," it is doubtful he will be banned.

This is just another case of an athlete disappointment. Anytime an athlete is connected to drugs, whether it is true or not, their name is forever tainted. Fans are tired of excuses, tired of cheaters, tired of press conference apologies. Children are losing their heroes one-by-one. I am happy to have grown up at the start of cheating, idolizing Don Mattingly. There was no testing when he played, and unless he wanted to become a public pariah by admitting to using, we are to believe he never did. And I would like it to stay that way. I will wear his jersey with pride knowing he never cheated.

Now though, it seems a new player is found to be cheating everyday. For baseball there was Clemens, Rodriguez, Ramirez, McGuire, etc. For football, Romanowski, Merriman, Cushing. For track, we have Jones, Montgomery, etc. And for cycling, Lance Armstrong in under a microscope of scrutiny, Floyd Landis was exiled, and now Contador faces the shame that all users face.

The frustration level for sports fans is through the roof. How can parents expect their kids not to cheat when they're learning everyday that athletes make a living off cheating. Not just make a living, but earn millions. Earn is not the right word. Steal? People hold sports, and sports records, to a very high standard. Roger Maris had to deal with an asterisk next to his 61 home runs because he did not complete the feat in as many games as Babe Ruth's 60. Many believe the true home run champion to be Hank Aaron. Records are meant to be broken, as long as corners aren't cut en route to that record.

So maybe the meat was contaminated. I think it was. But I think it was Contador contaminating it. Injecting cows with clenbuterol so that he would be eating such a undetectable amount. Athletes will always be one step ahead of testers, and this was his plan to achieve a small edge while being ahead of the testers. Maybe the meat was property of Lady Gaga, thus clearly being contaminated. Or it could just be the French holding a grudge that they can't win in their own game. Either way, Contador will be fairly (or not) connected to cheating.

Another legend down, who's next?