ALCS
Angels vs. Yankees
If you've followed baseball this year you will know that the Yankees finished the regular season with the best record in baseball with over 100 wins. They have a solid offensive lineup and one of the best pitchers in the league with CCCCCCCCCCCCCC Sabathia. Many people think the Yankees will walk with this series but I'M HERE TO TELL YA this should be a good series. Yes, the Yankees did have the best regular season record in baseball but who was second? Ding, ding, ding, you guessed it, the Angels. The Angels set an MLB record for having 11 players with 50+ RBI... how does that even happen? The Yankees signed Mark Teixeira (two e before i's in one name!) from the Angels for big bucks. He has been legit. Kendry Morales filled in Marks position for the Angels and put up comparable numbers for considerably less money. That will be an interesting matchup, let's see who does better between Kendry Morales and Mark Teixeira.
One thing the Yankees have decided to do is go with a three man rotation. I think that is a great call because this means CC can pitch 3 games this series. Remember what he did for the Brewers after the trade deadline last season to get them in the playoffs?? Yikes! CC has taken heat for underperforming in the playoffs but he looked good in the first round this year. Another thing the Yankees have is their lineup. It is honestly pretty amazing. There aren't any easy outs in it and they can really wear on a pitcher. That being said, they didn't produce many runs against the Twins, who were depleted after playing game 163. So, besides having CC go 3 games if needed and having probably the best offensive lineup in the MLB, another advantage the Yankees have is the Angels closer. Yes, Brian Fuentes for the Angel's is left handed and that always scares me. The Yankees really only have two left handed starting hitters in Matsui and Damon, which, I think makes Fuentes vulnerable when coming in late to save contests.
The Angel's will definitely have a couple advantages over the Yankees in this series and here they are. I think the Angels have the second best manager in baseball, and they aren't facing the best (Tony LaRussa, in my opinion). Yes I think Mike Scioscia is the better manager and I think that will give the Angels a slight advantage. It's kind of funny, people tend to think that managing a baseball game is really easy because it looks like managers don't really do anything. The truth it, I felt the same way, until I did a little Jr. ACME coaching and realized there are so many decisions that need to be made quickly and it is taxing. You call every pitch thrown, you decide to steal, not to steal, hit and run, leave the pitcher in, take him out. It really is pretty taxing. It's funny how coaches are called managers in baseball and coaches in other sports. I also like the Angels because they are aggressive on the base paths and Jorge Posada is basically a pile of garbage defensively. I hope to see some aggressive and competent base running out of the Angels after seeing so much terrible play on the base paths throughout the postseason. Freeze on a line drive! I think the Angels also have a mystique factor to them. They are on the west coast and we don't really know much about them relative to the almighty Yankees. A lot of analysts have this being a really close series and I think that bodes well for the Angels because they probably do something else well that I don't really know about to put them over the edge.
There are ten so-called "experts" on ESPN.com who have picked this series. They have all picked the Yankees. Although the Yankees did sweep the Twins, they narrowly swept the Twins and had to come from behind in every game, I believe. This will be more difficult against the Angels. I like the Angels to win this series with aggressive play and more timely hitting.
NLCS
Dodgers vs. Phillies
I like to think of the Phillies as the "mini Yankees" because when I think of the Phillies the first thing that comes to mind is their lineup. They have an amazing amount of power up and down that lineup. They have a former MVP as do the Yankees. The Dodgers really do have a solid, young core of great baseball players. Seriously, go look at the Dodgers roster and check out their ages, it is amazing how many quality players they have aged 25 or younger.
This is why the Phillies will win. The aforementioned Phillies Lineup. It really is potent. I believe they have like 5 guys who hit 30 bombs or something ridiculous like that. Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins really set the table well for the Phillies offense. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth can all go deep at any time and blow a game wide open. I believe the Phillies also led the bigs in stolen base percentage, they sure can pick their spots. I also like the Phillies because they seem to be unflappable! When they are down they never seem to panic, they just continue to think that they will come back and win and I believe that goes a long way for a club.
The Dodgers have a few things going for the too. Clayton Kershaw and Randy Wolf. They are both left handed and the two will probably start 4 games if the series goes deep. I believe these two lefties will give the Dodgers a huge advantage because if they can stymie left handed batting Chase Utley and Ryan Howard it will really divide the Phillies lineup into two and it will make it difficult for them to score runs. Another thing on the Dodgers side is the Phillies late inning relief. Brad Lidge didn't blow any saves against the Rockies but if you watched that series carefully he didn't really throw strikes. The only reason he was getting people out is because they were swinging at bad pitches and I hope the Dodgers are aware of this. If they don't help Brad Lidge out in save situations, he may walk people and his mind may wander back to when he couldn't save a game if his life depended on it. I think this is a huge advantage for the Dodgers, I predict that Brad Lidge blows one game this series.
If Clayton Kershaw and Randy Wolf can win 3 games (big if) I like the Dodgers to win for sure, if those two combine for 2 wins I think we will be looking at a 7 game series. Overall, I'm going to predict the Dodgers to win and it will be LA vs LA in the World Series.
Look at this video... it is unbelievable
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWAS814ASmA
jeez hamnuts... i've been checking every day this week and still no update... your slacking
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