Fall CLASSIC!

Notice how I've made classic all caps in the title?  That's because I want to emphasize how sweet this series will be.  Pretty smart, huh?  I really want to encourage people to tune into this series because it should be astounding.  We are at a time where football continues to flourish (college and the extremely top-heavy pros) and basketball gets increasingly better ratings from the younger demographic.  Baseball ratings are pushed by the older male demographic (try to count how many ED commercials you see if you choose to watch any of the world series, it's brilliant) and I don't see my generation replacing that demographic when we're 50.  I just don't see it.  For the most part, we like fast-paced games where things happen frequently.  We don't want to wait 2 minutes to watch a 1-1 pitch turn into a 2-1 count.  I get that.  It's why I don't berate people for disliking baseball, even though I love it.  

Have you ever seen the movie "Knocked Up?"  If you answered, "no" I hate you.  Remember the scene at the playground where Paul Rudd and Seth Rogan are having the conversation about bubbles?  Paul Rudd's character says he doesn't like anything as much as his kids like bubbles because he has grown up and his life is mundane.  I can relate to that sentiment but starting tonight at 7:57 ET I will have discovered my bubbles, even if they pop within a week and a half. 

So, besides my (and your) love for watching commercials with ever-flaccid men, there are other reasons to catch this years' World Series.  First of all, the Yankees... love 'em, hate 'em, they make the world series worth watching because it matters to most of us if they win or lose. Sorry Tampa Bay, you're a nice story and you make the Reds and Indians (the '09 and future) seem relevant but you just don't make anybody emote.  Rooting against a team is just as good a reason to watch a game.  I think I get more excited to hate Notre Dame every Saturday than love the Buckeyes while they play another terrible Big Ten team.  Remember a few years ago when there was a heavy sentiment that was like, "I wish the ALCS was the World Series and the NLCS series was just for third place?  Yeah, from top to bottom the AL is easily better than the NL but the Phils have a real AL feel to them... and by that I mean they can hit the shit out of the ball.  From 1-8 in the lineup these teams match up really well.  Let me talk about 4 important factor in this world series and 1 pseudo important factor.  

1.  Nerves.  I think sometimes we feel that professional athletes don't do certain things because they ARE professional athletes.  I want to remind everybody that these athletes are people and I'm guessing their nerves are different in the world series compared to game 132 in the regular season.  There are big names in this world series who have never been there, namely, A Rod, CC and Cliff Lee and it will be interesting to see how they react.  I think the Phillies have been amazingly cool throughout the postseason, especially Ryan Howard.  They just seem like a team who knows they are going to win and they never panic.  I think think the Phils have that in their lineup and the Yankees have it in their pitching staff.  CC and Mariano Rivera are prime examples of this.  CC would pitch every game in the World Series if his arm would allow it.  Down the stretch of the season and playoffs, he loves it.  Nerves ARE GOING to be a factor for Brad Lidge but Charlie Manuel is treating the 9th inning like the 7th, and 8th innings and just playing the matchups.  Something, I believe, more teams should do (I think the only reason some team have "closers" is because the save is a stat).   I'm giving the Phils an edge in the nerves department because their lineup is soooo cool and I believe that if some of the Yankees struggle they will start to press and not hit very well.  

2. Starting Pitching.  The Yankees have the advantage in this category.  CC against Cliff Lee (a poor-mans CC) Burnett has electric stuff when he is on and also Andy Pettitte.  I do not like Pedro Martinez who is starting game 2 for the Phillies because he is only a couple starts back since finishing his rehab.  You can't really know what to expect from him and, he should be starting game 3.  Game 3 is in Philly where the Yankees would have to use a DH and help Pedro out a little bit, it would also allow him to probably get a few hitters deeper into the ballgame.  

3. Timely Hitting.  I keep thinking about the last weeks' ALCS game where Mariano came in with a runner on 3rd and no outs.  He didn't let up a run.  Don't expect to see that against this Phillies lineup.  I think this will also go back to a "nerves" thing, in big spots at the plate I believe the Phillies will be more relaxed and able to come up with the big hit.  I also think that if the Yankees lose the first game in NYC the atmosphere will be very tense for them in game 2 which will also be in NYC.  I give the Phillies an advantage in this category.

4. Base Running.  The Phillies have had an extremely high success rate over the past couple season when stealing bases.  I believe the Yankees will be able to mitigate this strength of the Phillies.  They have CC and Pettitte, who leads the league in pick-offs.  These two are both left-handed which just makes it harder to steal off them.  The Yankees also have the solid defensive Molina catch Burnett when he pitches.  The Yankees also steal a lot of bases and the Phillies won't be able to guard against this as much so they will have the advantage in this category.  

5. Defense.  You'll see analysts saying who has the better defense and that it's an edge in the series.  Most of the time, I think that's crap.  MLB players, specifically infielders, are so good defensively, it's really unbelievable, it's something the average person doesn't notice.  Defensive miscues are usually pretty rare enough that you cant predict in a 7 game series who is going to commit more.  You definitely can't predict in what kind of spot they are going to come in.  Will there be an error that extends an inning and allows a team to score 5 extra runs and thus take a 2-0 series lead instead of losing and evening up the series at 1?  Or will the error be followed by a guy who grounds into a double play?  I'm not trying to say that defense isn't important, I'm saying that they are relatively infrequent occurrences and you just can't predict where they will happen in this series.  

In closing, this should be a very exciting series... I really hope the Phillies win but I think the Yankees will be victorious.  I also really hope to see a game 7, since none of the first round series went five games and neither of the AL&NLCS' went 7.  I hope you all take some time to tune in and watch my bubbles.