Author: David Medsker (Page 18 of 20)

San Diego heads into October with the ignominious distinction of sporting the worst record ever by a playoff team, a mere two games over .500. Guess what? That doesn’t matter anymore. They’re in, and no one’s taking them seriously, a deadly combination if ever there was one (ask the 2001 New England Patriots about that). Unfortunately for them, their first round is against the best team in baseball this year. Do they have what it takes to pull off the upset of all upsets?

The breakdown, piece by piece:

Starting Pitching: St. Louis. If I were building a team from scratch, I’d still take Jake Peavy over any of the Cards’ starters, but one ace does not a rotation make, and after Peavy, the Padre pickings get slim. Chris Carpenter was the Staff Rock of 2005, which took tremendous pressure off NL newcomer Mark Mulder. And hello, Jeff Suppan! He won 16 games? Who knew?

Relief Pitching: St. Louis, by a nose. I prefer Trevor Hoffman, he of the gravity-defying changeup, to the oft-injured Jason Isringhausen, but aside from the closers, the Cards’ ‘pen rules. They did suffer a huge loss when Al Reyes’ elbow went pop a couple days ago, though. And you can’t dismiss the number of vulture wins the Padres staff has; Rudy Seanez has as many wins as starter Woody Williams, and Scott Linebrink actually has more.

Hitting: St. Louis. Nowhere near as formidable as they looked on paper in March, but you cannot dismiss any lineup that includes Albert Pujols, even if Scott Rolen is out for the year and Larry Walker is so full of cortisone that it would create a false positive in a blood alcohol test. Regardless, the lineup has big time pop (Edmonds, Sanders), something that cannot be said for the Padres, who were led by Ryan Klesko’s 18, count ‘em, 18 dingers. Still, I’m just happy to see Brian Giles finally get some hot playoff action. He’s earned this, after getting traded from the Tribe, in their heyday, to the lowly Pirates.

Manager: St. Louis. Tony LaRussa, baby. He’s so far into his opponent’s head that he knows what they’re going to do three innings before the thought ever crosses their mind. Still, the untested coach with no expectations could surprise you. Can you tell that it kills me to say such nice things about St. Louis?

Defense/Intangibles: St. Louis. No one has better fundamentals than the Cardinals, period. Better defense, better baserunning, hitting the cutoff man, all the little things: nobody does it better. Makes me feel sad for the – hey, who let Carly Simon in here?

TSR Pick: Cardinals in four, but my heart is with the Padres. I love a good upset.

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It’s been 88 years since these two teams faced off in the playoffs, and this series is shaping up to be worth the wait. The White Sox’s team ERA is more than a run lower than that of the Red Sox, but Boston made up for that by scoring 162 runs, or a run per game, more than Chicago. We’re about to learn once and for all if the old adage about good pitching beating good hitting is true.

The breakdown, piece by piece:

Starting Pitching: Chicago. They may not be the sexiest starting rotation the game’s ever seen, but they get the job done. Mark Buehrle has been one of the most underrated pitchers of the decade, and Freddy Garcia seems to win with sheer guile. Jose Contreras has been the horse of late, but let’s not forget that he can implode at any second, and has done so against the Red Sox on more than one occasion. He starts Game 1 against Matt Clement, who knows a thing or two about imploding himself. Schilling is still the best pitcher of the bunch, but he’s playing at 80%, tops.

Relief Pitching: Chicago. So what if he’s a rookie? Bobby Jenks’ breaking ball is ungodly. It drops nose to toes in a nanosecond. Ask the Indians and Tigers — they’ll tell you all about it. The rest of that bullpen is effective too (Cliff Politte), though hittable (Hermanson, Marte). Still, they’re not as hittable as the Red Sox bullpen has been (Timlin, Arroyo).

Hitting: Boston. The Red Sox had two, TWO, guys drive in more than 140 runs, while four scored 100+ runs. The Pale Hose didn’t have a single player break the 100 run plateau in either category (thought Konerko had 99 RBI). To add insult to injury, both parks are band boxes.

Manager: Boston. Terry Francona just won the World Series. Ozzie “Scarface” Guillen is already talking about quitting if, IF, he wins the World Series. One’s a doer, one’s a talker. Until Ozzie shows some gumption, we’re expecting to see exploding “Scanners” head from him, rather than nerves of steel.

Defense/Intangibles: Push. Chicago definitely likes to run more – Scott Podsednik stole more bases than the entire Red Sox offense combined – but most of those came early in the season. Lately he’s been running like he has a bowling ball chained to his leg. And no one really talks about either team being defensive specialists.

TSR Pick: Red Sox in five. Hey, at least the White Sox will win a couple, unlike last time.

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The lineups are set, and this time, the Yankees are the road team against the west coast Angels. And while we’re on the subject, can I get one big “Shut the hell up” to the Yankees for complaining about Buck Showalter pulling his big guns on Sunday? Sorry, Yankee boys, but you had all year to win one more game, and you didn’t do it. When your fate is in the hands of another team, then you must deal with the consequences, no matter what they may be.

The breakdown, piece by piece:

Starting Pitching: Anaheim. Mike Scioscia had the luxury of resetting his rotation, while Joe Torre had to play to win until the very end. Game 1: Moose vs. Fatty, the Cy Young winner to be. The Big Unit likely won’t show up until Game 3.

Relief Pitching: Angels, by a nose. Mariano Rivera is the man, no question. But K-Rod is no slouch, and Scot Shields is the best setup man in the game. The Yankee horses, Tanyon Sturtze and Flash Gordon, are efficient but hittable. And if an Angel gets on base in a one run game, forget about it.

Hitting: New York. Three guys with 100+ RBI, four guys with 100+ runs scored. The Angels have one in each category. If Garret Anderson doesn’t get on base, don’t expect Vladimir Guerrero to get a pitch to come within five feet of the strike zone. Of course, he’ll swing at them, anyway. Curiously, the Yankees struck out nearly 200 more times than the Angels, whatever that means.

Manager: New York. They’ve both won a World Series, but no matter what Steinbrenner murmurs in his sleep, Joe Torre is a far, far better coach than he gets credit for being.

Defense/Intangibles: Anaheim. Speed killed the Yankees last year, and the Angels stole nearly twice as many bases as the Yankees. The Yankees are also vulnerable on defense, with no real center fielder and a masher at first base with a questionable glove. What are the odds that at least one pickoff throw gets by Giambi?

TSR Pick: Angels in five.

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