World Series Thoughts

The fan(s) asked for it, so here it is… Talking some baseball!

First of all, let me say the playoffs have been fairly disappointing to watch so far. Aside from the huge homer by Pujols and some late inning heroics from Houston, not a whole lot to get excited about. The game the other night when the Astros clinched was a snoozefest. Everybody was talking about how Poo-hole's home run was a backbreaker, how it was now a given that the Cardinals would return home and win the final two games. Ummm, wrong. They couldn't even force a Game 7.

So let's recap the first two rounds, SBS style:

The Red Sox bad pitching caught up with them in a big way. To the point where Curt Schilling did not even get to make a single start for them! Read that line again. Schilling did not even start for them. So my prediction for him getting shelled and losing the series didn't come true because he didn't get a chance. Manny and Pappi didn't exactly light it up either, and suddenly the Red Sox championship is a distant memory.

On the flip side, the White Sox are playing out of their gourds right now. Four complete game wins from their starting pitching to take the series?! Are you kidding me? Wow. More on the White Sox in a moment.

The Yankees.. Well, what can you say… They couldn't get it done, led by some craptacular hitting from A-Rod. God, I hate him. I'm not a Yankees fan, but being surrounded by them, I do follow the team quite a bit. I think getting A-Fraud was a huge mistake, and I'll continue to think that until he steps up in the postseason and helps win a World Series. For those of you who missed it, in the 9th inning of Game 5.. Jeter led off with a base hit. Then A-Rod grounded into a double play. Two more back to back singles, before Matsui (who stunk it up in the series as well) made the final out. Three basehits in an inning usually gets you at least one run.

Then, this past week, A-Rod's mom talks to the newspapers and says little Alex was effected by the death of the uncle who helped raise him. And that's why he played so god awful. But he didn't want to make excuses, so he didn't tell anybody. Whatever. Suck it up. I mean, I don't mean to sound cold, but players' family members die fairly often. And sometimes they play well, and sometimes they don't. Do the emotions make a difference one way or another? Maybe sometimes. Maybe not other times. The thing I want to know is when exactly did this uncle die? If he died before the series, how did he know it would sound like an excuse? Shouldn't he have been confident in his ability, and not worried about making excuses for poor play that hadn't happened yet? If it happened during the series, then what's the reason for sucking in the pre-death games? Either way, this sort of "leaked" excuse story just makes me hate the guy more.

In the National league, not much to say. The Padres were barely a .500 team, and played like it. The Braves had their annual early playoff exit. And the Cardinals could not get it done even after the huge momentum shifting homer by Pujols.

So now we have the Astros, who haven't won a World Series in their 40-year existence. And the White Sox, who haven't won since like 1918. The "experts" are hyping that point, as both teams would really treasure a Championship. The "experts" are also saying that with the way both pitching staffs have pitched, it should be a low-scoring, close series. I hope they're right. Because I really don't give much of a shit who wins.

So, since we all know pitching wins Championships, who would you rather have? Clemens, Pettitte, Oswalt, and Backe. Or El Duque, Buerhle, Garland, Contreras, and Garcia. The White Sox have better depth from their starters. But in the postseason, really only your top 3 matter. They'll likely pitch 2 games each if it goes 7 games. And this one just might go seven. At least, for us viewers' sakes, let's hope so.

Prediction: Houston in 7.
WS MVP: Andy Pettitte. I think Pettitte has been underrated and underappreciated his whole career. Most of that has to do with never really being the clear cut #1 pitcher on the Championship Yankee teams or in Houston. Some of it has to do with some injuries he's fought through. Although I don't think his regular season numbers are quite Hall of Fame material (172-91, 1525 Ks, 3.78 ERA), he's been clutch in the playoffs. He has two 21-win seasons on his resume, and 5 more seasons of 15+ wins. I've always like the guy, even if those "Power of Living" commercials led to several "Hey Andy! How about reading the Power of Pitching!" jeers from the crowd when he struggled. That's some funny shit.