Vinnie's regular season wrap-up and playoff preview extravaganza!

First, some accountability. I did ok, picking all four AL playoff teams (not very hard) but whiffed on all but the Phillies in the NL. The computahs called three in each league, so the lesson is, don't try to think for yourself. I also made some pretty egregious bad calls on the Rangers, Astros, Marlins, as well as on several specific predictions embedded amongst the bad jokes.

This year, the real team story, in a historical sense, was the D'Backs (or "Snakes" as we are lobbying to have them officially renamed). Their season already has and will continue to make people ask how a team could get outscored for the season, yet outperform their Pythagorean W-L by a whopping eleven games and make the playoffs. They were 14th in the NL in runs scored and last in OPS+, but they were fourth in ERA, first with the park adjustment. So maybe it's as simple as good bullpen = inordinate number of wins in close games, bad offense = inordinately small number of blowout wins. Either way, I think it's lazy and probably inaccurate to attribute it all to luck. I'd swallow that explanation if a team made the playoffs finishing, say, 14th in pitching and tenth in offense as the Cardinals threatened to do into September.

And since Pat already covered the individual awards, I'd just like to recognize a few players whose fantastic seasons were largely ignored because of the awful teams they play for. So to Aaron Harang, Carlos Pena, Hanley Ramirez, Miguel Cabrera, and Eric Bedard, congratulations on fine seasons. Now go tell your teamates and GMs to stop sucking.

And now for some mood music...



If that doesn't make you wanna hike up your stirrups, feather your hair, and pull on your elastic wastebanded baseball pants, you must be in a coma.

With that, here's my futile attempt to handicap the world's most majestic series of coin flips, the MLB playoffs.

ALDS

Angels vs. Red Sox
I picked the Angels to go all the way before the season, so I've gotta stick by my boys, right? Last year I turned on my preseason pick the A's when the playoffs came, but I'll be more loyal this year, against my better judgment. The Sox are out of their league in hitting, but as we know, the pitching is what's really important. And when you compare the guys who will actually appear in this series instead of comparing the entire regular season staffs, you realize the disparity is small. Yeah, that justifies it I guess. Actually, forget that. I'm going with better judgment. Red Sox in 4.

Yankees vs. Indians
There's no getting around it. The Yankees' pitching is very weak for a playoff team. Even their good pitchers aren't all that good. They're probably gonna need to take advantage of Byrd's start and touch up either Sabathia or Carmona. With the two Rafaels (Betancourt and Perez) in the bullpen, there's no excuse for the Indians using BP pitcher extraordinare Joe Borowski with the game on the line. If the Yanks are trailing by a few in the ninth, you can pretty much book a three-run rally. I predict this costs the Indians a game (bold!), but they bring back Carmona and Sabathia on short rest to pull out games 4 and 5. Indians in 5.

NLDS

Cubs vs. Snakes
The Snakes might get a win from Webb in Game 1 or from Davis in game two given the Cubs' troubles against bad lefties this year, but if they send out Livan Hernandez in any game this series, they're asking for a loss. I'm really surprised they've announced him for Game 3 over Micah Owings, experience be damned. Owings's last two starts (albeit vs. the Pirates and Giants) were great, and let's not forget, the dude can rake! (4 HR and a 1.033 OPS in 60 ABs) Unless Phoenix (yeah, we're changing that too) can tag Rich Hill for a few dingers in Game 3, I don't see them scoring much on the Cubs rotation. Cubs in 4.

Phillies vs. Rockies
The Phillies haven't announced their Games 2 and 3 starters after Hamels, but I'd imagine it would be Moyer and the 22 year-old rookie Kyle Kendrick or perhaps Lohse. That's not so good, Al. At the same time, the Rockies' likely 2 and 3 starters Cook and Fogg put the ball in play a ton, and that's not a good thing against that lineup. Like most people, I don't really buy into the "momentum" factor, but that's kind of a wash anyway if you believe in such things. The Phillies bullpen has been terrible all year, and even if you shrink it down to Meyers, Romero, and Gordon, it still doesn't look good. Unfortunately, I think that dooms them, especially with the mediocre rotation. As much as I'll be rooting for my preseason NL champ, I think I'm gonna have to pick Colorado. Rockies in 4.

ALCS

Red Sox vs. Indians
What's more futile than predicting the DS? That's right, picking the winners of subsequent series that may not even happen. Last year, I went 0-4 in the DS, so I'll try to do better this year. Ok, done trying. Anyway, I'm pulling hard for the Indians, but the Borowski factor really does make me nervous. There's not a lot else separating these teams, but I guess the Sox are overall a little better. Red Sox in 6.

Cubs vs. Rockies
Cubs vs. a '93 expansion team in the NLCS? Sound familiar? Eh? Eh? Yeah, since this matchup more than likely won't happen, that's all the analysis I'm gonna bother with. Rockies in 7.

World Series

Red Sox vs. Rockies
Ditto above. But for the sake of argument... the Rockies! No, the Red Sox! Yeah! That's the answer! Red Sox in 5.

Hopefully this year I get at least one series right, but I make no guarantees.

Ok, so this was the only place I could find this music online (Just pretend the little kid is Steve Garvey or something):



Enjoy the playoffs, everyone!