I’ve loved the game of baseball for half a century, and have followed the Major Leagues for the bulk of that time. Other sports have come and gone over the years, but MLB is the only one that has had staying power for me. Yet I have never, ever, not even once, completed a bracket.
So for the first time ever, I present to you my predictions for this oddest of Major League Baseball playoffs.
The main reason I never do predictions is because, like prophecies, they have an awful track record. These are human beings, performing at the highest level of their chosen athletic endeavor, under the most pressure they will ever face and we expect to predict how they will perform? Nonsense. Consider the first round which will be a 3-game series. The 3-game series is the standard series all year in MLB and excellent teams lose 3-game series all the time! It is literally anyone’s guess how the early rounds will go, and we should fully expect some upsets. That being said, I made what I think are pretty safe choices. Maybe the Indians over the Yankees is an upset pick, but I’ve seen the Yankees a few times this year and they are not the powerhouse team they’ve often been.
I’m not as familiar with the AL teams to begin with, but I’ve seen the Rays and they are as solid as it gets. Good pitching, hitting and defense and I expect they’ll go far, but from what I’ve read, the boys from Minnesota have the best overall team in the American League. So I expect in a 7-game series, they will show their stuff and take the Rays down to make it to the Fall Classic.
On the NL side, everyone knows the Dodgers are the team to beat, and I don’t think anyone does it. Again, the same caveat for that first round. A 3-game series is anyone’s guess. Could the Brew Crew take 2 of 3 from the Dodgers? I wouldn’t bet on it,but then again, I’m not a gambler. The Cardinals are limping into the post-season so I expect the exciting young Padres to take them to task, but I hear the Padres potentially lost their premier Starting Pitcher, so who knows? My upset pick in the NL is the Marlins beating the Cubs. Probably my Marlins bias, but the Fish are a story this year and I hope the story continues at least one more round. The Braves are a damn good ball club and I haven’t seen the Reds at all this year, so that pick is just going with the devil I know vs. the one I don’t.
I think the Marlins story ends in the 2nd round as does the Padres, as the Dodgers and Braves are just better teams and will have 5 games to show it. A Dodgers v. Braves NLCS should be killer, and I think the Dodgers prevail, setting up the World Series against the Twins, which I think will be a great match-up of great teams. Ultimately, the Dodgers will be crowned champs for the first time in a long time in my imagined run through the post-season, but don’t hold me to it. In fact, don’t hold me to any of it. There are lots of baseball cliches, but the one that holds the most true is, it’s why we play the games. Anything can and will happen. All I can say is, I’m stoked to watch and I’m going to take in as much of it as I can. Unfortunately, with so many teams it won’t be possible to see every game, but I’ll do my best to see a lot.
Joe's Blog 