2018 World Series

Red Sox over Dodgers in 5

If you don't like baseball, you'll never get how much tension and drama the game creates--even when nothing is happening! If you don't like baseball, you just see nothing; but baseball lovers came away from this World Series with a new admiration of Nathan Eovaldi, a guy that expertly did almost nothing for 9 full innings, and it was a joy to watch (even though he ended up taking the loss).

I thought the Sox's advantage was the weird dimensions of Fenway Park and the frigid temps of New England in October. So when they took the first two games at home I didn't chalk it up to the Sox being wildly better than the Dodgers. Indeed, I was actually pretty impressed with how the Dodgers played in those first two games and thought they had a good chance to sweep the LA games and head back to Fenway looking to close out the Sox (though even then I still would've liked the Red Sox chances of taking the final two games). And when Game Three went an epic 18 innings (normally I pay little/no attention to TV commentators but on this night I kinda pitied how fucking tired they must be just sitting in the same chairs for all that time), I thought it portended well for the Dodgers. Not unlike the NLCS when an extra inning game warped the Brewer bullpen, I thought the Sox that would pay the price for the unexpected time on the field. Nope, not so much. It was the Dodger bullpen that couldn't get it together in the next coupla games.

I'm cool with Steve Pearce being the MVP, he had some big hits and was definitely a major contributor. But really I thought the Sox lineup all played pretty good but not great, including Pearce. I would've gone with David Price as MVP, I just thought his Series was great, he did everything that needed to be done despite his poor playoff history and rocky time in Boston. And given that in the clinching game, he gave up a homer on the first pitch...and then nothing after that...was something special and should've been rewarded. Also, symbolically Price was the guy that has been there the whole time and endured a lot of criticism who shook off his doubts and performed at a high level when no one thought he could, whereas Pearce is a journeyman who just joined the team, might not be back next year. Pearce is a fine choice but I think Price was the better story and I'm surprised the voters missed that.

Obviously the Red Sox were the best team in baseball this year. With 108 regular season wins and relatively easy victories over the Yankees, Astros and Dodgers (*), it seems like the discussion will soon turn to whether this team is one of the best teams ever. I'm not in on that. This team was good but their pitching was hardly one of the greats of all time and the lineup struck me as good but not great, good at getting timely hitting (dare I say 'clutch'?) but not overpowering or unbeatable. This team just had the ability to outlast their opponents. Huzzah for the Red Sox. They won it all and they deserved it. And I enjoyed it every step of the way because I love good baseball and this was good baseball.


(*) The Red Sox became the first team ever to defeat both of the prior World Series participants to win the championship. Weird, that doesn't seem like it would be that uncommon.

2018 World Series

I can't help thinking that the Astros were better than the Red Sox but the Red Sox bullpen held up, they got timely hitting and it felt like they got every lucky break and finished off the Astros pretty quick. Likewise, I can't help thinking that the Brewers were better than the Dodgers. But their overuse of the bullpen doomed them once Game Four went to 14 innings (or whatever), you just knew it was over the Brewers right then. It may sound like sour grapes to complain about the winners but 1) I have no rooting interest here (I'm an Indians man, myself) and 2) it's not uncommon for the lesser team to win (check out the World Series from 1987-1997, hard to say the best team won most of those matches).

I think the Red Sox home field advantage will be too much for the Dodgers to keep up with. They both have good lineups, decent starting pitching and so-so bullpens, the only real difference I see is Fenway vs. Dodger Stadium. Fenway is a weird place and it'll be freezing cold there whereas Dodger Stadium is a colossal place where cool breezes will warm the visitors as well as the home team. Otherwise they strike me as pretty similar squads (I think Sox defense and lineup are slightly deeper). I'll take Red Sox in 6.

2017 MLB Post-Season Predictions (part 4)

I am a Cleveland Indians fan and I watched them a lot this year. I don't recall their games against the Astros but I remember being very impressed with the Dodgers (best team I saw all year long). The Astros owned the first third of the season, the Dodgers owned the second. Both had their struggles, too, but fortunately for them they got the struggles out of their system before the playoffs started (not true for my Indians, alas).

Astros handled the Red Sox without much problem; Yankees caught the Indians backpedaling. The Yanks were able to steal W's at home against the Astros but that team isn't quite ready, they got further than they should have this year and the Astros were able to right the ship and take the victory.

Dodgers handled the D-Backs without much problem; the Cubs caught the Nationals at less than their best. The Cubs have a lot talent--thought they should've been the dominant team all year long--but they just weren't up to it this season and the Dodgers mowed them down easily.

Both of these teams dodged a bullet: Indians at their best and Nationals at their best would've challenged both of these teams, may have even gotten past them. But champions get lucky, too, that doesn't mean the Dodgers and Astros are undeserving. Not at all, they're both excellent squads and did what they had to do to get to this point.

My first thought is the Dodgers have deeper pitching, more variation in the lineup and the home field advantage, gotta go with the Dodgers. But the Astros as an underdog is very intriguing: they're a scrappy team, the kind of team that probably loves the idea that no one thinks they can do it. Baseball is a momentum game, gotta figure the Astros have a good shot at steering the series their way.

I think the Dodgers are better and have the better chance at winning, but that's precisely what gives the Astros a chance to sneak the whole Series. I was going to say Dodgers in 6 but I think I've talked myself into Dodgers in 7. Should be a hell of a Series, I'm looking forward to it. 

2017 MLB Post-Season Predictions (part 3)

Yankees-Astros
Hate to sound like a grumpy Indian fan but the Yanks didn't win that series, the Indians lost it. I was impressed with the Yankee tenacity and the timely hitting but their victory was more a case of the Lindor-Kipnis-Ramirez trio all falling flat (last year this was Kipnis's team, but this year Kipnis was in and out of the lineup, never got on track at the plate, I was dubious of sticking him in CF, it ultimately upset the balance). The Astros, on the other hand, got just enough of a test from the Red Sox to get them rolling into this series. I'm not blown away by the Astros pitching but the defense and lineup are playing good ball right now. The Yankees are on a nice streak, riding a wave but Judge and Sanchez honestly kinda sucked against the Indians and I didn't see enough from the vets to make me think that the Yanks are balanced enough to win another series. I'm a big fan of Severino but Tanaka is up and down (he was decidedly up in Game Three) and I think the bullpen may have played itself out. I like the Astros to win 6.

Cubs-Dodgers
The Dodgers sure looked awful in September but they're looking pretty good again in October. I thought the D-backs had a chance to put the touch on them but they held their ground and got it done. (You gotta respect the fact that the losers all went out with their best SP: Sale, Greinke, Kluber and Scherzer all played big minutes in their teams' final games) They seem to be rolling again and at their best I thought the Dodgers were the best team I saw all year. I've got stick with them to keep it going against the Cubs, who are too up and down, especially the pitching. The Cubs have big moments, big plays, tough outs and then they have careless defense, bone-headed baserunning and pitching that falters. They've got to the goods to be the best but I kinda don't see them bringing the goods 4 times out of 7 games against the Dodgers. I'll take the Dodgers in 7.