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On Saturday night, the Chicago Cubs’ postseason woes continued as the Los Angeles Dodgers completed the 3-game sweep with a 3-1 win at Dodger Stadium. This makes 101 years since the Cubs won a World Series. The North Side hasn’t seen the Cubs compete in a single October Classic since 1945. My condolences to all Cubs fans around the world. As they say in Chi-town, “Wait until next year.”
Next year will certainly have to go better than this one if the Cubbies are to have any hope, at least as far as October is concerned. Saturday’s loss marked the ninth straight postseason loss for the Cubs, who were also swept in three games by Arizona during their NLDS appearance last year. The Cubs also became the first team since the 2001 Astros to finish with their league’s best record and be swept in their opening playoff series.
Damn or not, the Cubs played horribly. They were outscored by the Dodgers 20-6, an embarrassing stat for one of the NL’s most versatile offenses.
The surprise sweep of the Cubs shows that almost anything can happen in baseball, especially in October. It is too difficult to know who is going to emerge victorious these days. Just take a look at the many Wild Card teams that have won the World Series from each league in the last two decades. That number is staggering. That said, it has inspired me to make my own postseason predictions this year.
Both the ALDS series and an NLDS series are yet to be completed. The ALCS, NLCS and World Series will take place in the coming weeks throughout this month. Here are my predictions on what remains to be played:
ALDS, Red Sox/Angels: Boston leads this series 2-0. Game three takes place tonight at Fenway Park. John Saunders (17-7) will face Josh Beckett (12-10). Beckett has been battling injuries all season and makes his postseason return to the mound tonight. Beckett went 4-0 in October 2007 and his postseason starts over the past 8 years, with the Marlins and now the Red Sox, have earned him the honor of being called the best postseason pitcher of this millennium. Expect Beckett to make his return to glory tonight as his arm will carry the Red Sox past the Angels and to his fifth ALCS appearance in the last 10 years.
ALDS, White Sox/Rays: Tampa Bay leads this series 2-0 with Game 3 tonight in Chicago. Matt Garza faces John Danks. Garza has been exceptional for the Rays all season and Danks has been lackluster at best against the Rays in 2008. Rookie sensation Evan Longoria has made the difference in the first two games of this series. Don’t expect it to be any different in the third game. The Rays lineup attacks you 1-9 and never gives up. Longoria is hitting .571 with 2 home runs and 3 RBI so far in October. Longoria and the rest of the Rays’ giant offense will be too much for the White Sox pitching staff tonight. The Rays get the sweep and make their first appearance in the American League Championship Series.
NLDS, Brewers/Phillies: Philadelphia leads this series 2-1. The Brewers salvaged a victory Saturday night, but on Sunday they will face Joe Blanton, a midseason acquisition from Oakland. Blanton hasn’t lived up to Phillies fans’ expectations, and they expect him to struggle against Milwaukee. Blanton doesn’t match up well against Brewers hitters like big man and slugger Prince Fielder. However, a powerful Phillies offense will still be too much for the Brew-Crew to match. Expect this series to end tonight, Phillies at 4. 1B Ryan Howard and 2B Chase Utley’s bats will carry the Fightin’ Phills.
American League Championship Series, Red Sox/Rays: The key to this series is the Rays’ home field advantage. The Rays have been terrific at home, posting a winning percentage of over .750 in the regular season. The Red Sox couldn’t buy a win at Tropicana Field in 2008, and most games in this series are scheduled to be played in Tampa Bay. The Rays struggled at Fenway during the regular season, but were able to win there more often than the Red Sox were at Tampa Bay. I hope this series will have all 7 games complete. The home team will, in all likelihood, always win. We saw some fantastic battles between the Sox and Rays this year and that’s why this series is set to go down as one of the best 7-game playoff series America has seen in over a decade. My prediction: Rays at 7.
NLCS, Dodgers/Phillies: This series will be dominated by offensive prowess. The Dodgers have been a different team since acquiring Manny Ramirez on July 31. Ramirez has changed the culture in Los Angeles and turned the Dodgers’ offense into one of the most productive in the National League. The only offense he compares to the Dodgers is, yes, the Phillies. Each and every game will be a fight. The pitch will make a big difference in this series, though most pitchers who take the mound will get hit. The Phillies have the upper hand here with names like Cole Hamels starting games and Brad Lidge closing them out. My prediction: Phillies at 6.
World Series, Phillies/Rays: 5 of the last 10 World Series have been swept. I don’t expect that trend to be any different. The Rays have one of the few pitching staffs that is capable of shutting down the Phillies’ offense. Philly’s pitching isn’t good enough to calm the Rays’ bats. Let’s face it, the American League is much stronger right now than its NL counterpart. This one is easy to call. The Rays became the second team (Atlanta Braves) to finish a season in last place and then follow up the next year in first place. The Braves couldn’t get their World Series out in ’91, but I think the Rays are a better team than those Braves and, moreover, they’re going to face a much weaker team than the ’91 Braves had to face. Everyone wants to see a Cinderella story have a happy ending, myself included. The Rays are too good a team for the Phillies to beat them four different times in seven games. The AL won the All-Star Game, which means the Rays have home-court advantage. Let me remind you once again how great Tampa Bay has been at home this year. My prediction: Lightning on an easy 4.
While these predictions come from hours of research into each team, hundreds of regular season games I’ve watched and attended this season, and my vast knowledge of the game of baseball (the greatest sport known to man), you’ll still be watching these predictions when the postseason is over and October and get a sense of how great baseball is and also how anything can happen in sports.
The game of baseball means a lot to America. After all, it is our national pastime. The game has a lot to do with the growth and prosperity of this country. The game and its players have instilled dreams in the heads of children and adults alike. The legends of the game, legends that will be immortalized forever, show what it really means to be an American. Baseball is 100% American and will always be the standard by which we as Americans live and die.
Let me leave you with this final thought: Major League Baseball is the only business in the history of the United States in which the government made an exception to Sherman’s antitrust (monopoly) laws. The NFL, the NBA and the NHL had to make accommodations in order not to violate the infamous laws. For the game of baseball, the rules somehow didn’t apply.