Well when you're right 52 percent of the time you're wrong 48

why didn't you say that before?

Although to be fair I didn't even do that well. After the All-Star Game I predicted:

AL

East - Boston Red Sox
Central - Cleveland Indians
West - Texas Rangers
Wildcard - NY Yankees

NL -

East - Philadelphia Phillies
Central - St. Louis Cardinals
West - San Francisco Giants
Wildcard - Atlanta Braves


Here's how it finished

AL -

East - NY Yankees
Central - Detroit Tigers
West - Texas Rangers
Wildcard - Tampa Bay Rays

NL -

East - Philadelphia Phillies
Central - Milwaukee Brewers
West - Arizona Diamondbacks
Wildcard - St. Louis Cardinals


Well I got the AL west and NL east right, and I did say that the Yankees and Cardinals would make the playoffs. But other than that........


The big thing this year was just how wild the wildcard races were. In contrast to the rather boring divisional races the wildcards were a tale of two teams collapsing as Boston blew a 10 game lead (a new record) and Atlanta blew an 8.5 game lead to let Tampa and St. Louis catch them. In fact, both of them lost it on the last day of the season. I don't think anyone could have predicted that.

Also the rapid rise of Arizona, who were dead last in the NL west during the all-star break managed to climb five spots and remove San Francisco (last years champions) from the post season. I love the Diamondbacks but if you had told me that they'd be in October baseball 3 months ago I would have been somewhat skepitcal to say the least.


First lets look at who didn't make it.

Boston Red Sox. This is supposed to be a team that benefits from baseball's lack of a real salary cap. The best team in July and most of August went 6-28 in the last 6 weeks of the season, throwing away a four game AL east lead and a TEN game Wildcard lead. I can't even begin to explain it. There were a few injuries. Youkilis was out for the season and Veritek and Satalamaccia both battling minor injuries certainly didn't help, but 6 wins in September! I'll be interested to see who is there come next April.

Atlanta Braves. Another team that no salary cap is supposed to help. They blew an 8.5 game lead and are going home. To be honest I don't know enough about it to know what happened, I just know that they're out.

LA Angels. Chased it until the very end but just not good enough to keep up with their east coast counterparts. I still think they have a solid lineup and will continue to be a threat in years to come, but not this year.

San Francisco Giants. It's always sad when last years champions don't even make the playoffs and the thing is, they didn't play THAT badly. They just weren't able to win key games against Atlanta and Arizona and that alone separated them from the team last year that could. Also, I mean who the fuck saw Arizona coming?


Now who did make it:


The New York Yankees. Well what can you say here? A great team who was always going to make it. A combination of great offense, better than expected pitching and Major League baseball's failure to institute a hard salary cap got them their AL east title. While I have to admit I love watching the Yankees as a team, every year as the playoffs start I can't help but wonder how much different baseball would be if a hard salary cap had been introduced in 1994 as it was in the NHL. But money aside the Yankees have put together a good TEAM. I felt they were too old to compete with others in their division and while I think age will still play a factor down the line it won't this year apparently, as guys like Jeter are playing better than guys half their age.

Detriot Tigers. I picked Cleveland to win this division. I was wrong. I don't actually know much about the Tigers other than they quietly went about generating a solid record and crushing their division rivals. I'll be interested to watch them now (I haven't watched a game of theirs all season) and see what all the fuss is about.

Texas Rangers. Last years AL Champions are back for another run, and I am thrilled about it. Texas is a fun team to watch, even when they are beating my beloved Seattle Mariners in to the ground. Hitting, pitching and fielding all exciting and just enough power to cause some excitement late in the game. I don't see them repeating their AL success this year, but I'm glad they're in it.

Tampa Bay Rays. Well Boston handed them a playoff spot and they took it. That being said, in any other division in the AL they'd have won it cleanly. I don't know what to make of them, numbers say they will exit early but sometimes it's these teams that sneak in that end up doing amazing things (Colorado being the 2007 NL Champions).


Arizona Diamondbacks. I love this. Seriously, I want Arizona to take it all. I small market team with few of the resources of a New York or L.A based team gets in by playing better ball. None of the household names or prime time TV coverage but they get in anyway. No one could have seen this but I for one am happy.

Milwaukee Brewers. ^ same as above. I'll also note that this is a team I sorely underestimated. I picked St. Louis to win teh NL central because I couldn't fathom the Brewers doing it. Glad to be wrong.

Philadelphia Phillies. Well here is the best team in baseball. No other team has their starting rotation and batting lineup so set and so stacked. This is the team to beat this year, and I don't think any of the NL teams will. I'm excited to watch this team and think they're the team to bet on to win it all this year.

St. Louis Cardinals. Much like Tampa Bay this playoff slot was handed to them by the Braves, however unliek Tampa I doubt they'll do much with it. I like the Cards but they drew Philly. Stranger things have happened and I do love the upset, but seriously......


So here are the opening rounds and my picks:

AL:

New York Yankees vs. Detriot Tigers. Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays vs. Texas Rangers. Rays

NL:

Philadelphia Phillis vs. St. Louis Cardinals. Phillies
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Milwaukee Brewers. Diamondbacks (this is a choice from the heart, not from the head).


So if my playoff predictions are as good as my regular season picks we can expect a Detroit/St. Louis final :P