As most of you probably know, St. Louis Cardinals baseball (aside from golf) is what really gets me going. While they're pretty well set (injuries to some key players aside ) for the playoffs, there are still quite a few important races to be decided. The White Sox probably are a safe bet to be playing in October, but there are some tight races in the AL East, West and for the Wild Card. I give the edges there to Boston, Oakland and the Yankees, although I would love to see Cleveland take the Wild Card. In the NL, the Braves and Padres (they of the below .500 stock ) have decent leads, but anything can happen in the month of September. The Wild Card, however, is a very wild race with Florida, Philadelphia, the Mets, Washington, and Houston all separated by 1.5 games total. I just think the "big 3" in Houston's rotation will be enough to carry them into the playoffs. Therefore, my predictions for what the playoffs will look like:
AL: Chicago White Sox vs. New York Yankees Boston Red Sox vs. Oakland A's
NL: St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Diego Padres Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros
Chicago and St. Louis for the home field.
What are your thoughts on the season's last month?
There's a huge pitching matchup brewin' tonight at Minute Maid Park....Roger Clemens faces off against Chris Carpenter. The winner could well end up taking the NL Cy Young home this season. Obviously it also has playoff implications for the Astros in that they badly need to keep pace with the surging Phillies (that should make JimS happy ), but Clemens (11-6, 1.51 ERA) and Carpenter (19-4, 2.29 ERA) have been the two best in the NL no doubt this season. Of course, this means the game will probably end up 7-6 with both guys getting knocked around.... but on paper at least, it looks like it should be quite the pitcher's duel.
Great match-up but Clemen's 11-6 record doesn't compare to 19-4. ERA is a big part of it but the bottom line is wins when it comes to a Cy Young Award.
I'd like to agree with you league...but since Cardinal players have horrible luck trying to win awards (such as Pujols having great year after great year, only to be overshadowed and beaten out by Bonds for MVP, Morris winning 22 games in 2001 only to have Schilling beat him out, etc.), I won't attempt to jinx them anymore.
Carpenter definitely improved his Cy Young chances with the CG win last night. At 20-4, he's still got a few more starts to bolster it even more before playoff time. Clemens, meanwhile, has lost both his showdowns with Carp this season and IMO can't be seriously considered as a superior candidate given his mediocre record.
Well, Carpenter swooned in September when nothing was on the line and Pujols is in a slump as well...oh well, the awards don't matter, so long as they get it together for the playoffs!
Now in the last week of the season, there's still some doubt as to who will represent each league in the postseason. The NL is fairly well set, as Atlanta and St. Louis (doesn't that sound familiar? ) have already clinched. Houston, barring a minor collapse, should win the wild card, and San Diego has a good grasp on the West title (still under .500 ). The AL, however, isn't so clear. The Angels are in, but the rest is up for grabs. The White Sox lead the Central by 2 over the Indians, who are tied with the Red Sox and Yankees for the Wild Card lead. Two of those 4 are going to be in the playoffs, and two will sit at home in October. If only the White Sox and Indians were in separate divisions. I'm going to go with the Red Sox winning the East, the White Sox winning the Central, and the Indians taking the Wild Card. I just think those are the three strongest teams, as the Yankees' pitching just isn't that impressive, despite their additions. Should be an exiting week, and it will only get better next week once the playoffs begin!!
I'd like to see the Cards get a piece of the Red Sox in the World Series again...payback time! Or maybe not... I'd take any matchup I can get at this point, because they're not looking exactly strong right now. I still have confidence that Carp and Mulder will rebound, and Pujols will get back to his old self before the playoffs start.
Hey what about us Pirate Fans??? LOL...we need a new owner who can spend some money with the big boys....It's like Kevin McClatchy wants to get into a high stakes Texas Hold 'Em with 5K in his pocket...
That's my RANT and I'm sticking to it...I know, I know some smaller markets have had success in the past, don't want to hear it....don't want to hear it.
Ok, thread jack over...good luck to all of you who have a chance.
I know about the woes of the Pirates...in fact I have a lot of friends who are Pirate fans. When McClatchy needed help just to buy the team, it was a bad sign for the team. Now that we've sunk $300 million of our money into their stadium (which is gorgeous, btw), we all expect the owner to pony up some cash to put a competitive team in there. So far, that hasn't happened...but to borrow a line from Cubs fans...there's always next year!
Know what you mean...agree that PNC Park is quite a place for baseball. The Bucs are 3rd on my totem pole (Steelers, Pens and Bucs)....looks like we have the makings of an ice hockey team once again...
a big to my Bravos for winning a 14th straight N.L. East...And this year it was even competitive...Now, if they can only learn to win in the post season...
a big to my Bravos for winning a 14th straight N.L. East...And this year it was even competitive...Now, if they can only learn to win in the post season...
For your sake...and mine...I do hope they learn how to win one, and only one series.
Ho hum... 161 regular season games is about 100 too many... baseball is boring enough as it is, every team playing every night for 1/2 the year makes it even worse... same old **** night after night.
Wake me up when the finals start.
If you guys like it though, go ahead and continue to watch it. Different strokes for different folks i guess.
August 31st, 2005, 01:56 PM
) for the playoffs, there are still quite a few important races to be decided. The White Sox probably are a safe bet to be playing in October, but there are some tight races in the AL East, West and for the Wild Card. I give the edges there to Boston, Oakland and the Yankees, although I would love to see Cleveland take the Wild Card. In the NL, the Braves and Padres (they of the below .500 stock 
) have decent leads, but anything can happen in the month of September. The Wild Card, however, is a very wild race with Florida, Philadelphia, the Mets, Washington, and Houston all separated by 1.5 games total. I just think the "big 3" in Houston's rotation will be enough to carry them into the playoffs. Therefore, my predictions for what the playoffs will look like:
), but Clemens (11-6, 1.51 ERA) and Carpenter (19-4, 2.29 ERA) have been the two best in the NL no doubt this season. Of course, this means the game will probably end up 7-6 with both guys getting knocked around.... 
but on paper at least, it looks like it should be quite the pitcher's duel. 
ERA is a big part of it but the bottom line is wins when it comes to a Cy Young Award.
) have already clinched. Houston, barring a minor collapse, should win the wild card, and San Diego has a good grasp on the West title (still under .500 
). The AL, however, isn't so clear. The Angels are in, but the rest is up for grabs. The White Sox lead the Central by 2 over the Indians, who are tied with the Red Sox and Yankees for the Wild Card lead. Two of those 4 are going to be in the playoffs, and two will sit at home in October. If only the White Sox and Indians were in separate divisions. 
I'd take any matchup I can get at this point, because they're not looking exactly strong right now. I still have confidence that Carp and Mulder will rebound, and Pujols will get back to his old self before the playoffs start.
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