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Well, the regular season has wound down and 22 teams will have to wait 'til next year for their shot at the title of basball's best. Yes, the playoffs are here. The matchups are now set:

NL: St. Louis (105-57) vs. Los Angeles (93-69)
Atlanta (96-66) vs. Houston (92-70)

AL: New York (101-61) vs. Minnesota (92-70)
Boston (98-64) vs. Anaheim (92-70)

So there are the matchups, and the games begin tomorrow. Which teams do you like to advance to the Championship Series and ultimately to the World Series, and which team will win it all? Feel free to place you predictions here.

I like:
NLDS: St Louis over LA in 4 games
Houston over Atlanta in 5 games
NLCS: St Louis over Houston in 6 games
ALDS: New York over Minnesota in 5 games
Boston over Anaheim in 4 games
ALCS: Boston over New York in 6 games
World Series: St Louis over Boston in 7 games

Now I may be a homer with my St Louis pick but I really think this is our year (at least I hope so!!). But if Boston or Minnesota won I wouldn't be too disappointed. At any rate, it should be great the next few weeks!!

I like:

NLDS: St Louis over LA in 3 games
Atlanta over Houston in 4 games

ALDS: New York over Minnesota in 5 games
Boston over Anaheim in 5 games

NLCS: Atlanta over St Louis in 5 games

ALCS: Boston over New York in 7 games

World Series: Atlanta over Boston in 5 games

What the heck, here's an off-the-cuff prediction:

ALCS: Yankees beat the Sox.
NLCS: Cards over the Braves.
WS: Cards thump the Yanks.

These predictions reflect some appreciation of tradition, plus a little favoritism toward the rooting interests of a certain GR member.

Regarding the Twins: A stonger regular-season finish would have gotten them the "Dome field advantage" that was so useful in 1987 and 1991. However, now they must go to Yankee Stadium, where they dropped 3 games last week. I like the Twins, but it won't go 5. However, watch Johan Santana ("Cy-tana") tomorrow (Tues Oct 5) night; should be fun.

Santana is something special Jim, and definitely worth watching. Here's to him keeping the Yanks in check tomorrow evening

As much as I don't like the Yankees, I still hope they make it to World Series. That way when the Cardinals kick their behinds the Cards will get credit for beating the best!

Watch out for the ASTROS!

Well, now that the Cubs are out of it, I need a team to root for. Can't root for the Cards (sorry! ). Definitely can't root for the Yankees but I can't stand the Red Sox and their fans either. I'm gonna have to jump on Jim's boat and hope the Twins pull off some October magic. Hey, look at the last few winners... Diamondbacks, Angels and Marlins. Not exactly your perennial October contenders there. Wouldn't mind the Angels again either.

Now, if the Cards had to win, doing it by breaking the Red Sox hearts in another game 7 World Series loss would have to be my preferable choice. I was hoping for a "Curse of Nomar" with 25 championships for the Cubs to be in the Stars but then I fell back to Earth. What am I doing thinking about 25 when I should just be thinking about one?

I agree too victory, the Cards haven't won a WS in my lifetime, it's about time it happened!!

The bruise to Chipper Jones' hand, which he suffered on Saturday, prevented the slugger from taking BP on Monday



ATLANTA -- Chipper Jones' bruised right hand prevented him from taking batting practice during an optional workout at Turner Field on Monday morning. With the Braves' Division Series opener against the Astros set for Wednesday, this obviously provides reason for concern.
"I'm concerned because we're two days away from when the playoffs start, and I can't swing a bat," Jones said.

Jones suffered the injury when he was hit with a Carlos Zambrano cut fastball on Saturday afternoon. He was fortunate the ball struck the fleshy part of his hand below his pinky. Just centimeters higher, and he would have likely suffered a broken hand.

But while pinching his flesh against the knob of the bat, Jones still suffered a very painful injury. He likens the discomfort to what one would feel when dealing with a deep thigh bruise.

"Today, I wouldn't be able to play," Jones said. "I could grip a bat. But I couldn't take a swing and make contact. Yesterday, I don't think I could have even gripped a bat."

The Braves medical staff has been attempting to massage some of the blood out of the injured area. The buildup has caused swelling and left a mark that bears resemblance to a blood blister.

Jones is hoping that the rehab procedures will allow him to at least take batting practice during Tuesday afternoon's scheduled workout at Turner Field. He was able to throw without any discomfort on Monday.


From Atlanta Braves website

That all we need here in Atlanta :mad:

Hopefully, Chipper will be healthy for tomorrow. The Cards already won today so I know someone here is happy. I have the Angels/Red Sox game on a game tracker right now. If they can take game 1 against Schilling, this would be a huge win with Colon pitching game 2.

Well, right now it's 3-0 Boston, bases loaded, 1 out in the 4th, so it looks like it'll be tough for Anaheim in this game. As for my Cards, they looked good today all around. Let's keep that offense rolling and hopefully the pitchers just do enough to keep us in all the games.

That inning was a killer. 7 runs. It's 8-3 now and Schilling's out but it's not looking good. I looked at the pitching matchups and if it goes to a game 5, it'll be Washburn vs. Schilling again. I thought they might pitch Colon on 3 day's rest. Maybe I'm looking too far ahead here.

Boston has a nice offense but I think they could be hit hard in the days Schilling doesn't go. Pedro hasn't been as great this year as in the past and I really don't know who else is scheduled to go (Wakefield, Lowe and Arroyo were their other starters right?). That said I think they'll have enough to get out of this series, it's just a potential matchup with the Yanks or Cards or Astros that may cause them a lot of problems.

I noticed...about time you showed up!! That "other" place is about to turn into a madhouse for a while, I think this is the safer place to be. Thank goodness we have moderators over here.