How is your bracket looking now?
For some, it has been an interesting postseason so far. One no-hitter, two franchise records in strikeouts -- a lefty and a righty -- and three home runs from a first-timer to October baseball. OK, now that Texas has finally gotten past the first round, the ALCS is going to be even more fun than I thought it would be. Once again, I decided to get into the spirit by participating in the fantasy baseball games on mlb.com. I don't usually have much luck in picking my playoff bracket and in last year's picks, I only got one right. Earlier in the year, maybe during Spring Training, Gillette was sponsoring a contest to decide the playoffs and the season's awards, and the following were my picks:
NL
Phillies (NL champion), Cardinals, Dodgers, Braves
MVP: Jose Reyes [Joey Votto]
Cy Young: Roy Halladay [with two no-hitters this year, of course he won it; should be the favorite for 2011 too]
AL
Yankees, Twins, Angels, Red Sox (AL champion)
MVP: Mark Teixeira [Josh Hamilton]
Cy Young: Cliff Lee [Felix Hernandez]
Boston would best Philly in the World Series, and the total number of home runs for the year would be 5,092. The awards are not going to be announced until after the World Series, so I still have a shot on that front -- except for Jose Reyes and Mark Teixeira. The only thing I think I'll get right on the preceding list is that the Phillies will represent the National League in the fall classic for the third year in a row. I added 10 to last year's home run total and, despite Jose Bautista's 54, I overshot the final result of 4613. My selections from January turned out to be a pipe dream, but this year's playoff group is already making me nervous. I worked Game 3 of the LDS against the Twins and it was the quietest postseason game I have ever attended. The score was 5-0 Yankees in the fifth inning when fans started to leave, knowing there wouldn't be anything to buy to celebrate advancing to the next round. Knowing the Twins wouldn't be able to mount any kind of rally at Yankee Stadium.
Of the actual playoff contenders, my selections have not panned out all that well so far, except for one:
NLDS
Reds-Phillies (Phillies in 3) ding, ding ding!
Braves-Giants (Giants in 5) [Giants in 4]
ALDS
Yankees-Twins (Yankees in 4) [Yankees in 3]
Rangers-Rays (Rays in 3) [Rangers in 5]
Yankees win ALCS in 6 Rangers win in 6
Phillies win NLCS in 5 Giants win in 6
Phillies win WS in 7 Giants win the World Series in 5!
The LCS will be much trickier with the Rangers instead of the Rays. The first step for Texas will be winning a postseason game at home this weekend. The Yankees have not done too well in Arlington this year but will be grateful for the warmer weather. I shudder to think how cold it will get by next Monday, only because it has been so nice in New York this week. That won't last much longer. In my notes before the playoffs for Texas positives, I wrote "Nolan Ryan is scary," as though the Rangers ownership group could ever be in the same category as the Steinbrenners. We will see who is scarier starting this Friday. My nod is to the Yankees, who have the biggest question mark named A.J. Burnett. Scary! I'm also looking forward to seeing how the Twitter trend of #Frenchtober pans out and seeing how Jeff Francoeur fares the rest of the postseason.
NL
Phillies (NL champion), Cardinals, Dodgers, Braves
MVP: Jose Reyes [Joey Votto]
Cy Young: Roy Halladay [with two no-hitters this year, of course he won it; should be the favorite for 2011 too]
AL
Yankees, Twins, Angels, Red Sox (AL champion)
MVP: Mark Teixeira [Josh Hamilton]
Cy Young: Cliff Lee [Felix Hernandez]
Boston would best Philly in the World Series, and the total number of home runs for the year would be 5,092. The awards are not going to be announced until after the World Series, so I still have a shot on that front -- except for Jose Reyes and Mark Teixeira. The only thing I think I'll get right on the preceding list is that the Phillies will represent the National League in the fall classic for the third year in a row. I added 10 to last year's home run total and, despite Jose Bautista's 54, I overshot the final result of 4613. My selections from January turned out to be a pipe dream, but this year's playoff group is already making me nervous. I worked Game 3 of the LDS against the Twins and it was the quietest postseason game I have ever attended. The score was 5-0 Yankees in the fifth inning when fans started to leave, knowing there wouldn't be anything to buy to celebrate advancing to the next round. Knowing the Twins wouldn't be able to mount any kind of rally at Yankee Stadium.
Of the actual playoff contenders, my selections have not panned out all that well so far, except for one:
NLDS
Reds-Phillies (Phillies in 3) ding, ding ding!
Braves-Giants (Giants in 5) [Giants in 4]
ALDS
Yankees-Twins (Yankees in 4) [Yankees in 3]
Rangers-Rays (Rays in 3) [Rangers in 5]
Yankees win ALCS in 6 Rangers win in 6
Phillies win NLCS in 5 Giants win in 6
Phillies win WS in 7 Giants win the World Series in 5!
The LCS will be much trickier with the Rangers instead of the Rays. The first step for Texas will be winning a postseason game at home this weekend. The Yankees have not done too well in Arlington this year but will be grateful for the warmer weather. I shudder to think how cold it will get by next Monday, only because it has been so nice in New York this week. That won't last much longer. In my notes before the playoffs for Texas positives, I wrote "Nolan Ryan is scary," as though the Rangers ownership group could ever be in the same category as the Steinbrenners. We will see who is scarier starting this Friday. My nod is to the Yankees, who have the biggest question mark named A.J. Burnett. Scary! I'm also looking forward to seeing how the Twitter trend of #Frenchtober pans out and seeing how Jeff Francoeur fares the rest of the postseason.