So the wildcards are out and the real playoffs can now commence. The first round was actually pretty good, despite the fact that three of the four series ended in sweeps. The Dodgers and Phillies emerged to represent the NL while the AL is represented by the Angels and the Yankees. Let’s take a look at both series and offer a little harmless speculation on the outcome.
The AL
This is probably the more explosive of the two series given the firepower that both teams bring to the table. Have you noticed that Alex Rodriguez has found his bat of late? Plus the last time I check the Yankees still had a guy named Derek Jeter who is the embodiment of clutch. On the other side we have the defensive might of the Anaheim Angels lead by Torii Hunter in center field. He is also swinging the bat well along with big bad Vlad Guerrero.
Honestly, this is a tough series to call but in the end should be exciting. I think that the Yankee pitching staff (which includes catchers in my opinion) has something prove and will be the deciding factor in the outcome of the series. While I like Lackey and his crew of pitchers in Anaheim I don’t think they have enough to quite the Yankee bats.
Winner: The Yankees
The NL
Go Dodgers? That’s it for my homer attitude I promise. Truth be told I really wish the Rockies had have beaten the Phillies so I wouldn’t have to deal with Rollins, Howard, or Lee in the next round. Well so much for that as the better team won and forced an NLCS rematch. The bad news is that in rematches the team that won the first meeting has also won the second meeting.
However, the Dodgers won the regular season series and have home field advantage. Baseball is a numbers game and it seems like the Boys in Blue are due for a win in this series. The trouble is that late game heroics can only get you so far and are unreliable at best.
In the end I want my team to win, but I’m not sure they can do it.
Winner: The Phillies
That means that I have the Yankees and the Phillies in the World Series. God I hope I’m wrong and that the Angels and Dodgers square off for the first time ever. That’s what I want; now all I can do is watch and see what happens.
To those of you that don’t have a dog in the fight, I might suggest that you check out the series’ because I think you might see some of the best baseball you’ve ever seen played over the next few weeks, seriously.
