The Hunt for Red Sox October

The Major League Baseball regular season has come to a close, and let us rejoince that the Red Sox have made the playoffs. I understand the reason for not having a 1-game playoff just to decide who wins first place, when both teams want to save their pitchers/players for a playoff game that matters, but there’s a part of me that is really upset we (as in Red Sox Nation) can’t proclaim the Sox as winners of the division. I’m so sick of looking up at the Yankees in 2nd place. Oh well, at least we’re not playing on the Left Coast again and I’ll be able to get some sleep in the first round. Here’s a quick recap of how my picks ended up:

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST:
Preseason prediction: Boston
Mid-season prediction: Boston
Final: (tie) Boston & NY Yankees
I’m still not giving the Yankees the satisfaction of saying they won the division. Either win it outright or share the title! I can’t say that the Red Sox choked heading down the stretch, but the Yankees won 16 of their last 20 to tie the Sox. Good playing, and it’s obvious if the Sox had any sort of bullpen this year they would have won by at least 5 games. And I still don’t think the Yankees go to the playoffs for the next 3 years. Baltimore imploded worse than almost any other team I’ve ever seen, going from a great April & May to a horrible second half.

AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL:
Preseason prediction: Chicago WS
Mid-season prediction: Chicago WS
Final: Chicago WS
The Southsiders managed to not have a monumental collapse and held on to the AL Central title. They’re kind of stumbling into the playoffs, but most teams are. The Indians made a valiant run, and almost picked up the Wild Card, but will have to sit home this year. The Twins finished a disappointing 4 games over .500.


AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST:
Preseason prediction: LA/Anaheim
Mid-season prediction: LA/Anaheim
Final: LA/Anaheim
The Angels put together a very strong September to hold off Oakland’s late charge. If the A’s can put together a strong Spring one of these season’s they’ll make the playoffs easily, but they seem to keep needing to have a great Summer/Fall just to stay in the hunt.


AMERICAN LEAGUE WILD CARD:
Preseason prediction: Minnesota
Mid-season prediction: Minnesota
Final: Boston
It beats staying home in October.

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST:
Preseason prediction: Florida
Mid-season prediction: Atlanta
Final: Atlanta
14 straight division titles for the Braves, and they don’t show any signs of slowing down, though they did stumble a bit down the stretch. The Nationals dropped from first to worst after July 1st, but they should be proud to be a .500 team this year. (.500 and last in their division…tough competition.)

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL:
Preseason prediction: St. Louis
Mid-season prediction: St. Louis
Final: St. Louis
Talk about a quiet season…the Cardinals just kept winning and winning. I’m not sold on their pitching going into the postseason, but having New Hampshire native Chris Carpenter healthy should help them this year. Houston, who I left for dead halfway through the season, came back strong to win the Wild Card.

NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST:
Preseason prediction: San Diego
Mid-season prediction: San Diego
Final: San Diego
The best of the worst…finishing at 82-80 was not only good enough to win the NL West, but they won it by 5 games. Three teams in the NL and three teams in AL who didn’t make the playoffs have a better record than the Padres…they must not feel so great.

NATIONAL LEAGUE WILD CARD:
Preseason prediction: Atlanta
Mid-season prediction: Washington
Final: Houston
My mid-season, hometown faith in the Nats wasn’t that far off (they only finished 8 games out of the Wild Card), but who knew that Houston would jump back like that?

Getting 4 ½ out of 6 preseason division picks is pretty good, if I do say so myself. On to the playoffs.

Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox
This should be a very close series, as both team’s pitching has been spotty. For some reason Boston is sending out Matt Clement, who has gotten shelled 3 out of his last 4 starts, instead of Bronson Arroyo, who has won 4 out of his last 6 starts, and is next in the rotation. Instead, Arroyo is headed to the bullpen. Expect Clement to get shelled in game 1, but the Red Sox come back to win 3 straight and take the series in 4 games.

New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Angels have a winning record against the Yankees this year, and I think making New York head across the country for the 1st two games is going to wear out the Yanks. Los Angeles wins the 1st two at home and the series in 4 games.

San Diego Padres vs. St. Louis Cardinals
The Padres have Jake Peavy…and a bunch of air after that. Peavy is pitching in game 1, and while they might steal that game, I think the Padres get swept by the Cardinals in 3 games.

Houston Astros vs. Atlanta Braves
Everyone seems to think that the Astros pitching will just roll over Atlanta. In fact on ESPN, all 5 of their “experts” pick the Astros to win this series. However, Atlanta is 6-1 against Houston this year, and I think they win in a tough 5 game series.

Look for the Angels to win the American League, while I think the Braves upset the Cardinals in the National League playoffs.