Burnt Orange Report

Baseball Blogging

By Andrew Dobbs

I know that Kuff is usually the one to do the blogging on our national pastime but as a fellow fan of the Thinking Man's Game, I feel the need to pontificate on my predictions for this fairly exciting end of the season.

My beloved Boston Red Sox have clinched a playoff spot for the second year in a row, maintaining a 6 game lead over Anaheim in the Wild Card race and sitting only 3 games behind the Spawn of Satan in the AL East. There is an outside chance that Boston could end up winning the division- they play the cellar dweller Devil Rays and the lackluster (yet still threatening) Orioles to close out their season. The cursed team that only a pedophile or communist could love, on the other hand, has a 3 game series against the AL Central Champs- the Minnesota Twins. Minnesota is the beneficiary of a weak division, but Johan Santana is almost a lock for the Cy Young and is pitching like nobody's business. After a rocky start, Santana will close out the regular season with a record of 20-6 and an AL best ERA of 2.62 and an AL best 260 Ks. New York lost two big ones to Boston and while they have home field advantage against the Twins, their starting rotation is hurting without Kevin Brown (his 2/3 IP, 6 Hit, 4 ER performance on Sunday was pathetic at best) and there is a chance that Boston could walk away with a division championship.

But is that what the Sox want? For all of their strengths, the Oakland As or the Anaheim Angels (whichever one wins the startlingly competitive race for the AL West) are both better teams than Minnesota. Unless they eclipse Minnesota in win percentage, the AL East champ will face off against the best of the AL West. It might be better for Boston to win the Wild Card, face off against Minnesota and quickly dispose of the Twins while the Yanks get bogged down against Oakland or Anaheim. The problem would be that Boston would have to start out against New York at Yankee Stadium- always a tough venue- if this is how it unfolds. Still, one way or another, Boston has a real shot at the pennant. New York will likely be the favorite (though Boston led them in their regular season series this year for the first time since 1999), but Boston followed by the AL West champ and then Minnesota in that order all have good shots. Anything can happen with the caliber of playing all of these teams are putting up.

But the real story isn't the AL- it's in our pal the National League. Four teams are still concievably in the hunt for the Wild Card spot (Chicago, San Fran 1 GB, Houston 1.5 GB and San Diego 3 GB). The late-breaking Giants have the good (or perhaps bad) luck of facing both San Diego and the division leading Los Angeles Dodgers. Still, with LA getting a vacation in the form of a four game series against the second to last place Colorado Rockies, I suspect LA will find a way to hold onto the lead in this division. Chicago is 1 game into a 4 game series against the depressing Cincinnati Reds before a 2 game shot against the 13 season straight NL East Division Champs Atlanta. Chi town will likely win the Wild Card, as I don't see Houston passing them in the NL Central.

But Wild Cards and the NL East and West Champs might as well wait until next year- this is the year of the Cardinal. St. Louis has by far the best record in baseball- a full 6 games better than the second best New York Yankees. With power hitting from Albert Pujols and other worldly fielding from Jim Edmonds, every position on the team is stocked with a rock star. They are about 14 games better than .500 on the road and since they will almost certainly play the NL West champ, their 21-9 record on the season against teams from that division is rather revealing. I have no doubt that they will find a way to win the NL pennant and I suspect that they will be favored in the Series. Their pitching is only so-so (their ERA leader- Chris Carpenter- is 17th in the Majors, their win leader- Jeff Supan- is 10th and their K leader- Carpenter- is 25th), their defense and hitting should put them over the top.

My final prediction? Boston wins the AL pennant (wishful thinking? perhaps...), St. Louis the NL and the curse will live on with the Cards beating the Sox in 6.

So some good ball should be going on in the next month or so, I hope to have some more posts on my other passion (besides politics, women, food and sleep)- sports- in the future.

And remember kids... Yankees Suck!