World Series blog

Well, well, well.

(Big ol' smile).

Look who was right: ME!!!

The coming world series match-up between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies not only reinforces my own sense of baseball smugness (which took a real hit during my regular season predictions), but promises (on paper) to be a real interesting match up.

Both teams can beat you to death, offensively. Rollins, Jimmy is only hitting .227, but Jeter, Derek is hitting .259. Both A-Rod and Ryan Howard are just punishing opposing pitchers, but other than Jason Werth of the Phils, none of the other big boppers have done a ton of damage.

The Yankees starting pitching has been fantastic, but other than Hammels, the Phillies don't really go for wanting either.

Brad Lidge has been getting the job done this postseason, just not as pretty as Mo has.

All of the 'battle-tested' arguments for the Yankees go out of the window because the Phillies WON the whole thing last year. This is going to come down to who plays better baseball. The Phillies do, however, have the better manager.

If I'm said better manager, Charlie Manuel, then there's no way I start Cole Hammels in Game 2. I use him at home in Game 3. I go to Pedro and ask him to scrap out whatever he has left to go against the Yankees in Game 2. The Phillies have to win at least one of the first two games in Yankee Stadium. Well, have to is a really strong phrase, but if they can split the first two games, they're in a much better situation than if they go down 0-2. AJ Burnett is certainly beatable, especially if Pedro can give you anything like what he did in the NLCS. Unlike Hammels, Pedro has played the Yankees on a huge stage before. He knows how to pitch to Jeter, Matsui, Posada and A-Rod. In a hostile environment. Cole just hasn't been good enough to justify starting in Game 2 in Yankee Stadium. He's a better bet in Game 3 at home, where you at least get to take away one of the Yankee weapons by forcing Andy Petite to bat in the lineup. Plus, you have a (slightly) better chance at getting Damon/Cano out, and you force Tiexiera to his less strong side (notice there I didn't say 'weak side').

I haven't really talked about Game 1 yet for a reason. As much as I like Cliff Lee (I think he's good at baseball and cute, which has gotten me into trouble in two very different circles of friends I have) and as good/great as he's been for the Phillies, he is not as good as his ex-Indian teammate CC Sabathia. The numbers show that, as does the eye test.

[By the way....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA towards the Indians. In back-to-back years you traded away Cy Young winners, who now are going head to head in the World Series. Mark Shapiro: any time you want to give the 2005 Executive of the Year Award to the guy who really deserved it that year, Kenny Williams, feel free. Dude, the only reason people think (THINK) you're good at your job is because of that trade you made with Montreal (Bartolo Colon for Lee, Brandon Philips & Grady Sizemore). Well, Montreal thought they were going to be contracted, you gave up on Philips (how'd that work out for you?), Grady's now hurt and Lee is gone. Plus, you've had two absolute flop teams the last 2 seasons after a huge choke job against the Red Sox in 2007. Shapiro....no flags!!!!]

Lee is, however, the Phillies best pitcher, and does actually give them a pretty decent shot to win Game 1. I have been amazed at how good Sabathia's been this post-season, given how terrible he was in the past with Cleveland and Milwaukee. It was most likely small sample size (the overall biggest problem with the playoffs), but I also believe that if one team can get to CC, it's the Phillies (although 'getting to' CC might only mean 3 runs the way he's thrown this post season).

My World Series record is pretty even keeled this decade...didn't know baseball well enough in 00 or 01 to make a pick, didn't care in 02, thought the Marlins had a shot in 03 but picked the Yankees, knew the Red Sox would do it in 04, picked the White Sox in 05, picked the Tigers in 06 but rooted Cardinals, picked the Rockies in 07 and actually called Phillies in 5 last year. The short of it is I don't know: I think these were the two best teams in baseball this year, so this should be an entertaining World Series between two pretty evenly matched teams. Though I don't like it (because of my reasons, not because of the pick) I'm going to go with the Yankees, but I think it'll take 6 or 7 games to do it. I'm actually rooting for the Phillies, not because I dislike the Yankees (I actually like them a lot, minus Nick Swisher), but because I really like the Phillies. The Flyin' Hawaiian...Big Bad Ryan Howard, Chase Utley...that team is just fun, lol. Should be good, but anything can happen.

So far, so good!

Well, here we are pushing into the middle of October and yet again we have terrible weather in which to play baseball in! (2009 wants to be 2008 sooooo hard! [Think about it...another terrible Flo-Rida song dominates the charts in January/February, Britney comes out of no where with a chart topper, the White Sox are mediocre to bad at baseball, fall weather sucks, Obama is all over the news (but this time it's not good) and the Phillies and Dodgers are playing in the ALCS].

Bud Selig really should fix this timing problem, but he won't, in part because he can't. Believe you me, I very much dislike Pud Selig (as I call him), because I think he has allowed the Steroid Era to blossom, I think inter-league play is a fun but pointless exercise and all he does is dither about making a decision. You, Mr. Selig, are the damn commissioner of the game. You are appointed for life. You made $18 MILLION last year (behind only A-Rod and Jeter in-terms of baseball salary). You can do whatever you want to the game.

If the players' union truly stopped you from testing all the players for illegal (the U.S. government said they were illegal, regardless of baseball, so Bonds, Sosa, Ramirez, Clemens, Palmero, et al, should all be IN PRISON), then you grab as many microphones as you can, as many cameras and as many webcams, you line 'em all up and say, "I love the game of baseball. I know there are players violating the rules and tainting this game and its numerous hallowed records, I won't stand for it, I am trying to fix it but this union is standing in my way. Help me fix this game by pressuring the union!"

But he didn't do that. CONGRESS had to step in (BIG ups to the House for passing the Matthew Shepard Act, by the way. Kudos. RIP, Shepard) before he did anything. Idiot.

And now we have this weather thing. Baseball cannot be fairly played in 30 degree weather while its raining. It's just not the same game, period. Cutting inter-league play would help shorten the season by at least 2 weeks, meaning that by now we'd be in the middle of the World Series, instead of it being (at least) 10 days away, with the weather only being worse in New York or Philly, unless both LA teams win (more on that later. Like, 'right-now' later).

Speaking of which...my prediction can still come true...the Yankees and the Phillies are both still alive!!! I'm planning on doing a separate WS blog when the teams are all set, but I have the Yankees in 7 over the Angles and the Phillies in 6 over LA (sorry, Kathryn).

In regards to the free agent market this off-season...you've got 4 players and a lot of...well, not-good players out there. The top contracts should go to (in order):
Matt Holiday
John Lackey
Chone Figgins*
Jason Bay


*Although I want to see how much of an effect Bobby Abreu had on him (see the SI piece today [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/10/15/abreu.angels/index.html].

To me, the trade market is far more interesting, given that the Rays are going to put 2 of their 3 starting outfielders at least out there (Crawford & Upton) and I think are going to try hard to trade BJ Upton. The Rays have reportedly lost faith in Upton's abilities and work ethic (come on Kenny, that's right in your wheel house; a failed first-round talent with work ethic problems [cough, Alex Rios, cough]) and the Marlins are for certain going to trade Dan Uggla (no way they pay him again next year, not after he again hit 30 and 90, while again increasing his walk total AND made $8 mill in 2009).

He's the real guy I want Kenny Williams, GM of the White Sox, to get. One, Dan Uggla's hot. I said it. I'll stand by it. He's also really good at baseball, despite his defensive woes. This year he had a 2.4 WAR value, and wacked out 30 homers despite playing in a huge park with no real protection in the lineup (well, a caveat, Hanley Ramirez is pretty good protection) and is just damn hot. His walk total has gone from 68 to 77 to 91 over the last 3 years and in the AL, especially for a team that has no DH, you don't have to worry about the fielding issues. He can at least somewhat competently play the position (as shown by his 1.2 UZR in the field in 2008) sometimes, and though he's not a real fast guy, can at least steal a base or two, much more than Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome, Paul Konerko or Carl Everette could as White Sox DH's.

I love the pickle the Twins are in (AND BY THE WAY, BASEBALL IDIOTS, how did that whole Nick-Punto-&-Carlos-Gomez-are-grinders-and-that's-why-the-Twins-win thing go against the Yankees?!!!?!?! Hahahahahahaha...grindie just means bad at baseball with athletic talent. Both those players made HUGE base-running mistakes which cost the Twins dearly, and I enjoyed it thoroughly, that ass-whoopin). They have that nice, new, open-air park coming next season (how much fun is that going to be in April in Minneapolis?!) and should have some nice new revenue coming in. Why does this make me, an avid Twins hatter, happy?

Because, ladies and gentleman, the Twins are going to have to pay home-town hero Joe Mauer very, very soon. And he's going to get A-Rod money (the 2nd contract, not the first [$275 mill guaranteed vs. $252 million guaranteed {WHY AREN'T I GOOD AT BASEBALL?!!?}]). Or at least Jeter money. The fact is, other than Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer is the best baseball player on earth. One could argue he's better than Pujols, given the position he plays and his additional duties with the pitching staff (I might be persuaded, after a strong drink or two, to make that argument myself, actually).

This year (2009) Joe Mauer led the American League in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. As a full-time catcher. Now, go back and read that again. He won his 3rd (THREE!!!) batting title. As a full-time catcher. He is the first catcher in the history of the AL to win 3 batting titles. He is....phenomenal at baseball, and I swear that's not a pun about my blog title. His WAR this year was over 8. The Twins are not good without him, at all. Period. He's your AL MVP. Jeter is second, Ben Zobrist, of the Rays, is third. That's it. Not Mark Tiexiera. Mauer.

The Twins have to pay him. A lot. Real soon. Okay, you say, they've got an additional $40 million a year coming in for the next 4 years with this new stadium. That should do it, right? Well, not so fast. Because, you see, the Twins have 3 other really good players who also need to be paid. Justin Morneau, Joe Nathan and Michael Cuddyer. Are any of them Mauer good? No, absolutely not. But they are all really, really good. And are going to need to be paid. $160 million (again, divided over 4 years) will not be nearly enough to keep them all. And while Mauer is the biggest cog, you need them all. You need Morneau to get pitchers to pitch to Mauer. You need Cuddyer in case one of them gets hurt (which they both do), and because he keeps pitchers honest with the two of them. You need Nathan because he makes playing the Twins an 8-inning affair. To say nothing of the need of the Twins to develop a starting staff to match the White Sox, and even the Tigers. So, the Twins have some very interesting and difficult decisions ahead. I love it. Either way, one of those 4 won't be in Minnesota for very much longer. I love it.

I think I have long-since exhausted you, the lovely readers, patience with me (although that may have nothing to do with this blog), so for now, I will say,
"Peace and love, peace and love!"

WS blog soon, stay warm.