Week 4 Recap and 2006 MLB Playoff Predictions
So, I know I promised many of you a new post last night covering all of the stuff that has happened since last Thursday. Naturally, I spent last night watching football, doing laundry and adding to my MP3 collection. Never even turned the laptop on.
Sorry ‘bout that.
But I’m back today to touch on a bunch of stuff. Some of you may have already read this in the comments I left on the Shanoff page yesterday, and some of you may not have. I try not to recycle too much, except soda cans and beer bottles. Every five cents helps…
n Huge, HUGE statement games this weekend from the Bears, Patriots, Ravens Cowboys, Eagles and Raiders. I know what you’re thinking: Raiders? RAIDERS? Yup. It’s just that their statement was a concession speech.
n I couldn’t have been happier to be wrong with my Bengals (-6) pick from Thursday. New England came out and absolutely dominated that game from about the second quarter right through the final gun. Proved that a lot of people (myself included) know absolutely nothing about football. Or at least not enough to consider themselves an expert – something I’ve never done.
n The Bears are the best team in football. And the Ravens are the best looking team in the AFC. And if the Super Bowl comes down to Chicago/Baltimore, I’ll spend the night doing anything but watching, because that might be the first title game where neither team breaks 13 points.
n Albert Haynesworth got exactly what he deserved. He got a five-game suspension for stomping on the face of the Cowboys’ Andre Gurode and opening gashes that required 30 stitches. The suspension is the perfect length – it’s not a full season or a lifetime ban for someone who might have just gotten overly jacked from a powerful pregame speech, and it’s one game longer than what players get for buying the wrong cold medicine and violating the Substance Abuse Policy. Now, if his game checks went to a charity of Gurode’s choice, I think everything would be fine. And admittedly, this will blow over in about two weeks, then get brought back up in Haynesworth’s first game back, and be “out of sight, out of mind” by the end of the week.
n Now, as for T.O.’s return to Philly, yeah, I think we might see a few stories covering this in the next six days. I wish this would just go away. He’s not even the best receiver in the league anymore – can we stop treating him like some kind of demigod…
n Switching gears a little bit to… the PED scandal that is swirling around Jason Grimsley and what he may or may not have told federal investigators to save his own skin. This is something I’ve said in the past, but anyone who though Roger Clemens could make it through a 20-year career without one credible (i.e. NOT Jose Canseco) accusation about his unbelievable physical condition, well you were fooling yourself. Of course, his recent string of muscle pulls and strains that have kept him out of many games and limited his postseason contributions, not to mention that he waited exactly 50 games (the length of a steroid ban) into the 2006 season before announcing that he would return do raise eyebrows. And yes, those strains can be attributed to age and the layoff can be attributed to just wanting time to make a decision. I’m not pointing fingers – just pointing out the facts.
n It’s nice to see that the MLB playoff will actually be held without two A.L. East representatives, contrary to various media reports from the greater Boston Area. Also, I think that the last two games sum up the Red Sox’ season better than anything else – they blow a close game to a team that they should have swept in all 19 meetings this year on Saturday (in a game where Manny Ramirez hit a mammoth home-run and posed at home plate for a solid five seconds), then they throw a rain-shortened no hitter to end the season on Sunday. Does anything else more appropriately represent their yo-yo of a season than that?
n And quickly, before I sign off for a few hours (I’ll try to update during the day or later tonight… twice in one day – try to contain your excitement!) here’s my quick picks for the first round of the MLB playoffs:
o Twins over A’s – 4 Games. I‘d feel a lot better about this pick if Francisco Liriano weren’t hurt, but I still think Minnesota has the guns to hang with Oakland. Besides – Frank Thomas has gone 162 games without an injury. He’s due to pull something rounding first.
o Yankees over Tigers – 5 Games. Kenny Rogers has fallen apart in the last month or two. Justin Verlander has never thrown anywhere close to this number of innings in his life. That leaves Jeremy Bonderman as the only reliable starter. Sure, New York has pitching issues as well, but they’ve got more than enough hitting and playoff experience to make up for it. A-Rod goes huge in this series – think .450 BA, 2 HR, 8 RBI. And yes, I’m fully prepared for the hate mail that I’m going to get for that. Don’t worry – he’ll revert back to normal in the ALCS.
o Padres over Cardinals – 4 Games. I’m really interested to see how Jake Peavy & Chris Young look in the postseason, but if they’re right, the Padres have the best 1-2 starting pitching combo in the playoffs right now. The Cardinals have Chris Carpenter, Albert Pujols, and nothing else. I don’t think those two will be enough.
o Dodgers over Mets – 5 Games. Sorry Mets. I know I picked you to make it to the World Series. But that was before Pedro bowed out of the postseason and El Duque was announced as your Game 1 starter. This series will still be competitive, but if Derek Lowe and Brad Penny are anything comparable to what they were in the regular season, the Dodgers have the horses to take this first round series. It’ll be a dogfight, but I think LA comes out on top.
Back tonight, or maybe tomorrow.
Lata.
posted by Big D @ 9:26 AM
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