IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY... September 23, 2010

Date: Thu, Sep 23, 2010

It's that time of the year when there is no longer any need for analysis. Games are played and you never know what pitching match up will fall apart.

Just ask Ubaldo Jimenez, who lost his shot at a 20th win and probably took himself out of the Cy Young race by getting clobbered by the Diamondbacks... not exactly a powerhouse.

It's also a crazy time where one minute the Padres are on the outside looking in and the next they are in line for home field advantage in the Division Series.

Chances are there will be some scrambling tomorrow night... especially as Atlanta saw their Division Title dreams get smashed and now lead the Giants by 1/2 a game for the Wild Card. we might see some one game playoff scenarios at this time tomorrow.

Instead, let's look at the current match ups.

AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES

NEW YORK YANKEES (AL East Champion)
has home field advantage over
TEXAS RANGERS (AL West Champion)

MINNESOTA TWINS (AL Central Champion)
has home field advantage over
TAMPA BAY RAYS (AL Wild Card)



NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (NL East Champion)
has home field advantage over
CINCINNATI REDS (NL Central Champion)

SAN DIEGO PADRES (NL West Champion)
has home field advantage over
ATLANTA BRAVES (NL Wild Card)

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The Padres look like champs... against the Dodgers

Date: Thu, Sep 23, 2010

If Giant fans are looking for any silver lining about this rancid night of baseball for them... they lost another low scoring game and the Padres took over first place because the Dodgers just... don't... care... they can find comfort knowing that tomorrow night, the Padres reign of dominance ends.

You see for the past month or so, the Padres are incapable of putting together a winning streak, unless they are playing Los Angeles.

Don't believe me?
On August 25th, the Padres beat the D'Backs to take a 6 1/2 game lead over the Giants. They had the best record in the National League and were in line to have home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Since then? They are 9-17... struggling to even qualify for the post season.
They went on their epic 10 game losing streak...
And along the way they lost series to:

The Phillies, The Diamondbacks, The Rockies, the Giants and the Cardinals.

They have won 2 series... one against Colorado and now two against the Dodgers.
They swept the Dodgers at the beginning of September and are on the verge of sweeping them again.

So keep this in mind: In games since August 25th against teams NOT called the Dodgers, the Padres record is a mind boggling 4-17.

Just imagine if the Dodgers actually gave a damn and tried. (I watched the game tonight and last night... LA is on autopilot. In the same stretch they are 8-17... essentially the Padres equivalent.)

The Padres have 1 more game against LA (an easy win for San Diego.)
Then they face a Reds team that has home field advantage in their sites, a Cubs team that is suddenly hot and then the showdown with the Giants to end the season.

I have a feeling they will end up nostalgic for the Dodgers games.

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Offensive offense

Date: Wed, Sep 22, 2010

Well, I already made the "Looks Like I Picked The Wrong Week To Quit..." joke from Airplane.

But I can honestly say right now the Giants need Willie Mays... NOW... at age 79...

He could easily hit 6th on this Giants team.

They've gone into Wrigley Field and scored a run.
One.

If Buster Posey's flyball doesn't clear the wall last night they would have been shut out two straight nights.

Want a scary stat?
In the Giants last 13 games they have scored 38 runs.
That's just under 3 runs a game. Not good for a pennant contender.

Want some scarier numbers?

Those 38 runs INCLUDES the 7 run outburst on September 9th, the 6 run game on September 12th, the 10 run game on September 16th and the 9 run game on Sunday the 19th.

So 32 of the 38 runs were scored in those 4 games.

Ready for some scary division?

In 9 critical "can't really afford to drop a game" stretch run games, the Giants scored a total of 6 runs.

Not per game.
All together.

This September they have lost 6 games where they have held the opposition to 3 runs or fewer.

Chew on that as they fall out of the playoff picture for at least a day and head to Colorado after tomorrow's game.

Bumgarner is on the mound. Hopefully the Giants can have one of their fluke offensive outbursts.

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Hey look at that! the Red Sox won a game!

Date: Wed, Sep 22, 2010

So the Sox didn't get swept by the Orioles. It's been that kind of stretch run where THAT is the branch I cling to so I can feel better.

A nice good old fashioned not close win. A few homers. Some nice pitching from Lackey. Boom! A win.

There are 10 games left including 6 with the Yankees that, barring one of the most staggering collapses in baseball history, will be meaningless.

Here's all I want from the Sox for the rest of the year.

6 wins.
If they go 6-4 I can feel OK.

Naturally I don't feel great about this season that has fallen short. But with all the injuries and disappointments and slumped shoulders and staying home in October... to end up with 90 wins will feel pretty good in terms of looking forward to 2011.

Ahhh how our expectations lower in a disappointing year.

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Cardinals vs. Reds could be the rivalry of the 2010s

Date: Wed, Sep 22, 2010

Hey baseball… want to do something SMART regarding the marketing of your sport?
OK, I didn’t think so.

But in case you do, let me point out something that is going on. The two most popular teams remain the Yankees and the Red Sox and yes, most of the TV and marketing attention is being pushed towards them.

However, the rivalry is getting a little stale… and this is coming from a die hard Red Sox fan and a classic Yankee hater. It reached its fever pitch in 2003-2004 and 2005, although the baseball world was denied a third straight Red Sox/Yankees ALCS in 2005 when neither team made it out of the Division Series.

Both teams have won a World Series since… both teams have missed the playoffs at least once since… the Yankees went through a big transformation and the Red Sox are rebuilding.

The rivalry isn’t what it was 5 years ago and I think the rest of the baseball world is bored of it.

But looming out there is a potential rivalry… one with two franchises with deep traditions, great players and now some legitimate bad feelings.

I’m talking about the Reds and the Cardinals.
And if you were smart, you’d build up these two teams and their mutual dislike to make their games burn redder than their uniforms.

People think there is too much Northeast focus? Then here’s two Midwest teams whose appeal can stretch far beyond their city limits the way the Red Sox appeal travels throughout New England and the Yankees have fans… well… everywhere!


Ohio (save for the sadists in Cleveland), Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee.. that could all be Reds territory.

And the Cardinals already dominate the Midwest with one of the best fan bases in the game.

Both teams have terrific players and are young enough that they might both be good for a while. Perhaps the Albert Pujols vs. Joey Votto debate can be the great argument for the next few years.

They both have rich history, but they never seem to be good at the same time.
The Cardinals won multiple World Series in the 1960s.
The Reds won multiple World Series in the 1970s.
The Cardinals won a World Series in the 1980s.
The Reds won a World Series in the 1990s.
The Cardinals won a World Series in the 2000s.
And now it looks like the Reds will be in the post season this year.

They both have respected managers who don’t seem to like each other and their teams… well their mutual dislike is as subtle as an Albert Pujols homer.

Brandon Phillips talking trash. Former Cardinals Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen brawling against their old teammates. Former Red Jason LaRue being clocked by Cincy’s Johnny Cueto and possibly having his career end?

These games could be hyped up and made to be a clash of traditional division rivals that is not so friendly.

I am not talking about trying to make the Rockies and the Diamondbacks blood enemies. These are teams whose fan base goes back into the 19th Century… and there are plenty of transplanted Ohians and Missourians through out the country

The Northeast (and us transplants) will always get up for Yankees and Red Sox. And if the Mets ever get good again, they’ll care about Mets and Phillies.

Now imagine ANOTHER region of the country that pumped up for regular season baseball.

It’s being served to you on a red plate.

Yankees/Red Sox? That was so 2000s!
Reds/Cardinals? That’s THIS decade. (Or it could be.)

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The sun is setting in Boston

Date: Wed, Sep 22, 2010

There's no reason to breakdown last night's game. There has been enough breaking down.

The Red Sox lost a game to the Orioles 9-1.
Read that sentence again.

I know the Orioles have played better since Buck Showalter has arrived but I don't care if Earl Weaver is the manager, the days of losing to the Orioles 9-1 should have retired with Cal Ripken.

It is almost over... what a shame that the two Yankees series at the end of the year will be mere formalities.

But, dutifully, I will listen to the game tonight.

I am like the captain at the helm of a sinking ship.

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Walk away if you win #28, Joe

Date: Wed, Sep 22, 2010

Hey Joe Girardi… take a good long look at what has happened to the legacy of Joe Torre. Only Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel had ever managed three straight World Series winners before Torre and he brought class and dignity to the Yankee clubhouse along with his titles.

And today he is being portrayed as a manipulator, a man with a tarnished legacy and even those are questioning whether he belongs in Cooperstown.

His very rings are being questioned since he couldn’t win a pennant in Atlanta nor in Los Angeles (not to mention with the Mets or Cardinals.)

Now imagine if Joe had left the Yankees after the 2001 season…
He would have been the greatest New Yorker since LaGuardia.

Imagine if he had left after the 2003 World Series…
He would have won 6 pennants in his 8 years and maintained superiority over Boston.

Imagine if he had left after the 2005 playoffs (when EVERYONE thought he was going to.)
Yeah the collapse of 2004 would have hung over his head, but the perception would have been George and company were meddling and undermining him.

Instead it ended after 2007… when with more control he couldn’t make it out of the Division Series, lost the respect of his superstar and left town co authoring a petty (albeit fun) book.

Learn from Mr. Torre. If the Yankees win the 2010 World Series title… BOLT TOWN!
Seriously… don’t wait around for your Yankee legacy to deteriorate.

You’ve shown you could manage when you took the 2006 Marlins team with a payroll under $30 million and kept them in the running for the Wild Card into September. You won a Manager of the Year award. You can do it.

So make your Yankee legacy this if you win it all:
2008 was an adjustment year followed by back to back World Series titles.
Leave a WINNER and finish with more World Series titles than Billy Martin at the helm.

Go home to Chicago. If you win the World Series there, do you know how you will be treated?

Me neither! NOBODY knows. The team hasn’t won it since the series was called the World’s Championship Series and it was still an experiment. Win in Chicago and your ticket to the Hall of Fame will already be punched.

Have some other poor shmuck take over the Yankees and deal with this nonsense.

Heck, Joe Torre is available!