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MLB: Looking at the AL PLayoff Picture

Charlie — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:05:24 +0000

In the American League there are a couple intriguing match-ups. We have the Minnesota Twins taking on the New York Yankees and the Anaheim Angels taking on the Boston Red Sox. I really believe that both of these series will go 5 games.

The Yankees crushed the Twins last night but that really wasn’t any surprise. The Twins were mere hours away from their thrilling extra inning victory over the Detroit Tigers. They didn’t have their pitching lined up either. So, the big bad Yankees were just waiting for the Twins to come in so they could whack them. But the Twins aren’t discouraged, believe me.

The Twins are just waiting to face other pitchers and to have a minute to exhale. And the Twins would be fine with losing both games in New York. Then they’ll go home, where they play very well in their own dome, and then hope to get on a little roll and sneak out a game 5 victory in New York.

That’s their plan. And it will work. But I don’t see the Twins pulling it out in a game 5. I like the Yankees to advance in 5 games.

The other series, between the Angels and the Red Sox, will go 5 games too. It seems that all the people in the east think that a Red Sox and Yankees ALCS is guaranteed. But it’s not.

I just don’t see the Angels losing the Red Sox. The Angels are going to get on the bases and produce runs like crazy. That’s what they do. And the Red Sox aren’t going to be able to keep up. Yes, I do think the Sox will win 2 and force this series to go 5 games, but the Angels will win it in the end.

And that’s how the ALDS will go. It will wind-up with a Yankees and Angels ALCS.

MLB: Twins Still Charging… Braves Charging Too

Charlie — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:52:52 +0000

Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like we have a race in the National League again. The Atlanta Braves have moved themselves into position to challenge the Colorado Rockies for the Wild Card in the NL. But first let’s take a look at the Minnesota Twins as they continue to bare down on the American League Central leading Detroit Tigers.

The Minnesota Twins continue to play great baseball. At this point they are a runaway train. And the Detroit Tigers are on the tracks looking like they’re about to get run over.

The Tigers did lose last night. They gave up just 2 hits but couldn’t score any runs. That ended a 4 game winning streak for the Tigers. So they aren’t playing bad ball right now. But if they want to be 2 games up (because that’s all they are right now) when they host Minnesota for a 4 game series this week then they better plan on winning the final 2 games of their series against the White Sox.

Because it doesn’t look like the Twins are going to lose very much the rest of this season. If they roll into Detroit just a game back or less then the Tigers may find themselves losing their 4 game series. Then they’ll be on the outside looking in. And the Twins will be on a great roll heading to New York. Look out Yankees!

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves are making things very interesting in the NL Wild Card race. They are now just 3 games in back of the Rockies. With the Braves set to finish their season with a 4 game series against the lowly Nationals and the Rockies having to play against the St. Louis Cardinals right now and then the Los Angeles Dodgers to close the season, the Rockies have to be sweating.

Look out, there is a decent chance that both the Twins and the Braves could make unbelievable runs right into the post season.

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MLB: A Late Look at the AL

Charlie — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:30:42 +0000

Just about a dozen games left in the regular season and it looks like everything has pretty much been decided in the AL. Everything except who will win the AL Central.

The New York Yankees will win the American League East easily, though the Boston Red Sox are trying to make it a little interesting again (they’ve climbed back to within 5 games). But the Yankees will hold on to win the division and the Red Sox will take the Wild Card.

In the AL West the Anaheim Angels will will the division. Texas gave a fight but in the end they just don’t have enough. If they played in the AL Central then they would win the division but they don’t. So, the Rangers will be going home in early October and it will be the Angels advancing.

So, we have the Yankees, Red Sox, and the Angels all in the playoffs. But we don’t have any 100% positive idea for who will win the AL Central. It looks like the Tigers certainly have the inside track after they were able to salvage one game against the Twins over the weekend. The Tigers are up by 3 games. But with one more series still to be played between the Tigers and the Twins, the Twins still control their own destiny. We will have to see how this race plays out this week. Theoretically the Tigers could widen the gap this week and pretty much put the division away. But with the way they’ve been playing, that might not be very realistic. In fact, the Twins have been playing much better ball over the last couple of weeks. So, this one might come down to the final series of the season. Whichever team wins the Central, will be a long shot to make it past the divisional round of the playoffs anyway. But at least we have one close race in the AL to focus on as September begins to draw to an end.

MLB: Another Late Season Collapse?

Charlie — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:14:49 +0000

Last year we saw the New York Mets collapse late and get caught by the Philadelphia Phillies. Looks like there is another late season collapse this year… though it’s not quite as late and it isn’t quite so dramatic. But the Detroit Tigers are absolutely choking right now.

The Tigers have watched their lead in the American League Central shrink all the way down to just 2 games. And they are finding every possible way to lose.

For a few games they get horrible pitching. Then they get horrible hitting. And then they get horrible defense.

In Saturday’s game, they got a little of everything. A ball lost in the lights and allowed to drop in the 8th inning gave way to a big inning for the Twins and wasted a great outing by Justin Verlander. But it’s the Tigers’ hitters that should be ashamed.

With these hitters it is a miracle that this Tigers team isn’t 20 games under .500, speak nothing of leading their division. I love Brandon Inge but his knee (or something) has him swinging a horrible bat. Gerald Laird is probably the worst hitter I’ve seen in the big leagues in my life. Adam Everett has a great glove but his hitting is horrible too. None of these guys are even hitting their weight. And they are the bottom third of the line-up. Throw into this such undisciplined (and obviously uncoached players) like Marcus Thames, Curtis Granderson, Ryan Raburn, and Aubrey Huff and you have a team that can’t hit. Well, they won’t hit. Because they should be able to hit a little bit against some of these pitchers but they look lost at the plate. And the make some of the worst pitchers in the American League look like Cy Young candidates.

So, it’s time for the Tigers to wake-up or they will find themselves trailing in this division in a hurry. And if they don’t make it to the playoffs, everyone – including Jim Leyland and the pathetic coaches – will be to blame.

MLB: All Eyes Turn to Minnesota

Charlie — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:16:08 +0000

Well, just when it looked like the only playoff races would be the Wild Card races, now the best race in baseball is in the American League Central. Right now it’s between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins, with the Chicago White Sox currently on the outside of the race (but not by that far). And right now the Tigers and the Twins are set to play a 3 games series in Minnesota.

The Tigers come into this series just 4 games up on the Twins. And the Tigers are playing perhaps their worst baseball of the season. They’re pitching is letting them down and so is their hitting. Yes, their hitting has improved but this is still a team with far too many players unable to hit in the clutch. And it’s not just that they have the bottom of their lineup loaded with guys hitting under .250. It’s that almost all their hitters are totally undisciplined.

It’s unbelievable that the Tigers haven’t ditched their hitting coach yet (I refuse to mention his name and give him any recognition). The Tigers hitters swing at horrible pitched on 2-0 and even 3-0. Even little leaguers know that you should look for one pitch and only swing if you see that one pitch. Otherwise, take the pitch and keep your at bat going. But not these so-called “big leaguers”. They’ll swing at anything.

This has been what’s plagued this team all year. And it’s what kept them from running away with the division. It’s what will hurt them in this series too.

I predict the Twins (who are playing as well as they’ve played all season) will take at least 2 games this weekend and maybe all 3 games. And I predict this race will go into the final weekend. And the 2 teams that are still alive in that final weekend might just be the White Sox and the Twins with the Tigers nowhere to be found.

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