2011 World Series Preview

Neither the Yankees nor the Red Sox are in the World Series, but contrary to popular belief there still will be a Fall Classic played this year and it starts tonight. Most of you probably don't care unless you have money involved but there will be a few really good baseball players on display.

As far as the National League representative, the Cardinals are having a UCONN type run this season. 10.5 games out in late August, they were the benefactors of that other epic collapse that nobody really talked about. The old cliche about just get in and take it one game at a time has been applicable here, as LaRussa and his boys have found themselves with home field advantage in the World Series (ironically thanks in large part to the guy they just beat Prince Fielder's domination of the All Star game). So how do the two squads you didn't really pay any attention to all year stack up against each other?

Pitching- Both teams have pretty decent starting pitching despite the fact that the Cardinals bullpen actually worked more innings than their starters in the NLCS. LaRussa is well known for utilizing as many statistics as possible and (some would say) overmanaging, so expect more of the parade of relief pitchers this series. St. Louis also employs the first ever female pitcher in Major League Baseball history, a fire ball slinging southpaw by the name of Whitney Starkington. Though little used, she's sure to dominate the pre game coverage and the ESPN human interest stories. Although St. Louis lost Adam Wainwright early in the season and Chris Carpenter got off to a snail-slow start, the starters picked it up in September and as previously mentioned, that bullpen was lights out. The Rangers aren't as imposing without last year's ace Cliff Lee on the mound but they still have a solid rotation. Also, the late season addition of Cuban dissident and midget Julio Mariposa added some grit to their already tough bullpen. Free spirited C.J. Wilson suffered a blister on his throwing hand last series but he's expect to play which is a plus for Texas.

Advantage: Rangers

Offense- Both Texas and St. Louis have ridiculously potent offenses so expect lit up scoreboards and the over to be in play every game. Most of the spotlight will be on best player in the game and one guy who Hater J actually doesn't hate: Phat Albert Pujols aka El Hombre. Pujols plays a slick first base but he's been absolutely tearing it up along with breakout star and ALCS MPV David Frees. Add Matt Holliday at DH and the Cardinals offense is looking very formidable. Rounding out the lineup is only the second Cambodian player in MLB history, Kat Tran a switch hitting chemistry major and poet laureate from Stanford. Tran burst on the scene in July and hasn't looked back since sparking Tran Fever in St. Louis. Texas's offense is no slouch though, as the Tigers learned last week. Nelson Cruz is having a 2004 Beltranesque playoffs and he's surrounded by big bats in Josh Hamilton and SS Elvis Andrus, forming one of the scarier lineups in baseball today. Someone who's been struggling lately is Johnny "Greasy J" Cifaretto, the self proclaimed "One armed guido" who despite having only one arm and being a guido has managed to hit only .075 this postseason. Ron Washington's insistence on starting Cifaretto has led to some rumors of gambling debts or other shady going ons behind the scenes. Catcher Mike Napoli has provided a lift with his big bat and sturdy defense behind the plate. Both offenses should be ready to slug it out and it will certainly be fun to watch.

Advantage: Cardinals (by a hair)

My pick: Cardinals in 6.

Play Ball!

PTU Pundit '11 MLB Playoff Predictions

Much like the start of any season, the post season provides us a prime time opportunity to show make bold (and mostly wrong) predictions.

Here are some of the PTU staff’s picks, along with some commentary, series by series

Yankees vs. Detroit

The entire PTU crew like the hometown Yanks.  Resident Mets fan, Snooty, has labeled the Yanks the best team in American League.  Bottle thinks Verlander is the only Tigers player who can play making this an easy pick for him.   I see this game boiling down to game one.  Verlander has been awesome this season, but he hasn’t always been so awesome at the Stadium.  Conversely , Sabathia always seems to step it up at home, especially for big games.  Some fans will say that Doug Fister can still battle back in game two and tie this series.  Fister has been awesome since he was traded to Detroit, but this is the playoffs and Yankees Stadium, not Target Field in August.

Rangers vs. Rays

Snoot loves the Rays.  So much so, that a few nights of drinking over-proofed beer have resulted in devising a plan to bring them to Brooklyn.  Although the rest of the crew likes the Rangers, Snoot is taking the hot hand who can pitch and play some defense. 

Note: This was written prior to the first pitch, Snoot’s pick is off to a good start

Phillies vs. Cards

I’m by myself taking the Cards here.  The guys are going with the “Good pitching beats good hitting in the postseason” axiom.  It’s hard to deny the Phillies pitching but the Cards’ 3-5 hitters are as formidable as any.  Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins are also guys who can be pitched to and made to look bad if the opposing pitcher hits his spots. I think the veteran Cards’ staff knows how to pitch and does just enough for the wild card upset.

Brewers vs. D’Backs

Kirk Gibson seems to have carried over all of that good baseball fortune from 1988 to 2011.  The Backs went from a bottom dwelling team a season ago, to a team that has both a Cy Young and MVP candidate.  Snoot is the only person on this panel that thinks Gibson has one more week of luck in him.  Ideally, the Brewers would play the Cards in the next round allowing that jack ass Nyjer Morgan a.k.a. Tony Plush, the opportunity to show the world what a chump he is, keeping his mouth shut around Pujols the whole series.

Derek Jeter - Stop the Hate

Derek Jeter has spent his entire career being hated on and almost always being held up to impossible standards. When entering his prime, people loved to remind him that he wasn't as good a hitter as A-Rod or Tejada. He's never been implicated with anything involving steroids...the guys he was being compared to have. He wasn't as good a fielder as Omar Visquel. Yeap, he wasn't as good, defensively, as the best defensive short stop of the 90's, and arguably one of the top 10 greatest defensive short stops to ever play the game.

Now, at age 37, Derek Jeter is contending with a new impossible standard. Derek Jeter 2011 is being compared to young Derek Jeter. The Derek Jeter who wasn't good enough then but still managed to amount Hall of Fame numbers, improve his defense, and win a ton of titles in the process. Aside from Barry Bonds, not many ball players put up numbers better than the numbers they put up in seasons played in their mid 20s. Its an unfair comparison, but the Yankees Captain is asked to do exactly that. Like other points in his career, he doesn't get mad about it. He doesn't cry about it in the press. He goes to work, and then he produces.

While Mr. D continues to send other writers at PTU slanderous emails about the production (or lack thereof) of Yankees captain Derek Jeter, the man put together an impressive game yesterday going 4-6 with 2 homers. He saw his batting average jump to a respectable .276 for a short stop and placing him 11th in short stop batting average. The Captain is also currently top 10 amongst all short stops in hits, runs and even home runs (although that isn’t saying much given that aside from guys like Tulowitski, Gonzalez, or Hanley Ramirez, there aren’t many power hitters at the position).

I will concede that yesterday’s game will probably be the best performance at the plate we see Jeter put up this year and not something that will be the norm. However, I think it’s fair to say he isn’t as bad as his first few weeks indicated either. You can expect his year to finish with about 175 hits, 65 RBI, over 100 runs scored, and somewhere around a 275 BA…all very respectable numbers for a shortstop at the top of your lineup. He'll probably be top 10 in all meaningful stats. The Yanks may contend for another title. Then when next year comes, he gets to try and prove his value again.

Bottle Got It Wrong

I disagree with Bottle’s picks (shocker)….

In The AL

MVP – Robbie Cano (A-Rod isn’t the best player on his own team…how can he be MVP?)

Cy Young – Jon Lester (He’s very good, and I painfully tip my hat)

East – Yanks – They bring back the same team that struggled against Lee in the ALCS (less Andy Pettite). You can almost see them trading Banuelos for a quality lefty to fill in that 2nd/3rd spot. There is no pressure, a better rotation than credited, and better bullpen than rival Red Sox.

Wildcard – Red Sox - They made some great signings to make up for the losses of Martinez and Beltre…but the issues they had last year haven’t really been addressed. Papelbon is still closing games and that’s not a good thing.

Central – White Sox - They made a great push last year and have good young arms. I see Pavano taking his big payday and doing a “Pavano” this year and mailing it in sometime in the next 2 weeks.

West – Texas - You could have picked almost anyone in the West and had an argument given its fairly wide open. But picking Seattle is sort of like picking the handicapped kid for a pickup basketball game. It’s a nice thought, makes them feel good about themselves, but you don’t really expect for it to translate into a win for you.

Yanks beat White Sox

Sox beat Rangers

Yanks beat Sox

In The NL

MVP – Albert Pujols (makes a case for mo’ money)

Cy Young – Clayton Kershaw (he’ll settle down after a loss tonight)

East – Phillies ARGUABLY best staff in baseball…remember that San Fran can still pitch. They should win the division easily.

Central – Reds – They have the most keeping it real second basemen in the game, last year’s MVP, and a dude who throws over 100 MPH. I’m in

Wild Card – St. Louis They have good pitching and although they lost Wainwright, they still have a good enough rotation to compete. If Pujols is going to win the MVP...they need to get into the playoffs.

West – Giants They still can’t score runs, but not many in the West can. All they have to do is make the playoffs. No one wants to face this team there.

Giants beat Reds

Phillies beat Cards

Giants beat Phillies

And in the highest rated WS of all time – Yanks beat Giants