Opening Day 2010 – MLB Predictions

Enough about Donovan McNabb and the Eagles. Baseball is back and the Phillies look better than they have to start a season in either of the past two years. They’re starting off with a certified ace and an even better lineup than before.

So here are my predictions for this season:

NL Division Series: Phillies over Rockies, Giants over Cardinals
NL Championship: Phillies over Giants

AL Division: Red Sox over White Sox, Mariners over Yankees
AL Championship: Red Sox over Mariners

World Series: Phillies over Red Sox

NY Post eats a little crow

Yesterday it was Shane Victorino in a skirt – today it’s “Bronx Bummers”. Maybe now Reggie Jackson (the Phillies are playing varsity), Keith Olbermann (the Phillies won’t be able to handle Sabathia), and all the other pundits that predicted an easy series for the “mystique and aura” are paying attention. Maybe they weren’t – I did notice a lot of empty seats as the game went on.

World Series Game 1: Dependab-Lee

One of the biggest things in sports is being dependable. Knowing your offense will always put up runs; in football, knowing your team can run; knowing your team plays defense. Being able to count on something in sports is a key to winning. Cliff Lee is exactly that, dependable. Should we be surprised that he shut the vaunted Yankees down when that’s what he’s done in every big game since he’s come to the Phillies?

Let’s also give credit to the Phillies offense – they did what they did against all of the teams prior to the Yankees. The Dodgers (twice), the Rockies, the Rays, and the Brewers – each series the Phillies won game one and in each series the Phillies offense made those teams pay. They outlasted C.C. Sabathia, got to the Yankees’ bullpen (a bullpen that seems to be more of a concern than the Phillies’ bullpen), and exposed them.

Onto Game 2. Wondering what we’ll see from Pedro. The dispassionate observers want a good series – I want the Phillies to destroy the Yankees. Let’s hope this is the beginning.

Phillies NL Champs – bring us the Yankees

I am getting used to having a winner in town. We were at the game on Wednesday and seeing your team clinch is got to be one of the coolest things for a sports fan. The poor Dodgers didn’t know what hit them – after Monday’s crushing loss – the win on Wednesday was a formality. Now I want the Yankees.

The Angels are a good team, and if they come back to win the series, they would have big momentum on their side. My choosing the Yankees has nothing to do with that though. I want the Yankees because beating them with make the rest of the league stand up and take notice. I have no doubt that the Phillies are the best team in the majors. We have what everyone else wants, even the Yankees. They have a couple of guys that were around in 2000, but most of them weren’t. The Phillies walk with a swagger and a confidence that reveals a true champion.

Bring on the Yankees. Let’s see if the Phils can bring “mystique and aura” down a peg.

Phillies Raul Ibanez on CNN Oct. 21 & 22

Just got a note that CNN’s series Latino in America will cover Phillies left-fielder Raul Ibañez October 21 & 22 at 9 PM. (Set the DVR – I’m sure if you’re interested in this, you’re probably going to watch the Phillies game tomorrow night.)

CNN Latino in America – Phillies’ Raul Ibanez
Philadelphia Phillies’ Raul Ibanez sits down with Soledad O’Brien for CNN Latino in America. Tune in to CNN on October 21 and October 22 at 9pm (EST) to watch his interview and more.

Link:

Phillies crush the Dodgers hopes in the 9th

Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS. Game 5 of the 2008 World Series. Game 4 of the 2009 Division Series. I want to say that tonight’s game was the best walk-off victory I’ve seen considering the importance of the game – but I realize it’s only the best until they do it again.

Jimmy Rollins has always been my favorite player on the team – he plays the game with a swagger; he not only excels in the big moment, he looks forward to it and embraces it. I can’t say I knew Rollins was going to hit that game winning hit, but I wasn’t surprised. (My neighbors will probably tell you I was – but was jubilation and excitement – not surprise.)

These Phillies are something special.

About that 9th inning: the opposite of red light player is Jonathan Broxton. He pitches around Matt Stairs, a .194 hitter. Before this series Broxton stated that he was looking forward to getting Stairs again – and this was what he does? He’s throwing 101 MPH, and he pitches around a guy that has done nothing, nothing except embarrass Broxton. On the other extreme let’s give Brad Lidge a ton of credit. He comes in and keeps that game in check, giving the offense a chance to come back. Six closers have blown saves this postseason – not one of them is Lidge. Who’d have thunk?

As for Wednesday’s game – bring on Vincente Padilla. He is in no way Cliff Lee, someone who you fear seeing a second time in a series. I don’t think Padilla can repeat last Friday’s performance. Give me Padilla at Citizens Bank Park and we’ll see what happens.

If the 11-0 loss Sunday night was hard to forget for the Dodgers – how do they put tonight’s loss out of their heads?