Baseball 2011

I have a lot of irons in the fire and loose ends to tie up, (excuse the mixed metaphors), what with the whole gay marriage thing, the Fr. Pavone controversy and my take on the show Mad Men; all themes I've started over the last few weeks but haven't finished. I'm not even going to mention the videos on why I'm a Catholic (I guess I just did).  But before getting back into the heavy subject matter I'd like to go light this time out.  The Baseball play-offs are starting on Friday and I have a few unprofessional observations.

The American League

As of this post the divisions were wrapped up, with the Yankees securing home field through the play-offs.  The wild card is still up in the air, with the Rays and Red Sox tied in the standings.  This is truly incredible.  On September 1 the Sox were in first place, a half game up on the Bombers, and Tampa was a distant 9 games off the pace.  Everyone thought the rest of the month would be spent in a fight between Boston and New York over how they would split the division and wild card amongst themselves.  Only Buck Showalter, the Oriole manager, predicted that Tampa would be in the mix.  At he end of August he told Ken Singleton, who calls the Yankees on Yes, that he thought they would contend for the wild card.  When Singleton mentioned it on the air the other announcers laughed.  One of them cracked, "Did he say what year?"  Well no one is laughing now, especially no one in Red Sox Nation.  The Sox are collapsing while Tampa has soared.

If Tampa completes the comeback, they should be feared.  The Yankees are slight favorites in a fairly even field, but the Rays are peaking at the right time.  The Tigers have the best pitcher, Justin Verlander, but the Rays have the deepest rotation.  The Yankees and Rangers have better lineups, but the Tampa Bay bats are coming alive at just the right time.  If I'm the Yankees, I want Texas in the first round, to avoid a short series involving the future Cy Young winner, Verlander, and that Boston gets enough of its mojo back to qualify.

The National League

As a Yankee fan I don't watch enough of the National League to really ask the right questions, beyond the obvious;  will anyone beat the Phillies pitching staff in October?  Yeah, they've been on autopilot since clinching home field advantage, but who wouldn't be?  And yes, I do believe that they can just turn it on once the play-offs start.  Joel Sherman in the Post wrote a couple of weeks ago that this year's Yankees reminded him of the '96 team that upset the Braves in the World Series.  Like that earlier team they have a solid lineup, a deep bench and bullpen to augment a questionable starting rotation.  The Phillies, like Atlanta of old, has a good all around team, an OK bullpen and starting pitching second to none.  But while these Yankees have a better lineup then their predecessors, I think their rotation isn't as solid.  And the big four of Philadelphia are better and, more importantly at play-off time, tougher than the 1990's Braves.

I'll save predictions for when all the play-off spots are filled, but if it does come down to Phillies-Yankees, Halladay, Lee, Hamels and Oswalt beats Sabathia, Nova and fill in the blanks any time.