Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Playoff update - World Series Atlanta vs. Minnesota??
I was fortunate enough to watch/listen to all three games yesterday and here are my impressions:
LAvSTL : Nothing no one else hasn't said. The Cardinals' hitting is too much for LA's mediocre starting pitching. They should get 4+ runs every game. LA will get a coauple runs every game, but not more than that. They simply don't have the punch. LaRussa will also be quick to get into his bullpen if it means making this a quick series. The Dodgers might win one. Maybe. (but I wouldn't count on it)
BOS/ANA : Anaheim seemed strangely on edge yesterday. I guess facing a pitcher as "epic" as Schilling (and a team that has swept you recently) can do that to you. However, you can't simply say they beat themselves. Give the Red Sox credit for playing well in a hostile environment. The Angels managed to get good cuts in on Schilling and should get better ones on Pedro. I think Colon should be big (also he should pitch well). Boston's offense, as impressive as it is, has been known just to disappear at times. I still think this is going 4 or 5 and I'm not ready to give up on the Angels just yet.
MIN/NY: Nothing annoys me more than when someone jumps at the wall and the sports reporters/announcers say he robbed a home run when obviously he didn't. Happens all the time. Now it didn't happen here, but we have equivalents. There has been lots of talk of btoh Santana pitching "big" when he needed it and the Twins great fielding. I didn't see either. A pitcher pitching big will get strike outs /pop ups / weak grounders (Schill had a couple innings like that). Santana got hit all over the place and couldn't keep the Yankees from putting the ball in play. The Yanks just hit 'em where they were. The Minnesota D also simply made plays they should make. None of those double plays involved a abnormally difficult situation. Only Hunter's catch at the wall was beyond what you'd see an average player do. This being said, the Twins got the win they HAD to get. If the Yanks hit like they did tonight, they should pound Radke tomorrow. Once the teams head into the Homer-dome though anything can go. Makes it more of a toss-up but I won't back out on my picks just yet.
BY the way - based on how teams fared against Montreal the World Series should be Atlanta vs Minnesota (the only AL team to play Montreal) .
LAvSTL : Nothing no one else hasn't said. The Cardinals' hitting is too much for LA's mediocre starting pitching. They should get 4+ runs every game. LA will get a coauple runs every game, but not more than that. They simply don't have the punch. LaRussa will also be quick to get into his bullpen if it means making this a quick series. The Dodgers might win one. Maybe. (but I wouldn't count on it)
BOS/ANA : Anaheim seemed strangely on edge yesterday. I guess facing a pitcher as "epic" as Schilling (and a team that has swept you recently) can do that to you. However, you can't simply say they beat themselves. Give the Red Sox credit for playing well in a hostile environment. The Angels managed to get good cuts in on Schilling and should get better ones on Pedro. I think Colon should be big (also he should pitch well). Boston's offense, as impressive as it is, has been known just to disappear at times. I still think this is going 4 or 5 and I'm not ready to give up on the Angels just yet.
MIN/NY: Nothing annoys me more than when someone jumps at the wall and the sports reporters/announcers say he robbed a home run when obviously he didn't. Happens all the time. Now it didn't happen here, but we have equivalents. There has been lots of talk of btoh Santana pitching "big" when he needed it and the Twins great fielding. I didn't see either. A pitcher pitching big will get strike outs /pop ups / weak grounders (Schill had a couple innings like that). Santana got hit all over the place and couldn't keep the Yankees from putting the ball in play. The Yanks just hit 'em where they were. The Minnesota D also simply made plays they should make. None of those double plays involved a abnormally difficult situation. Only Hunter's catch at the wall was beyond what you'd see an average player do. This being said, the Twins got the win they HAD to get. If the Yanks hit like they did tonight, they should pound Radke tomorrow. Once the teams head into the Homer-dome though anything can go. Makes it more of a toss-up but I won't back out on my picks just yet.
BY the way - based on how teams fared against Montreal the World Series should be Atlanta vs Minnesota (the only AL team to play Montreal) .
