Postseason 2008 - How have the teams matched up?
While I certainly have more than my allotted amount of gut feelings on the postseason, we'll start off slow and work our way up to the real crazy predictions as the week drags on and I get more desperate as a fan.
Until then, I'll say this - if any team other than the Angels, Cubs or Rays wins the World Series, I'll be very shocked. If Milwaukee or the White Sox even make it, I'll be incredibly shocked.
Just to get things moving, here are the head to head matchups from the 2008 season. While I had this planned since this weekend, Baseball Reference went and did all of the grunt work for us, so I'll include those links for those with a true sickness for baseball stats.
National League:
Cubs vs. Dodgers - The season series stands at 5-2 in favor of the Cubs. All have been close, except for a 7-3 game where Carlos Zambrano took the loss. On top of that, two of the Cubs wins came off the Dodgers relievers. Oh, and one was a 10-inning win. And all came before Manny Ramirez was traded.
Be afraid, Cubs fans.
Phillies vs. Brewers - The Phillies have the edge here, up 5-1 on Milwaukee. Brewers fans should be wary of this matchup as the Phillies owned Milwaukee in mid-September as the Brewers were fighting to make the playoffs. In a four-game set from Sept. 11 to 14, the Phils took all four games - 6-3, 7-3, 7-3 and 6-1 - and Milwaukee's sole win was a 5-4 decision in April.
American League:
Angels vs. Red Sox - For all the press the Angels get for being "Baseball's 100-win Ballclub" they won five more games than the Red Sox. Five games. I can count that on my non-firework hand.
Plus, Boston has owned the Halos in the postseason in recent history.
This year might change that. Start with Anaheim's 8-1 domination of Boston in the regular season. The Red Sox have no Manny, a half a Mike Lowell at best, a questionable JD Drew and Josh Beckett having issues. None of this sounds good, regardless of defending champ status.
The Angels have beaten the Red Sox by a little, by a lot and now have a great shot to do something different - beat them in the postseason.
Rays vs. White Sox - The Rays own a slight edge over Chicago, but most of those wins have come later in the season. After dropping three of the first four games between the two teams, the Rays beat the White Sox like they beat everyone else this year.
Since then, Tampa won five of the last six.
The White Sox try to keep moving after needing two games this week to make it to Tampa, which should be a major red flag to anyone looking to wager on the Southsiders.
Working in their favor? Tampa didn't expect to be here and aren't all that veteran heavy, making them good candidates to totally freak out. They haven't yet, but they might.
The bottom line is that any of those eight teams is 11 wins from selling all sorts of crap to their fans all winter. If there's a God, that crap will be sold to fans of the Cubs.
Strap in, the playoffs are (finally) here.
(Image from: HomerDerby.com)
Until then, I'll say this - if any team other than the Angels, Cubs or Rays wins the World Series, I'll be very shocked. If Milwaukee or the White Sox even make it, I'll be incredibly shocked.Just to get things moving, here are the head to head matchups from the 2008 season. While I had this planned since this weekend, Baseball Reference went and did all of the grunt work for us, so I'll include those links for those with a true sickness for baseball stats.
National League:
Cubs vs. Dodgers - The season series stands at 5-2 in favor of the Cubs. All have been close, except for a 7-3 game where Carlos Zambrano took the loss. On top of that, two of the Cubs wins came off the Dodgers relievers. Oh, and one was a 10-inning win. And all came before Manny Ramirez was traded.
Be afraid, Cubs fans.
Phillies vs. Brewers - The Phillies have the edge here, up 5-1 on Milwaukee. Brewers fans should be wary of this matchup as the Phillies owned Milwaukee in mid-September as the Brewers were fighting to make the playoffs. In a four-game set from Sept. 11 to 14, the Phils took all four games - 6-3, 7-3, 7-3 and 6-1 - and Milwaukee's sole win was a 5-4 decision in April.
American League:
Angels vs. Red Sox - For all the press the Angels get for being "Baseball's 100-win Ballclub" they won five more games than the Red Sox. Five games. I can count that on my non-firework hand.
Plus, Boston has owned the Halos in the postseason in recent history.
This year might change that. Start with Anaheim's 8-1 domination of Boston in the regular season. The Red Sox have no Manny, a half a Mike Lowell at best, a questionable JD Drew and Josh Beckett having issues. None of this sounds good, regardless of defending champ status.
The Angels have beaten the Red Sox by a little, by a lot and now have a great shot to do something different - beat them in the postseason.
Rays vs. White Sox - The Rays own a slight edge over Chicago, but most of those wins have come later in the season. After dropping three of the first four games between the two teams, the Rays beat the White Sox like they beat everyone else this year.
Since then, Tampa won five of the last six.
The White Sox try to keep moving after needing two games this week to make it to Tampa, which should be a major red flag to anyone looking to wager on the Southsiders.
Working in their favor? Tampa didn't expect to be here and aren't all that veteran heavy, making them good candidates to totally freak out. They haven't yet, but they might.
The bottom line is that any of those eight teams is 11 wins from selling all sorts of crap to their fans all winter. If there's a God, that crap will be sold to fans of the Cubs.
Strap in, the playoffs are (finally) here.
(Image from: HomerDerby.com)
Labels: Post-Season 2008
posted by Matt G at
9:02 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home