Ahhh the World Series

Well folks, I am currently watching game 2 of the World Series (on mute of course, but we will get to that shortly) and I thought I would jump on the soapbox and let all of my adoring fans know what is really going on in this series.

Plain and simple: the media wanted Boston to beat Cleveland. It is good for their business. If none of the Red Sox/Yankees/Mets/Dodgers are in the World Series, the ratings are not the highest, so there is panic in the media. How dare baseball have their championship decided between two of the seven lowest payroll teams in the league.

Which brings me to my next point...How can the team who has swept their way to the championship been waiting 8 days to play another game. The run the Rockies are on, winning 21 of their last 23 including sweeping the NLDS and NLCS is one for the record books, yet they had to wait over a week to possibly extend that. They do not deserve to be treated that way. First off, the ALCS played on the 12th, 13th, took a day off as usual, 15th (the same night the Rockies clinched the NL title), 16th and then TOOK A DAY OFF, played the 18th, TOOK ANOTHER DAY OFF, and then played on the 20th and 21st. Since when does the series go 2-2-1-2??? No. The 7 game series goes 2-3-2. It has been that way forever. But we have to make sure the Red Sox get a better chance of coming back from a 3-1 deficit to win the series. And then give them extra rest??? This is completely ridiculous.

A team who is on one of the greatest runs of all time has to waste away waiting to see if they are going to Boston or Cleveland while Boston wins the series at home, then has two days of rest - at home, no travel - and then plays game one of the World Series. Say what you want about a layoff of any time, but it messes with the hitters timing more than anything. Why else do you think Josh Beckett could come out and throw fastballs down the middle to the best hitting team in the National League? On regular rest, some of those pitches would still be going, but when a hitter has to face batting practice fastballs for eight days and then go up against a 96 MPH fastball he has no chance. Mr Selig, just give the Red Sox the trophy, and stop wasting our time.

Now you may be wondering why I am watching the World Series on mute, why I am listening to Golden Earring, Nelly Furtado, Kanye West, Britney Spears, Men at Work, any thing other than what is on my tv screen, well if you have ever watched a playoff game broadcasted on the great FOX network you will know the answer to this question. An untrained monkey could do a better job of calling a game than Tim McCarver and Joe Buck. The legendary Jack Buck was an incredible broadcaster, but apparently he was a horrible teacher. His son is terrible at calling a baseball game. Please get him off the air. Sundays for football are fine, whatever, just don't let him be on the air ruining what is supposed to be the culmination of the greatest season in professional sports.

And I would love to meet the brainiac who thought it would be a good idea to give Tim McCarver a microphone. When McCarver was catching Bob Gibson he went out for a mound visit one time and Gibson told him to get the hell away from him. Gibson asked McCarver what the hell he was doing out on the mound, he doesn't know a thing about pitching. That sentiment is even more true about play-by-play and color commentary.

And FOX might as well get rid of their version of K-Zone. Every time they show a pitch that is supposedly a strike, it is off the radar. The first batter of the series was called out on a "strike" that was in the other batter's box.

I gotta say, I now think the most hated team in baseball is quickly becoming the Boston Red Sox. The thing that gets me the most is how NONE of those people who jumped on their bandwagon when they won the series in 2004 have jumped off. Not ESPN, not FOX, none of the bobbleheads that go to college, nobody. Are the umpires on the wagon? I am not sure. Is George Mitchell? Well he is on their board...

MV-Who?

The MVP award voting will not even be close in the American League. Alex Rodriguez had this one in the bag just after the all-star break. Sorry Magglio, I know you won the batting title, and were second in the league in RBI, but nobody in baseball carried their team like A-Rod carried the sorry Yankees. This guy is so good that he should get $3o Million next year.

The National League however is completely up for grabs. Matt Holliday lead the league in two of the three triple crown categories (batting average and RBI), Prince Fielder led in home runs, and was one of the only consistant players on the contending Brewers, and Jimmy Rollins was the second this season, and third player ever in the 20-20-20-20 club and guaranteed that his team would win the division in spring training. I think Holliday will get it. Had the Brewers held on and made the playoffs, I think Fielder would have won no doubt, but with Holliday coming up big in the one game playoff and winning a batting title for a playoff team I think will put him over the top.

The Rookie of the Year in the National League is no contest. It is unfortunate for Troy Tulowitzki, because he had an outstanding season, but if Ryan Braun had not been in the minors for the first six weeks of the season, we would be putting him in the running with Holliday, Fielder, and Rollins for MVP. This guy played in 113 games and hit 34 homers and drove in 97 runs. He also hit .324.

The American League ROY is tough to pick, because nobody really stood out like Braun and Tulowitzki did in the NL. Alex Gordon and Delmon Young were two who, at the beginning of the season, would be definite contenders but both struggled this season. I suppose I would go with Dustin Pedroia of Boston for the award, since he hit .317 and led AL rookies with an .821 OPS.

In the NL, the Cy Young should go to Jake Peavy who won the pitching triple crown in the NL. Right on his tail was defending winner Brandon Webb who could sneak in if the voters put too much emphasis on Peavy's performance in the playoff between the Padres and Rockies.

I would give the AL pitcher MVP to Cleveland ace C.C. Sabathia. He had 19 wins, second only to Josh Beckett in all of baseball, and was also in the top five in the league for ERA (3.21), strikeouts (209), complete games (4), WHIP (1.14) and led the league in innings pitched (241). Not to mention he only walked 37 batters in those 241 innings.

The Playoffs are Here!

The Major League Baseball regular season has come and gone, and there was no better way to end it than an extra innings, one game playoff for the Wild Card.

The Mets and Brewers completed their monumental collapses in the past week, with the Brewers squandering a lead that was almost 10 games as early as the all-star break. And the mets are the only team in history to let a 7 game lead with 17 to go get away.

The Diamondbacks will square off with the Cubs and Phillies will have to go up against the flaming hot Rockies in the NLDS.

I don't think the D-Backs will have much trouble with the Cubs, for the simple fact that Arizona has Brandon Webb who has a chance at a second straight Cy Young (especially with how Jake Peavy threw in the play-in game). The Diamondbacks are one of three teams in history I believe, to be outscored which makes their run to the best record in the National League just that much more impressive.

The Philadelphia/Colorado series will probably be the most fun to watch if you are a fan of high scoring baseball games. The Phillies had a team ERA of 4.73, 4.32 for the Rockies. The Phillies and Rockies also scored the most runs of the National League teams.

In the American League, the Yankees will face the Indians, and Boston will have to go up against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of the Southwest of United States.

I think the best team in baseball is the Angels, who are three deep in the rotation and have the speed to put pressure on the Boston defense. The lineup of Anaheim is also very deep and will have no problem scoring runs.

The Yankees were not supposed to be here. They were buried by just about everyone after the first two months of the season. Yet here we are and they are going to make life difficult for the Indians, who finished the season with the widest margin between first and second place teams in baseball. The offense of the Yanks is definitely something for the Indians to worry about, but Cleveland should not have a tough time scoring runs on the overworked Yankee pitching staff.

All in all, you couldn't ask for a much better regular season, and there is no doubt in my mind that the playoffs will be just as exciting.