Focused on Dallas Greene

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When the baseball season started, we made our playoff predictions and were pretty close.  In the National League we got Philly and Atlanta right, while missing on San Francisco and Cincinnati, picking L.A. and St. Louis instead.  We fared much better in the American League, hitting on the Yankees, Twins and Rangers and missing only the Rays, having picked Boston.

When the Division Series came along, we hit on three out of the four.  We were right with Philadelphia, San Francisco and Texas, while missing badly on Minnesota over the Yankees.  Our predictions for the League Championship Series:



(4) New York Yankees vs (3) Texas Rangers

Starting Pitching:

Cliff Lee is just unreal.  The man becomes superhuman when the playoffs start.  CJ Wilson is a solid number two and Colby Lewis and Tommy Hunter can hang with anything the Yankees throw out there.  The Bombers have CC Sabathia and the legend of Andy Pettite.  Hughes threw a decent game in the ALDS but Minnesota was in the midst of an epic choke, so we don't put much stock in that outing.  

Edge: Rangers

Bullpen:

Who would you rather have: Kerry Wood, Boone Logan and Joba Chamberlain or Darren O'Day, Darren Oliver and Dustin Nippert?  Yeah, pretty much a wash, with O'Day tipping the scales in our eyes.  But then you get to the closers.  Mariano Rivera vs Neftali Feliz.  In two years -- hell, may be one, this goes to Feliz.  But not yet.

Edge: Even

Infield:

The Rangers have nothing at first and lose the matchup at second (Cano over Kinsler).  Although we think his dropoff in numbers this season is overrated, we still give Elvis Andrus the nod over Derek Jeter at shortstop.  A-Roid and Michael Young are a wash. 

Edge: Yankees

Outfield:

Texas has the power, New York the OBP.  Both have good defenders but Texas takes this one with their speed and youth.  Barely.

Edge:  Rangers

Designated Hitter:

Lance Berkman was a nice pick up and Marcus Thames had a very nice ALDS.  But you know how we love our dealry departed Expos.  How can we go against the last legitimate possible future Montreal Hall of Famer in Vladmir Guerrero?

Edge: Rangers

Bench:

A few months ago, with Thames against a group  of scrubs, this would have been a slam dunk for the Yankees.  But with the midseason acquisitions of Jeff Franceour and Jorje Cantu, the Rangers made it closer. 

Edge: Even

Coaching:

Not even close.  Joe Girardi did a great job with the lowest payroll in baseball while in Florida then won the World Series last year with the highest.  Ron Washington should be given credit for overcoming personal issues and for the cohesiveness of his team.  But he is a horrible x's and o's coach, whose enslavement to the lefty-lefty, righty-righty school of thought cost his team Game 3 of the ALDS and is the biggest thing that could lose this series for Texas.

Edge: Yankees

Fan Base:

Texas will have home field advantage but the Yankees have enough experience that it won't bother them.  Can the young Rangers avoid being wowed by the Hallowed Grounds?  There is no mystique to the Ballpark in Arlington, although most of their long-suffering fans have supported the team with 2Million + attendance numbers, win or lose.

Edge: Yankees

PREDICTION:  Rangers in 6



(2) San Francisco Giants vs (1) Philadelphia Phillies

Starting Pitching:

Halladay, Hammels, Oswalt and Blanton vs Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez and Baumgartner.  Yes, the Giants have a nice pitching staff.  Yes, they have pitched the Phillies well.  However, Halladay has two no hitters -- this season, Hammels and Blanton have a World Series ring and Oswalt has been a National League champion.  Experience wins playoff games.

Edge: Phillies

Bullpen:

Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge have been lights out for the last six weeks.  Durbin and Conteras have een solid.  Romero is terrible and Baez ain't all that great, either.  The Phillies have not had to use their bullpen much as of late.  And that is a good thing.  If their starters can throw 7, the Phils are good to go.  Maybe 6.  If the G-Men get to the 'pen earlier than that, it's not good for Philly.  Brian Wilson is a superb closer and the San Francisco relievers did well against Atlanta in the NLDS.

Edge: Giants

Infield:

Howard over Huff, Utley over Sanchez and Rollins over Uribe are pretty easy to pick.  Placido Polanco is banged up though, battling an elbow issue all season and now his back is having issues.  Mike Fontenot had a solid NLDS and might sway things San Francisco's was at third though.

Edge: Phillies

Outfield:

Shane Victorino has taken the leadoff spot for the Phillies and run with it (no pun intended).  Jason Werth is in a contract year and plays a great right field.  Raul Ibañez may be 314 years old, but so is the Giants' Pat Burrell.  So they even each other out.  Andres Torres and Jose Guillen are nice players but are no equals to Victorino and Werth.

Edge: Phillies

Bench:

Wilson Valdez has been incredible off of the Philadelphia bench.  He filled in Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Placido Polanco at different times this season and the team saw no drop off.  Mike Sweeney delivered nicely after his midseason acquisition, though Ross Gload has been unimpressive. The Giants got nice production from Aaron Rowlan and Edgar Renteria though and have a nice blend of offense and defense. 

Edge: Phillies

Coaching:

Charlie Manuel has a ring, Bruce Bochy does not.  Both are good baseball men.  Both have a good staff.  Davey Lopes may be the key here.

Edge: Phillies

Fan Base:

We love our Philly peeps but San Francisco was loud during the NLDS.  Both teams have wonderful stadiums and their fans provide a legitimate home field advantage. 

Edge: Even

PREDICTION:  Phillies in 5

And with that, we bid you adieu.

Until next time,

Keep the Faith

Focused on Don Larsen

We're off!

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Editor's note:  These were written before the series started.

It's playoff time in baseball and here's how we see the post season shaking out:

NATIONAL LEAGUE

(1) Philadelphia Phillies over (3) Cincinnati Reds in 4.

Way too much pitching and experience on the Phillies' side.  Dusty Baker and the excitement of the first home playoff game in 15 years will be good for one win for the boys from the Queen City.

(2) San Francisco Giants over (4) Atlanta Braves in 4.

Giants are playing too good a brand of baseball to falter here.  Bobby Cox'll get a win somewhere here but his team is limping and the "win one for the Gipper" vibe is not really there.  Most of the youngsters on this team have only played for Bobby for a year or two.

Phillies over Giants in the NLCS

AMERICAN LEAGUE

(3) Texas Rangers over (1) Tampa Bay Rays in 5.

The Rangers are simply better.  After Price, Tampa has nothing on the hill.  Cliff Lee is superhuman in the post season.  Tampa's fan base sucks and that will nullify the home field advantage in Game 5. 

(2) Minnesota Twins over (4) New York Yankees in 5.

The Empire is vulnerable.  We wouldn't bet actual money against them but for the purposes of this blog, we go Twins.

Twins over Rangers in the ALCS

WORLD SERIES

Phillies over Twins in 6

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Item:

Here's some food for thought.

In 2006, the most-recent year data is available for, 25.8% of all female deaths in the United States were the result of a horrible, largely-preventable disease.  Think about that -- over one in every 4 women who died succumbed to this, by far the leading killer of women.

Proper diet, regular checkups and education could eliminate the deaths exponentially.  If detected early and treated properly, this killer is often stopped in its tracks.

This killer is, of course, heart disease. 

Yes.  Heart disease.  Not breast cancer.

So as you wear your pink for the sixth "Breast Cancer Awareness Month" of 2010, realize that the women you love are far more likely to die from heart disease than breast cancer.

Too bad Komen has a better ad agency than the American Heart Association.

Then again, Don Draper always was a boob man.



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Fare thee well, Tony, we'll see you on the Other Side. Save us a charriot.

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In all playoff seasons, we like to make not only our predictions but also who our heart wants to win.  And several things factor in, after we get past our beloved Phillies.  There's style of play, organizational quality, deservedness of fan base and random likes and dislikes of a personal nature, as the heart is wont to play that way.  So here's what we can live with in terms of World Series winners in 2k10, in order of palatability:

Phillies - Need we elaborate?
Rangers - We live here and our friends like them. 
Twins - Solid organization that consistently does more with less.  Great fan base.
Giants - Getting into the "meh" section but passionate fans and good pitching, even if he looks like him.
Reds - 15 years since a playoff berth and fans still passionate.
Rays - The worst fan base in professional sports.  It's not even close.
Braves - The second-worst fan base in baseball and a division rival.
Yankees - Need we elaborate?
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Quote of the Week: “Pretty good pickup." --Philadelphia Phillies' Ryan Howard, on pitcher Roy Halladay, after the latter had thrown the second no-hitter in MLB postseason history.   Halladay was obtained in an offseason trade with Toronto.

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Internet Video of the Week:

Here.

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Ridiculous Story That Actually Appeared in a Publication of the Week:

Here.

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Idiot Criminal of the Week: Julie Bailey of La Crosse, WI. Here's why.

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Vintage Album Review of the Week:

Chicago

17 

1984 

Stay the Night - (3:49)*
We Can Stop the Hurtin' - (4:11)
Hard Habit to Break - (4:44)*
Only You - (3:53)
Remember the Feeling - (4:28)
Along Comes a Woman - (4:14)*
You're the Inspiration  - (3:49)*
Pleaase Hold On - (3:41)
Prima Donna - (4:33)
Once in a Lifetime - (4:11)
* - singles

The success of 1982's 16 was a blessing and a curse for Chicago.  The album brought them out of the wilderness and back to the Billboard charts, but at the cost of their ensemble jazz roots.  The album brought Bill Champlain into the group and started the band's association with David Foster.  Both would have a profound effect on the follow up, 17.

With 17, Chicago completed the transformation from a nameless, faceless band with no real "leader" to Peter Cetera's band.  A couple of factors were at play here.  First and foremost, the adult contemporary leanings of new producer David Foster were a perfect match for Cetera.  This is most strongly realized on the album -- and the band's -- biggest hit, You're the Inspiration, as classic a David Foster-produced song as any ever recorded.  His and Cetera's signature sound was also prevalent on the Cetera/Champlain-penned Remember the Feeling. Not coincidentally, these are the very songs ardent, old-school Chicago fans detest.

But there is no arguing with result.  This was the best-selling album Chicago ever released.  The other reason Cetera became more the front man for the band was that entity that changed the game for everyone in the '80's -- MTV.  With solid videos for all four singles, including one of the decade's best, in Along Comes a Woman, Cetera was locked and loaded as the face of Chicago.  So of course, he promptly left the group after this album and tour.

The instrumentation on this album is excellent.  The band maintains its tight professional, if not necesarilly impassioned sound and there are no miscues.  Foster nailed the production and got precisely the sound he was aiming for.  For good or bad, this is the definitive Cicago album for more fans than not.

Aside from the singles, we really liked Only You and Please Hold On, the latter of which was co-authored by Lionel Richie.

This was the first concert we ever went to.  Loverboy opened for them.  The set opened with Stay the Night and I went nuts.  I was with my big sister.  Oh, joy.  But that's what this album is -- simple family fun.  Nothing that will scare the kids but also nothing that was particularly groundbreaking either.  That being said, this album has aged exceptionally well -- it is exactly what it was over two decades ago.

When we listened to this the other day, after many years, we found ourself singing along with most of the words, lost for a bit in our youth.  It was a pleasant reminder.

Music: 3 (of 5)
Lyrics: 3 (of 5)
Authorship: 4 (of 4)
Production: 3 (of 3)
Packaging: 2 (of 2)
First Blush: 2 (of 2)
Aging: 3 (of 3)
Videos: 1 (of 1)
Total: 21 Stars: 4.2 (of 5)

~~~
Parting shots: If you walk into an NFL locker room wearing this, expect inapropriate comments.  If you don't want to hear them, wear pants that fit you...The Patriots trade their best receiver mid-season, for a draft pick?  There is more to this.  Failed drug test, domestic dispute or negatives with Randy Moss and a nine year old boy will be surfacing.  Soon...So Larry Wilcox is going to jail.  Will Ponch be the arresting officer?...The NBA season and midterm elections are coming!!!!

And with that, we bid you adieu.

Until next time,
Keep the Faith