Tuesday October 7, 2003

NLCS PREVIEW

TWINS THOUGHTS

NFL “EXPERTS” PICKS

Be sure to check back to the site tomorrow. We’ve got a guest columnist. You won’t want to miss it.

AND THEN THERE WERE 4…

OK, it’s official. I want the Yankees to go to the World Series as the American League representative. The reason, arrogance. The arrogance of the Yankees comes across as confidence. The players show a lot of respect for the opponent. Derek Jeter, Aaron Boone, Jason Giambi, Bernie Williams… they’re all full of respect and have earned it.

What Manny Ramirez did after hitting his 3 run homer that gave the Red Sox a 4-1 lead in the 6^th inning was the most blatantly disrespectful act I have seen. I’ve seen bat flips on homers, and players doing different things. But, to hit the ball, walk halfway to first, then point to the dugout, and slowly jog around the bases was the worst I remember.  Barry Zito has done enough in this league to warrant some respect. And, the thing is, that I don’t think Manny Ramirez is even smart enough to realize what he did. Or, at least, I’m sure he doesn’t care. He made himself look good. I was so happy that the announcers, Joe Buck and Steve Lyons, pointed out just how ridiculous his actions were!

I think the events of the 6^th inning, when Johnny Damon and Damian Jackson collided into each other’s heads would put a little perspective on even the importance of the ALDS Game 5! By the way, that was the scariest baseball collision I have ever seen. Both running full-speed, both swift runners, both going for the ball, their heads hit. Damon laid on the ground unconscious for close to ten minutes. Both players are also known as being classy players, so you really hate to see this happen. After being on the ground for some time, Jackson somehow managed to stay in the game. Damon was taken, in an ambulance, to the hospital for observation.

With a 4-3 lead going into the bottom of the 9^th, Scott Williamson was brought in. Williamson had pitched the previous two nights, so probably shouldn’t have come in. He walked the first two batters of the inning, Scott Hatteberg and Jose Guillen. At the point, the Red Sox went to former closer, and Game 3 starter, Derek Lowe. The A’s then played small ball, with Ramon Hernandez dropping down a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance the runners.

Then came the move that made very little sense to me. The A’s went to their bench and had Adam Melhuse pinch hit for Jermaine Dye. Nothing against Melhuse, who had 3 hits in Game 4, but Dye is a pretty good hitter in his own right, even if injuries didn’t allow that to be the case for most of this year. I would take my chances with Dye. Of course, that’s even more easy to say after Melhuse took a called third strike for the second out of the inning. But look at it this way, you take your shot with Dye, and if that doesn’t work, then Melhuse could pinch hit for Chris Singleton, a player that should be pinch hit for.

Terrence Long was brought in to pinch hit for Frank Menechino and struck out looking to end the game. But, did everyone else see Derek Lowe’s reaction after the strikeout? He did some flying fist pumps, but then he very specifically stared into the A’s dugout and did a special WWE-like crotch gesture toward the A’s. That was point #2 that made me officially realize that I will be cheering for the Yankees. There is a difference between confidence and emotion and even showing that emotion versus directly and blatantly showing up your opponent. A couple of members of the Red Sox definitely crossed that line.

It’s unfortunate that I feel the need to even discuss these things because it kind of takes away from what was really a great baseball. It had everything. Pedro Martinez was spectacular for 7 innings. Barry Zito threw 5 shutout innings. There was some good defense. Clutch hits. Home runs. Small-ball. Controversy.  Managerial decisions. Everything. Yet, I find myself wanting to discuss my disdain for Manny Ramirez and Derek Lowe.

And it’s really too bad. There are some very good people on the Red Sox roster. Nomar Garciaparra, Bill Mueller. Trot Nixon. Johnny Damon. Kevin Millar. And the glue that seemed to hold the team together, Minnesota’s favorite Red Sox, David Ortiz!

Go Yankees!

Am I wrong? Send me your thoughts!

 

NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES PREVIEW

FLORIDA MARLINS VS. CHICAGO CUBS

Tonight is Game 1 of the NLCS with the Wild Card Florida Marlins at Wrigley Field to take on the Chicago Cubs. I think Game 1 is so huge to the Marlins chances in this series. It is really the one pitching matchup the the Marlins really have any where near a comparable starter. Josh Beckett is tough. He throws hard! But, that’s certainly not taking anything away from the Cubs Carlos Zambrano at all! Zambrano is every bit as good as Beckett. I just think that with Mark Prior and Kerry Wood set to pitch Games 2 and 3, respectively, if the Marlins don’t win Game 1, they could very easily be down 3-0 heading into Game 4.

Here are the position-by-position matchups between the Marlins and Cubs. The arrows represent the player that I think is the better player. The longer the arrow, the more of an advantage I think that team has.

Predictions - I think that the Cubs starting pitching is such a definite advantage over the Marlins that it is going to take another miracle for the Marlins to advance to the World Series. But, you know what?  It took a miracle… and some clutch play by Ivan Rodriguez… for the Marlins to get past the Giants. The Marlins have a very good team. Their speed at the top of the lineup is so important to what they do. So, a key for the Cubs is to not allow Juan Pierre and Luis Castillo to even get on base. If they are on base, Rodriguez, Derrek Lee, Miguel Cabrera and Juan Encarnacion can knock in some runs! Actually, I think that the Marlins have the better offense. However, I feel that the pitching staff of the Cubs will nullify that offense. The Marlins pitchers are better than it probably sounds like I’m giving them credit for. So, I don’t want to over-analyze, but I predict that the Cubs will win this best-of-7 series in 5 games.

So, what do you think? Who will win this Marlins/Cubs series? E-mail me.

TWINS THOUGHTS

Today, Doug Mientkiewicz will be having surgery on his left wrist in the Cities. Mientkiewicz showed a lot of heart playing with the obvious pain that it was causing. Hopefully it will be 100% successful, and Mientkiewicz will be 100% by next spring.

The Arizona Fall League continues, and here is a quick update of the Twins players that are playing down in Scottsdale.

Terry Tiffee is getting some good playing time, and these three pitchers are all doing fairly well in few innings so far. They do seem to be very cautious with pitchers down there! But, looking at the strikeout total so far by Neshek is encouraging. I’ve noticed that Rob Bowen is yet to make an appearance down there.

NFL “EXPERT” PICKS

I tell you what, Ben Jacobs of the Universal Baseball Blog and the Rochester (NY) Democrat & Chronicle used an amazing comeback by the Indianapolis Colts last night to win our Week 5 NFL Picks. Down 35-14 with about 4 ½ minutes remaining in the game, Peyton Manning led the Colts to an amazing comeback. With 4:15 remaining in the 4^th quarter, James Mungro scored on a 3 yard run, cutting the lead to 14. With 3:02 remaining, Manning hit Marvin Harrison on a 28 yard pass to cut the lead to 35-28. And with 1:37 left, Ricky Williams ran for 1 yard, tying the score at 35! The game went into overtime, and after a couple of punts by each team, the Colts used a couple of bad penalties (bad as in, really shouldn’t have been called by the officials, and bad as in, really hurt Tampa Bay), to march down the field. Mike Vanderjagt proceeded to miss a 38 yard field goal attempt, and the Buccaneer fans were elated! However, a phantom “leaping” penalty was called on Simeon Rice, giving the Colts a first down and 10 yards. Vanderjagt then knocked his 29 yard attempt off the right goal post, but it still went through, and the Colts comeback was complete!

Again, with the Colts win, Ben Jacobs wins this week’s football picks. Had the Buccaneers won, we would have had a three way tie. Here is the up-to-date standings in our picks. Ben Jacobs also takes over the top spot in the overall season picks, one game ahead of Aaron Gleeman. I continue my downward spiral: