The baseball postseason starts today. Here in Bowling Green, Detroit and Cincinnati fans may roll their eyes and turn to the classifieds right about now, but take heart: Cleveland fans may be shredding their Baseball Weeklies in a week, too. Or they might be making confetti out of them.
Welcome to the giant peptic ulcer called October baseball.
Mariners vs. Indians
Ichiro, Ichiro, Ichiro. Maybe he is a capable replacement for Griffey, A-Rod and Randy Johnson put together. Goodness knows, those three never led the Mariners to 100 wins, let alone 116.
Ichiro can do more with a ground ball than any other player in the game. Drag bunt, push bunt, squeeze play, infield single – he can do all of it, thanks in large part to blazing speed.
Seattle led the AL in hitting this year, but the big story behind their success has been their pitching. The bullpen, once a glaring weakness, has been transformed into a giant padlock for Mariner wins. The weakness for Seattle is the lack of a true power hitter, which could hurt them if they are in a five-run hole late.
Always the mashers, there is no question Cleveland’s offense can hang with anybody in baseball. The question is pitching. Rookie C.C. Sabathia had a spectacular debut at 17-5, but the other two main starters are Bartolo Colon and Chuck Finley, who have been inconsistent this year (though both fared well down the stretch). The bullpen’s workhorse since June has been rookie Danys Baez, who started to show signs of wearing down in the season’s final weeks. The Indians may need some more fantastic comebacks to advance over the heavily-favored Mariners.
PICK: Seattle in five
Yankees vs. Athletics
This is a rematch of last year’s first round matchup. Oakland had New York on the ropes only to lose in five games. The inspired Yankees won the World Series.
Oakland has the best one-two-three punch in their starting rotation in baseball. Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito could lay claim to being the new Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz if they keep up what they have been doing the past two years. Oakland rides the best second half in baseball into this series. From an 8-18 start, they skyrocketed and won the wild card berth going away. The question for Oakland is their bullpen. Jason Isringhausen has had problems closing this year, forcing the A’s to rely on the likes of Jim Mecir and Jeff Tam.
New York is, well, the Yankees. You don’t win 26 world championships without great players. Call them old, call them slow, call them injured. Roger Clemens is in line to win his sixth Cy Young Award and this team has October winning down to a science. They are no longer the team to beat when one and only one thing happens: They are eliminated.
PICK: New York in five
Tomorrow: National League
