Chip's Postseason Rambling Recap

It never fails. Whenever I pick two teams to make it to the World Series, they get crushed. Overall my track record at TMS for pulling for certain teams and talking up players has been pretty bad (which is why I'm not saying anything about the incredibly hot 5-0 Bears right now). The ALCS kicks off tonight between Detroit and Oakland. Of course ESPN isn't aware that the postseason is still going on, what with T.O. back in Philly and Joe Torre possibly, maybe, kinda sorta, rumored to be fired. Who has time for the playoffs?!
BREAKING NEWS!

We interrupt this Thunder Matt post to bring you this breaking story! T.O. just took a shit in a public toilet. We have John Clayton at the scene to speculate on whether T.O. ate corn or not.....

Ah Christ, let's just look back at the Divisional Series that were.

ALDS
Game 2
Oakland 5, Minnesota 2
W - Calero
L - Neshek
SV - Street

Game 3
Minnesota 3, Oakland 8
W - Haren
L - Radke

Was anyone outside the Bay Area expecting the A's to pull this one out, and in just three games no less? The Twins couldn't overcome Oakland's tough pitching and clutch hitting. Frank Thomas, who went 0-9 the last time he played in a postseason (2000 vs. Seattle), was a monster at the plate, hitting 5-10 with 2 home runs. In Game 3 Eric Chavez proved he could in fact, hit the ball, after going 0-8 with 4 strikeouts in the first two games. And how about Marco Scutaro? The "Player to Be Named Later" had a huge series, going 4-12, with 4 doubles and 6 RBI's.

This sucks for the Twins though. I think the series can be best summed up by the Mark Kotsay inside-the-park homer. Torii Hunter giving it his all to make a big catch, misses and two runs score. A gritty, scrappy team that fell just short of winning. With guys like Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, and Torii Hunter, this is a very likeable team. I really hope they get another shot next season.

ALDS
Game 2
Detroit 4, New York (A) 3
W - Walker
L - Mussina
SV - Jones

Game 3
New York (A) 0, Detroit 6
W - Rogers
L - Johnson

Game 4
New York (A) 3, Detroit 8
W - Bonderman
L - Wright

How did this happen? The Tigers weren't supposed to beat the greatest batting lineup of all-time! What? Oh they have to play defense and pitch as well? Fuck! So the Yankees starting lineup is full of All-Star's. Great, but at what point do they realize they need starting pitching? Yes, Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson were All-Stars. Emphasis on were. Never mind that the Unit won 17 this season. His ERA was 5.00 people! And suddenly the suckiness switch is supposed to turn off when the postseason arrives? Bottom line, when you're stuck with Jaret Wright as your Game 4 starter (4.99 ERA in two seasons with the Yanks), when you have sluggers that can knock the cover off the ball but can't cover first base, can you honestly put all the blame on a manager like Joe Torre? Was he the one that assembled this team of overpriced prima donnas that can't play together as a cohesive unit? Steinbrenner can throw him under the bus if he wants, but it doesn't change the fact that you pay your third baseman over $25 million a year to strike out with the bases loaded. I'll sit back and wait for a scathing comment from my brother, the Yankee fan now.

With all that said, let's not take anything away from the Tigers here. The Gambler pitched absolutely phenomenal despite the constant verbal diarrhea that Miller and Morgan kept spewing about him. While no one hit over 30 homers this season, the Tigers proved they still have plenty of offensive potency in the lineup to make opposing pitchers pay. For some baseball fans, this is the first real look we've had at young hitters like Craig Monroe, Curtis Granderson and Marcus Thames, and they haven't disappointed. With Minnesota out, I'll now be hopping on the Tigers wagon. I just hope this ride doesn't end as abruptly as the previous one.

NLDS
Game 2
St. Louis 2, San Diego 0
W - Weaver
L - Wells
SV - Wainwright

Game 3
San Diego 3, St. Louis 1
W - Young
L - Suppan
SV - Hoffman

Game 4
San Diego 2, St. Louis 6
W - Carpenter
L - Williams

St. Louis' pitching stepped it up this series, as they allowed a mere 6 runs in 4 games. Chris Carpenter was the main force, pitching two gems for wins in Games 1 & 4. Unfortunately my hopes of the ground opening up and swallowing Petco Park while both teams played, sending them to burn in hell for all eternity didn't pan out. Now I have to be a Met fan for a week. Great. And can people come to a consensus on a nickname for Albert Poopholes? Baseball Reference lists four. Those being Prince Albert, Phat Albert, The Machine, and El Hombre. Personally I like Poopholes, but if I had to choose from those other four, I'd go with the "male genital piercing".

NLDS
Game 1
Los Angeles 5, New York (N) 6
W - Mota
L - Penny
SV - Wagner

Game 2
Los Angeles 1, New York (N) 4
W - Glavine
L - Kuo
SV - Wagner

Game 3
New York (N) 9, Los Angeles 5
W - Feliciano
L - Broxton

No Pedro. No El Duque. That all didn't seem to matter much to the Mets, who got good enough pitching out of their relievers and plenty of runs from their offense to take down the Dodgers in three. Honestly I didn't pay much attention to this series. I did see that Cliff Floyd is hurt, but isn't that pretty much a given? Shouldn't we just get updates on ESPN when Floyd is healthy?