My Good

The "regular" baseball season is over, and with it my Rotisserie affair, which ended with a disappointingly lame 9th place finish. That it was the high -ater mark for the season says something about how miserable it had been, and we salvaged what we could only after trading away our entire pitching staff for front-line lead-off types who could deliver runs and stolen bases. A rule change in my league awarded prizes for the top finishers in all the stat categories, and we succeeded in leading in the aforementioned two areas, so there will be a little payback. As usual, the exhalation at the end of the Rotisserie year was anti-climactic, though unlike last year, we actually succeeded in our short-term objectives. Now it's time to erase memories of the stiffs who overpopulated our team, losers like Bruce Chen, Fausto Carmona, Ryan Dempster, Laynce Nix, Mike Napoli, Javier Valentin, Brian Watson (who?) and Nate McLouth.

On the other hand, I am now allowed to crow about my preseason predictions. For those who have not followed my blog, these were the teams I selected to finish first: Yankees, Twins, As, Mets, Cardinals and Dodgers. Their final standings were respectively, first, first, first, first, first and tied for first. I don't think a lot of pundits who were well-paid by CBS Sportsline or ESPN fared as well in their prognostications. Granted, three of the choices were relatively easy (Yanks, Mets, Cards), and I did not select the correct Wild Card teams (I chose the Braves and White Sox), but I did well enough to earn a pat on the back, if I must stretch awkwardly to do it myself.

Now I come to the more difficult task of calling the post-season. At this juncture the best team is probably the Yankees, whose line-up has been fortified, and who have two great hitters--Sheffield and Matsui--who have not been worn down by six long months of ball. Not to mention Jeter, Cano, Posada, Giambi, Abreu, Damon and even Arod. Their pitching is still questionable as long as Big Ugly Tall Lefty is hurting, and he is scheduled to pitch in the critical Game #3. But the best team rarely wins this thing. If the Yanks don't sweep the Tigers at home, they could be in trouble. The next best team is probably the Twins, while an argument could be made for Oakland--though their starter, Rich Harden, is also lame. And the poor Mets have lost Pedro for a year, and must depend on El Duque and Tom Glavine to keep them in games against the Dodgers until their offense kicks in. A Yankee-Mets Series would still produce the best match-up of the two teams with the best seasonal records, but I don't think it will come to pass.

Since I was so acutely accurate in my spring forecast, I feel obliged to stick with my original long-term World Series choice of the As over the Mets. To get there, I foresee the following results. The Yanks will beat the Tigers, but probably after losing the first game. The As surprise the Twins in four; the Mets beat the Dodgers in five, and the Padres beat the Cardinals, also in five. Then the As surprise the Yankees and the Mets overcome the Padres.

There are, as usual, some promising marquee match-ups. The nation would probably enjoy a Yankee-Dodger World Series more than it would a Yankees-Mets. Subtract the Yanks and there are still some intriguing rematches. Cardinals-Twins, for example, after the 1987 series (though hardly anyone expects the Cards, who heaved and limped to the finish line, to make it that far this year). Tigers-Cardinals would replay 1934, with Joe Medwick and the Dean Brothers. Mets-Oakland would harken back to the 1973 contest when Willie Mays fell in center field, denoting the end of his storied career, and Reggie Jackson started to earn his "Mr. October" soubriquet. The Padres and Trevor Hoffman would enjoy another shot at the Yankees after they were dismantled in 1998, and the Pads could also avenge their 1984 loss to the Tigers. Then there are the bizarre or yawn-inducing pairings, like Twins-Padres, which Fox would not be very happy about.

One thing I know--I will be totally sick of the same commercials and promos running endlessly on all the Fox broadcasts. But at least, for the first time since 1990, I will not have to endure the onerous chant of the Brave fans and their tomahawk chops. For that, all of America, as well as all the Native Americans, can be grateful.