Playoffs 2009

The baseball playoffs start today, and the Yankees are largely believed to be the favorites to win. Which is all well and good, but they've also been the favorites to win a few other times this decade, and didn't even get out of the first round. So I'll put that aside and just provide you with my predictions.

National League Division Series (best of 5)
Cardinals vs. Dodgers - Cardinals in 4. The Cards have 2 of the top 3 pitchers in the National League, and with the Dodgers' struggles over the past 2-3 weeks, it's a formula that does not look good for the Boys in Blue. Oh, and the Cards have Albert Pujols.
Rockies vs. Phillies - Phillies in 5. The Rockies have been playing very well in recent weeks, but the Phillies are defending champs and have home field advantage, not to mention a stronger lineup and deeper pitching.

American League Division Series (best of 5)
Red Sox vs. Angels - Red Sox in 4. As much as I want to see the Red Sox lose, they just seem to have the Angels' number. It helps that they have such solid starting pitching and the Angels' pitching is pretty inconsistent.
Twins vs. Yankees - Yankees in 4. The Yankees won all seven games the teams played this year. I think I'm being generous by giving the Twins at least one game in the series. The Twins have been hot lately (which scares me), but the Yanks are clearly the better team.

National League Championship Series (best of 7)
Cardinals vs. Phillies - Cardinals in 6. Again I refer to the tremendous starting pitching that the Cardinals have. I think they'll be able to neutralize the Phillies' lineup just enough to advance. Oh, and the Cards have Albert Pujols.

American League Championship Series (best of 7)
Red Sox vs. Yankees - Yankees in 7. Oh boy, here we go again with this match-up. It's been an interesting season with these two teams head-to-head. The first eight games they played were all won by the Red Sox. Then the Yankees won 9 of the last 10 games they played during the second half of the season. The Red Sox pitching is slightly better, but the Yankees' lineup is notably stronger. Usually in the postseason you favor pitching over hitting, but the Yankees have been on a roll since the All-Star break, and I think they'll be able to eke out a series victory by riding that momentum. It should be another epic battle.

World Series (best of 7)
Cardinals vs. Yankees - Yankees in 7. A baseball traditionalist's dream Series. OK, OK, I know maybe I'm a bit biased here, but when you compare the lineups from both teams, you can only put two guys on the Cardinals (Matt Holliday and that Pujols guy) in the Yankees' lineup. The rest of the Cards are mostly made up of complimentary players who would be back-ups on the Yankees' roster. They play solid defense and manage to hit somewhere around .275 and hit a handful of homeruns. I will concede, of course, that the Cards won the World Series 3 years ago with a very similar looking lineup, so their success is certainly not out of the question. Plus, they still have that great pitching. However I will say that if you put the best National League pitchers in the American League (inarguably the more talented league in recent years), they probably wouldn't be quite as dominating. But don't get me wrong - they'll win some ballgames during this Series, but I don't think enough to take home that trophy from Mr. Selig. I think The Boss (Steinbrenner, not Springsteen) will be one happy guy once again and bring back the Yankees' 27th World Championship.