Baseball Postseason Chat

DISCLAIMER: ***LONG READ***

This is a chat between myself and Josh that took place 8 days ago. We appoligize for the delay in posting this (seeing that the first round of the playoffs is almost over), but better late than never, right? I PROMISE none of this has been edited at all since the conversation. All these predictions took place before the playoffs began. Enjoy! And let us know what your predictions are for the rest of the way!

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Lee: no doubt, so baseball, we have the rays winning the east, the yanks with the wild card twins win the central and the rangers win the west

Josh: wow

Lee: yanks at twins in the first round

Josh: lots of champagne going on

Lee: gotta say, the yanks seem to be kryptonite to the twins and as much as I would have loved to win the division, I’m happy to hopefully get the better of the two first round match ups

Josh: me too, Rangers are scary. the yanks pitching is the wrong kind of scary. I wonder if Rays fans will buy tickets to the playoffs , or just wait to get free ones from the team

Lee: hahaha the rays attendance is certainly laughable

Josh: Kryptonite sounds about right, let's hope it continues in there weird new outdoor stadium

Lee: unfortunately, you are correct bout the Yankees rotation, which is also somewhat laughable past CC

Josh: yeah really, what happened?

Lee: no idea, it completely fell apart. Pettitte got hurt, so that's obvious

Josh: and AJ punched a wall

Lee: not really quite sure what happened with hughes, he was killin it, then the next second, getting killed… AJ needs to punch himself

Josh: with a pie

Lee: no, with his fist

Josh: haha

Lee: the pie is only for happy occasions, he needs a big win before he can get the pie to the face

Josh: So we both like the Yanks over the Twins? I think that sounds about right

Lee: I do, and I'm really trying not to be a "homer" so let's just look at this
game 1 CC vs. Liriano - probably will be a tight game

Josh: right

Lee: but the Yanks lineup 1-9 gets the edge here i think

Josh: I agree. A-rod loved playin in min last year. But no damon, granderslam though

Lee: granderson has been amazing in the second half compared to the first half

Josh: def

Lee: i'd be interested to see what that split is

Josh: good point

Lee: granderson hit .240 before the allstar break and .254 after, so pretty close
but he had 7 homers and 24 rbis pre break, and 17 homers and 43 rbis post break
so much better

Josh: wow he got a free ride, if that was a-rod it would be nuts, people would go nuts

Lee: clearly, because Granderson didn't have the same expections as A-rod

Josh: Who do you like in rays - rangers?

Lee: Again very tough. Anyone facing cliff lee twice in a 5 game series is at a disadvantage

Josh: yeah i like texas

Lee: however, the rangers don't have any proven post season starters past Lee, and the rays will no doubt be going with Garza, Price, and, i guess shields. neimann and davis have been up and down
do we know if hamilton is back?

Josh: i don't know

Lee: he is. So the Rangers have the bat advantage, rays pitching advantage, but the Rangers also have Lee twice. I like the Rangers

Josh: yeah rangers - yanks = wow

Lee: Hopefully no repeat of Hamilton teeing off in the new stadium like he did at the old one in the home run derby

Josh: yeah really apparently all we have to do to take care of hamilton is send a fly ball to the back wall!
So to the NL, Cinci – Philly, Philly looks great this season

Lee: philly does look great… halladay-hamels-oswalt is going to be a ridiculous rotation to have to face in the post season

Josh: yeah that's crazy

Lee: as great as cincy has been this year, i really think they get swept in the first round
you heard me, I AM PREDICTING A PHILLY SWEEP in the first round
sad but true

Josh: i agree

Lee: big props to cincy for what they have done this year

Josh: they were nasty

Lee: but they're just not built to bang with the philly's in a 5 game series

Josh: not at all. atl - sf should be exciting

Lee: i think so. hudson and hanson vs lincecum and cain, those will be two amazing games right there
IF those are the game 1 and 2 starters, not sure how their rotations were set up towards the end. I know the giants didn't have the luxury of resting guys because they were fighting for a spot right up till the bitter end, but let me double check. Yes, giants will be lincicum and cain 1 & 2. hudson pitched today for atlanta so he won't pitch game one. I guess either Lowe or Hanson. Either way, again, with the pitching I like Lincecum and Cain in a short 5 game series hard

Josh: I'd agree with that, but I think it is the tightest series

Lee: disagree, i think the rays/rangers will be tight. Actually, i think both AL matchups have a chance to go to 5 games, but phillies sweep

Josh: wow, that would be nuts

Lee: and giants in 4

Josh: so yanks - rangers? who do you like there? I'd want to say that the Yanks experience from last year gives them an edge, 7 games, 2 CC - 2 Lee should be a show

Lee: i hate this, i really do. I am the biggest Yankee fan you will ever meet, but I can't in my right mind "pick" them to win this series the way they have played and pitched the last month. I'm taking the Rangers in 6 and banging my head against the wall for even saying such a thing

Josh: ha so Phi - Sf

Lee: yiikes

Josh: I'd have to say I like a SF upset

Lee: possibly the best postseason pitching matchups we will have seen in a long LONG time....

Josh: right

Lee: not taking anything away from pitchers like CC, Lee, Price, Garza, and others who have had some insane pitching matchups in the post season over the last 2 years, but over all, THIS is the series

Josh: I agree

Lee: the phillies have 3 legit aces, and the giants have 2

Josh: I don't always look forward to non yankee playoff games , but that will def b a series worth watching every game

Lee: absolutely. god, that series is going to mostly be low scoring pitching matchups
I'm going to go with the Phillies in 6 though, The Giants will win at least one of Lincecum and Cain's starts but the phillies will tee off on Sanchez and Zito

Josh: I think the Giants find a way to win, I like their energy

Lee: they are young and scrappy, but the Phillies have by far the more experience

Josh: true

Lee: been to the WS each of the last two years, I don't think anyone is going to stop them from making it back to the promised land for the 3rd year in a row

Josh: so you have rangers - Philly

Lee: I do

Josh: who wins this?

Lee: Philly

Josh: wow

Lee: In 5

Josh: I have the yanks – Giants, old school

Lee: Maybe I am blinded by the sexiness of Halladay-Oswalt-Hamels, we haven't seen a 3-some like that since Zito-Hudson-Mulder. Sadly... Zito-Hudson-Mulder I don't believe won any WS's
.........

Josh: haha

Lee: so who wins Yanks Giants?

Josh: I like the Yanks to win it all. I like their experience from last year, I think the pitching will balance out and the hitters come alive. they know they're built for this. the giants will be burned out from getting there

Lee: well here's the caveat, we know CC is going to be solid

Josh: and crack under the pressure

Lee: if Pettitte can refind his form after injury, Hughes can figure out what he's been missing since the first half of the season, and AJ can get his shit together somehow someway, the 4 of them can pitch with any rotation in baseball, even the big 3 of philly. so the Yankees are a huge wild card here. They just haven't been consistent enough for me to take them this postseason. I hope they win it all of course, and i'll be rooting for them, but I'm nowhere near as confident as I was last year
Josh: true. that covers everything except whether or not you like an extra wild card team in the future to play a 3 game series, people have been talking about this

Lee: well, i think that's a whole different topic for another day

Josh: aight

Lee: you heard it here first

Josh: haha, i guess we'll see how our picks hold up in the annual MLB postseason bracket pool on smackjabber's sister site Khaos337.com!