Rock-tober

On a night when, so far, the best team in the NFL went on the road to take on a tough opponent for what promised to be a high scoring game, it was baseball instead that took the center stage. San Diego at Colorado. 1 game. Winner take all. What ensued over the entire 4 hour 14 minute game, was pure magic.

At 162 games long, the baseball season is a marathon. Not only did the Padres and Rockies need another game, they needed an extra 4 innings on top of that. This is equivalent to a 26 mile marathon ending up in a photo finish. Unbelievable! After the Padres took the lead 8-6 in the top of the 13th, Trevor Hoffman (the all time save leader), comes into the game to nail it down. Even in Colorado, the final 3 outs seem like a formality at this point. At the time, I mentioned to my friend, "What a run Colorado made to end the season! They have a lot to be proud of...it should be a good year for them next year." After falling behind in the count, Matsui doubles. Nice start, but now Hoffman will focus. Again after falling behind, Tulowitzki doubles home Matsui. Holy @#%^! That happened fast. The Rockies are down by 1 with the tying run on 2nd, nobody out??! Immediately, Holliday triples off the right field wall. I can't believe what I'm seeing. After intentionally walking Helton, Jamey Carroll (a defensive replacement) lines to right. Racing home....Holliday dives into home and....safe???

I can't figure out the delayed call here. Why did this happen? Was this because the umpire was going to call him out if Barrett (cancer) would've come up with the ball? Did Holliday's hand touch home? The replay appears that Barrett blocked him off of the plate....so was this part of the delayed call? Regardless of what actually happened 2 things are obvious here:
1. The Rockies, deservedly, get a chance to take this improbable winning streak all the way. If the Cubs weren't involved, I'd definitely be pulling for them.
2. Baseball absolutely needs to incorporate some form of instant replay. For fun, assume that we can prove Holliday's hand never touched the plate. In this day and age, we are OK ending the Padres season like this? Not only is this extremely unfair to Padres fans, it potentially costs the team millions in revenue from hosting playoff games. Because baseball is still dictated by "purists" who are afraid of change, instant replay may still be a few years away....if ever. What is it going to take for this to change? Another blown call like Don Denkinger (1985 World Series)?? Hopefully this extremely close call at the plate will open up the debate in the offseason. If your team's season ended like the Padres just did, would you be bitter? You bet your ass I would be.

Enough ranting, let's make playoff predictions.

LA Angels vs. Boston
Before I talk about this...I just wanted to bring up my AL East prediction from June 17:
Prediction: The Yankees nearly nudge out Boston before the end of the season, but Boston hangs on and wins the division by 2 games.
Thank you.
I make no secret about it. My 2 favorite teams are the Cubs and the Angels. For those that haven't gotten to see the Angels play, you are missing out on a team that plays baseball the "old fashioned" way. In fact, they are the closest thing to some of the Cardinal teams of the 1980s that I've ever seen. Examples: Lots of speed (Coleman-Smith etc.) vs. (Figgins-Willits etc.), a lack of power hitting with 1 "real" power hitter (Jack Clark) vs. (Vladdy), solid starting pitching (Tudor-Cox-Forsch) vs. (Lackey-Escobar-Weaver)...and used to be Colon, dominant closers (Todd Worrell) vs. (K-Rod). Both teams played the game hard and focused on the fundamentals. That's baseball as I learned it. Boston, however, matches up very well against the Angels. If the Angels can't earn a split in Boston, this series is over. Since I have tickets to Games 3 and 4, I'm going to take the Red Sox in 5.

NY Yankees vs. Cleveland
Cleveland had an outstanding season. The team, somewhat quietly, rattled off this most wins in the league (with Boston). Solid starting pitching and timely hitting...it's hard to ask for more. Unfortunately, they went 0-6 against the Yanks this year. Although the postseason is completely different than the regular season, the Yankees have the talent and experience necessary to advance. Yanks in 4. We're lined up for yet another Red Sox-Yankees playoff clash. As much I want to see this not happen, it seems imminent.

Chicago Cubs vs. Arizona
Seriously, of all the teams in MLB to quietly be solid, the D-Backs take the cake. Leading the NL in wins, the D-Backs showed that outstanding pitching can take you to the postseason. Is their pitching good enough to take it one step further? I say no. Maybe I'm picking with my heart, but I could care less. The Cubs are solid. Zambrano, Lilly, Marquis are good enough to keep the Cubs in the game and offensively, the Cubs are good enough to outslug most opponents (excluding Philly and Colorado). In a very tough, and mostly low scoring series, I'm taking the Cubs in 4 games to tame the serpents.

Colorado vs. Philly
Wow! The 2 hottest teams in all of baseball in a showdown. This series should be outstanding. Can either team stop the other from scoring? Both teams are somewhat one-dimensional but the Phillies hit just a little bit better. The Rockies pitching , to offset some of the Phillies better hitting, is just a little bit better. Expect several 9-7, or similar, final scores. The Rockies have to be exhausted right? The best stretch run in recent memory can't keep it going....Philies in 4.

So there you have it. Boston-Yanks and Cubs-Phillies. Looking at the NL, I'd like to meet the person that would EVER think the D-Backs, Cubs, Rockies, and Phillies were going to represent the NL this year. In a strange year, I'm taking the Cubs coming out of this mess to square off against the Yanks. After that....who knows? At least maybe I can know that I've at least gotten to see the Cubbies play in the World Series before I die. Maybe it's a pipe dream? But who would've thought they would be in this position? All I know is:
1. The Mets blew a lead of historic proportions.
2. The Indians won the most games in MLB this year.
3. The Rockies won 14 of 15 and came back from down 2 runs in the bottom of the 13th against the most prolific closer in baseball history to make the playoffs.

If any of the above is possible, a Cubs World Series is definitely not out of the question.