October is finally here. This means baseball season is drawing to a close. This is a great time of year when baseball and football seasons overlap.
The playoffs are underway with the Colorado Rockies defeating the Philadelphia Phillies earlier Wednesday. The second game is the Red Sox versus the L.A. Angels.
The Red Sox are coming back into the post season after winning the 2004 World Series and the division title since 1995. With a powerful lineup the Sox can put up some big numbers, yet they also wait out a pitcher and get the best pitch. Beckett gets to start against Lackey.
The Sox are without the knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield who is out with an injury. He provides an interesting change in pitching styles.
The Angels have a few good hitters with Vladimir Gurerro and Garret Anderson leading the way. But, they will have Boston’s great defense to deal with.
As I sit here and watch the Angels at bat, they don’t waste any pitches. They go down swinging.
The second part of the playoffs starts tomorrow with the New York Yankees taking on the Cleveland Indians as the first game, then the Cubs take on the Diamondbacks for the nightcap.
The Yankees were denied the division this year and ended the regular season on a very good note. They got a close as they could get.
This was because Boston didn’t capitalize on certain situations and keep the big lead. The Yankees have the most expensive lineup in the majors, but their players don’t seem to be healthy.
The Indians have a great pitcher in C.C. Sabathia. He is to me like Pedro Martinez when he was at Boston. This game will pit Chien-Ming Wang against Sabathia.
This looks like it will be a very low scoring game on paper. This depends on how each pitcher is feeling and if their pitches are right where they need to be.
The Cubs are back – 99 years of no post seasons and finally a post-season berth with a division title. This is exciting for the baseball world. Unfortunately, they have to play the Diamondbacks.
The Cubs have battled their way into post season despite many ejections of Lou Piniella. The match-up looks good as they have Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly.
They will have to go against Ryan Webb of the Diamondbacks who has a 3.01 ERA. The players for the Cubs are really recognizable.
Everyone has heard of Derek Lee, Alfonso Soriano and many others. This could give the advantage to the Cubs, yet the D-backs may have more endurance with their youth.
The Diamondbacks come in as underdogs. They seemed to slide through their season and collect 90 wins along the way. The fact that they are underdogs to the Cubs is amazing.
The Cubs won their division, but seem to lack experience in the post-season department. The D-backs come in with a lot of youth.
These should be interesting games to watch, as the teams are very close in numbers and could provide some exciting plays. All games are being televised on TBS.

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