Werth the Wait

It's hard to pay full attention to what's going on in baseball since the football season started, but on days not ending in -unday and -onday, it's still very possible. There's a lot of great baseball going on, and a lot of great baseball to be played.

In the American League, the Red Sox and Rays did what everyone knew would happen. The storyline of the entire postseason would suffer if these two teams weren't in the ALCS. There's been no bigger battle this year than Boston and Tampa Bay. Maybe it's magnified because I'm in Boston and I hear about it more, but the young guns taking on the old timers is the matchup I've wanted to see when it counts since July.

About a month ago, I thought that if the White Sox didn't make the playoffs, Carlos Quentin should be given the MVP. The award is meant to determine how valuable a player is to is team. How valuable are you if your team can't win without you? After Chicago's performance in the playoffs, I go back to that belief. Carlos Quentin was more valuable to his team than Pedroia to Boston, Pujols to St. Louis, or Ramirez to the Dodgers since his trade. Something about Quentin kept them winning, and I firmly believe had he been in the picture, it may be Chicago playing Boston this week. Scott sent me a text message saying it would have been a different story if Carlos was playing, and I don't see that as a fan upset at his team for losing. Carlos Quentin meant that much to the White Sox organization that they just couldn't rebound like they needed once he was out with an injury.

In the national league, the Phillies beat the Brewers, as expected. The Cubs swept the Dodgers, as expe....wtf? The Dodgers won? Don't they, um...suck? Yeah, I suppose they do, but that's the beauty of the playoffs. Records are erased. It doesn't matter how you made the playoffs, but once you're there, it's yours to win. The Giants proved that last season in the NFL, just as many teams have before. However, it's not gonna happen this time.

National League
Phillies over Dodgers in 6 games
I'm not going to make the same mistake the Cubs did and take Los Angeles lightly. Well, that wasn't there only mistake. They also made mistakes fielding, pitching, and putting any remote form of wood on the baseball. They shit the bed, if you will. The Phillies looked commanding against the Brewers, and a buddy of mine, Bob, who's from Jersey (but close enough to Philly that he's one of those people who associate themselves with the Illadelph instead of Jersey) has some serious faith in the Phils after their performance. To be a fan from Philadelphia and think that your team has a shot (the typical Philadelphia reaction is to groan, vomit, and then think of every worst case scenario possible) amazed me. During Brett Myers' smackdown of Sabathia and the beermakers in game 2, I pledged my allegiance to the Phillies to Bob. I stand by it. I won't sell the Dodgers short this time, but they'll certainly come out on top and end up in the World Series.

American League
(Not Devil) Rays over Red Sox in 7 games
This one's going to be close. It's really like calling heads, flipping a coin, and when it turns heads, act like you were right by anything more than pure luck. The Rays and Red Sox have battled it out all season, and the season series right now is 10-8 in favor of Tampa Bay. Clearly not a definitive advantage for the Rays. However, Tampa Bay has won 7 of the last 9, and doesn't look stoppable right now on momentum alone. Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli are healthy, David Price is up from the minors, and there are so many elements that Tampa Bay needed that seem to be working right now. Everything looks good for Tampa Bay, and they'll take this in front of what is likely to be their largest crowd to date.

Can you really disagree with these ladies? Try it. That's what I thought.

On a side note, my plan to turn the presidential debate into a drinking game tonight failed epically. The amount of times 'maverick' and 'change' were mentioned was somewhere around the amount of times the Cubs looked like a 97-64 team during their division series, and I am very, very sober right now.