Oh well, the Dodgers are behind 1-0 after a half-inning (what else is new?), and the Angels are up 8-2 after 7 1/2, so hopefully this ain't no jinx. Go So. Cal teams. We've never had a FREEWAY SERIES!!!

OK, the Angels are finally tied for first, but what about the Dodgers! The Dodgers implode in the 8th inning and give up three unearned runs to trail 4-0. Then, with one out in the bottom of the ninth, still behind by four, the Dodgers get four consecutive walks, a double and a single, and lights out, Dodgers win 5-4. Magic number is three. Bring on the GOOD teams!

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Originally posted by mark f:
Oh well, the Dodgers are behind 1-0 after a half-inning (what else is new?), and the Angels are up 8-2 after 7 1/2, so hopefully this ain't no jinx. Go So. Cal teams. We've never had a FREEWAY SERIES!!!

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Well, mark, you need to keep Milton from having any more meltdowns, lest he get suspended or (more likely) arrested! I won't be surprised to see the Angels overtake the struggling A's, but I also wouldn't be shocked to see the Giants make it close with the Dodgers.

My guess: Dodgers win the division, Giants win the wild card, setting up a Cards/Giants and Dodgers/Braves NLDS.

AL: Angels overtake A's, setting up a New York/Anaheim and Minnesota/BoSox first round. UNless the Angels can overtake the Twins for second-best record, which would make a Twins/Yanks first round...

I'm not actually that thrilled about today's turn of events, except that the Angels' magic number is four. As for the Dodgers, their magic number is two, and Bradley made what seemed to be a heartfelt apology. We need him back since Werth is a GREAT number two hitter but doesn't feel real comfy batting fifth or sixth. Later, Gators.

My Royals are a complete failure this year.

The Chiefs are looking to end up the same way.

Time for college basketball!

OK, I realize that this was against the Rockies, but the Dodgers tied their franchise record of 52 come-from-behind wins when David Ross homered in the bottom of the 11th inning. (Yes, the other team only played 154 games.) The magic number is one, so we need to win a game against the Giants this week to avoid playing them on Monday for a tie-breaker (I believe...I haven't subjected myself to all the potential scenarios yet, so why don't we just stomp them REAL GOOD tomorrow [OK, why don't we?].)

As far as the Angels, it all boils down to a best-of-three in Oakland. While everybody else is gearing up for next week or finding other things to do, we SoCal bb fans have an exciting weekend ahead. Best of luck to everyone, especially the Good Guys (Who??)

Kudos to Ichiro for breaking the Sisler record, even though he did it in more games than Sisler. He's a singles machine, and they way he can hit a pitch in any part of the plate is amazing. He's the Barry Bonds of singles.

The Angels are on a true roll...I won't be shocked to see them win today to finish this thing off.

The Giants and Dodgers may go down to the wire...I see the Dodgers winning today and leaving the drama for Sunday. The Astros home streak (16 in a row at home, I think) might push them into the playoffs. The Cubs looked terrible in yeasterday's game against Atlanta. They've got Wizard of Oz syndrome: no heart, no brains, no courage, and they really just want to get home.

Abolutely, props to Ichiro! There's an undercurrent of pundits who seem to be denigrating his achievement because he's a spray hitter, etc. My ass. What a remarkable season, and he's a class act. A true professional.

Now on to more pressing matters. HALOS!! I've been so locked into this darned team for the last month. Things are looking solid, and I just need one win in 2 days. How's about that Amezega last night??? Grand salami to put things out of reach??? I'm on cloud 9 right now. It's feelin' a lot like 2002 around here. If I were the Eastern Division giants, I'd be VERY afraid of the Twins (Santana) and the Angels (Bullpen & clutch hitting) right about now. And I'm a proponent of the theory that if you sew things up too early (Yankees), you lose that fire that's necessary to win a short series. We'll see. I have a strong feeling that the Western Division winner will be facing the Sox, which scares me, but by playing team ball and taking the extra base, the West should be able to knock off the station-to-station Sox.

Also, can you believe that the Halos & Dodgers have NEVER made the playoffs in the same season? If you're a long-suffering Halo fan like I am, it's not all THAT suprising -- Any fan can can count the playoff years on one hand (79, 82, 86, 02). I am pulling for the Dodgers for all my homies out here, but otherwise, I have no rooting interest in the Blue.

Enjoy the baseball weekend, folks.

CORRECTION - I forgot about 1982...Don Baylor style....

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Let me be the first to congratulate the cross-town Dodgers... amazing 9th inning comeback. After being totally exhausted cheering my Halos in their comeback victory over Oakland, I switch over to Fox & see the Dodgers win an emotional comeback. Great day for the city of Los Angeles.

And this is really perfect timing. I'm getting truly SICK of the election coverage, and it'll be nice to have some playoff games on to take me away from Hardball & the O'Reilly Factor....

I guess the Good Guys Did Win! Playoffs, anyone? It's too early to tell everyone who my dad really was! Shut up, mark.

A pretty exciting season's end, I must say. I really didn't think the Astros could pull it off, but they were aces down the stretch. And it's been shown that you can win a World Series with only two starters...see the 1987 Twins (Viola and Blyleven...then LES STRAKER!!!!)

mark...I'll see your good guys in person if the Cards/Dodgers series goes to five. I've got standing room tickets for Game 5.

I'm sorry, mark...I'm rooting for a Braves/Cards NLCS, if only because I have tickets for the 3rd NLCS game at Turner Field.

I see an Angels/Yankees NLCS, given the matchups. Unless Johan Santana can win 2 games in the NLDS, which isn't out of the question...

Yeah, right, pE, I really thought you were magically going to change from "never been a Dodger fan" to "Eat RED, BLUE crew!" I hope that if by some miracle my "dream team" wins and Atlanta does too, you'll at least root for the underdogs. Good luck to everybody this week and after.

Oh yeah, the Dodgers did have Belcher as the second starter in 1988, so maybe they won it that year with one (Hershiser.) If they win this year, they'll win it with NONE!

It was an exciting and unexpected end to the season.

The end for the Cubs came, I think, a week ago Saturday in New York when Hawkins blew a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth with two out and two strikes. The fact that he repeated the feat the final week against the Reds and they dropped two of those games in extra innings were just nails in the coffin.

Given the kind of grousing that's been going on in the clubhouse throughout the season, I can only imagine we'll see a very different lineup come spring 2005.

As remarkable as your Halos were, MGE, the real comeback kids have to be the Astros. I wrote them off when they fired Jimy Williams and with Pettite out for the season, I had them counted out for the season. Now, I'm a bit surprised to see the number of pundits that have them favored to advance to the series, but I'll be the first to admit, this Cards fan is looking over his shoulder a bit.

So, if I said before:

quote:

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Originally posted by LinnTate:
NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Card: Cubs

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Twins
AL West: Angels
AL Wild Card: Red Sox

NLDS: Braves @ Cardinals, Cubs @ Dodgers
ALDS: Twins @ Yankees, Red Sox @ Angels

NLCS: Dodgers @ Cardinals
ALCS: Angels @ Yankees

World Series: Cardinals @ Yankees (sorry, MGE)

Cards in seven.

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Then I guess I will modify to say:

NLDS: Dodgers @ Cardinals, Astros @ Braves
ALDS: Twins @ Yankees, Red Sox @ Angels

NLCS: Astros @ Cardinals
ALCS: Angels @ Yankees

World Series: Cardinals @ Yankees

Cards in seven.

Beyond the Cards, I have a soft spot in my heart for the west coast teams. The rivalry with the Astros and Braves runs too deep. I still think the Twinkies messed with the fans during our Series with them. I've never been a Sox fan, so I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon now. The Yankees? C'mon, on some level it's FUN to see them get beat up. That Indians win earlier in the season was just a darn good time.

Now Playing: NPR's All Things Considered

Yes, LT, your predictions were amazingly accurate, even if a few were givens. Just get ready for all those UNUSUAL things which happen in the playoffs. They tend to be much harder to predict than the regular season. Ergo, no predictions.....

This might be apples and oranges, but who has evidence that they picked the Pistons as World Champions?

I have been accused of betting the chalk on more than one occasion, mark. Most recently, when I was co-hosting a call-in sport talk show on a local radio station right before the NCAA basketball tournament. Of course, one of my accusers had Gonzaga going all the way, so...

Check out today's ESPN.com Page 2 for some good predictions for the post-season. My favorite, "Terry Francona will leave Pedro Martinez in too long. Or yank him too soon. Red Sox "Nation'' will decide afterward."

That's a prediction after my own heart.

Now Playing: Violin Concert in a, Op. 53 Antonin Dvorak (perf. Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchesta/Michael Hankinson feat. Philippe Graffin)

Those predictions are so good that I almost want to rebut most of them, but not here. One thing I will say is that Beltre (along with most Dodger batters) is in a horrible slump, but once again, I'll repeat that it's just so amazing how GOOD cold players break out of slumps and HOT teams can turn cold when the LIGHTS get a bit brighter. Draw no conclusions, since there aren't any...yet. (I'm mostly buttoning up, not to be a wimp, but to steer clear of any jinx.)

PS- I'd just as soon have the Dodgers play the best team first and in a short series.

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Originally posted by mark f:
Those predictions are so good that I almost want to rebut most of them, but not here. One thing I will say is that Beltre (along with most Dodger batters) is in a horrible slump, but once again, I'll repeat that it's just so amazing how GOOD cold players break out of slumps and HOT teams can turn cold when the LIGHTS get a bit brighter. Draw no conclusions, since there aren't any...yet. (I'm mostly buttoning up, not to be a wimp, but to steer clear of any jinx.)

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You're right about hot turning cold quickly, mark. All three of the Cards big hitters (Pujols, Rolen, and particularly Edmonds) have been in slumps at the end of the season, so we'll see what that does with Beltre in a slump.
But Edmonds is a career .500 hitter in the playoffs, I think, and Rolen has hit well when he's been able to play (thanks, Alex Cintron!), so I'm hopeful.

You guys are throwing Weaver and Perez twice in the first series, which is a pretty bold move. We're going with a four-man rotation...

Minnesota Twins all the way!!!!

New York Yankees BOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Freakin Figgins!!! Damn, baby! Field the damned ball and throw accurate, my man! That's all I ask... The Halos blew chunks today, but they'll be back tomorrow with Bart on the mound. Don't lose the faith!

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Originally posted by philosopherEric:


All three of the Cards big hitters (Pujols, Rolen, and particularly Edmonds) have been in slumps at the end of the season, so we'll see what that does with Beltre in a slump.
But Edmonds is a career .500 hitter in the playoffs, I think, and Rolen has hit well when he's been able to play (thanks, Alex Cintron!), so I'm hopeful.

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Looks like the slump is broken for Edmonds...the real surprise was Walker's two bombs!

I didn't know this until halfway through the game, but Pujols, Rolen, and Renteria were the top three batters against lefty pitching in the NL...sorry, Odalis!