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ltcoljohnbieker
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Name: John
Country: Canada
Gender: Male
Interests: New York Yankees and New York Giants.
Expertise: Amateur Analysis of Professional Sports.
Occupation: Student
Industry: Government
Message: message me
Member Since:
4/4/2003
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| Indianapolis vs. Kansas City (in progress) Indy 6-KC 0 Manning just got sacked at 1:56 left in the second half, and that is the second biggest play Kansas City has done this whole half, (biggest one would be Ty Law's pick). KC is holding well against Indy's offence, but the problem is that their offence is the ultimate definition of futility. Of yet, KC has yet to pick up a first down. Let me tell you something folks, you can't win a game without first downs. As I just heard on the TV, if KC can go into halftime just down by 9-0, (which, they will probably go in down 6-0, because Peyton just got picked off again), they have a good chance. However, they have to get their offence firing properly to pull off the upset. Final note about Peyton Manning: He will not be considered in my eyes as worthy of being considered in the same breath as Aikman, Favre, and Elway until he wins a Super Bowl. Dallas at Seattle (later today) While this game is a boon for my bosses, who are Cowboy and Seahawk fans at the same time, I am going to have to give my pick to Seattle for this game. While Seattle has not been as dominant this year as they were last year, and they are missing both of their starting cornerbacks, I think that Seattle has better weapons on offence than Dallas. Considering that Seattle has Alexander, who can win a game with a good performance independently, and Hasselback, who remember, dismantled my Giants in Week 3 without Alexander, I can't see Romo and T.O. beating them. Also consider that Dallas couldn't even take out Detroit to win their division. New York Jets at New England The Jets have surprised a lot of critics this year by making the playoffs this year, and their coach is being considered for NFL Coach of the Year. As well as the Jets are this season, Brady is so good in the playoffs that only a truly superior team to the Patriots will get me not to pick them. New York Giants at Philidelphia Everyone is picking Philidelphia for this matchup. Jeff Garcia has not only taken over the Philly offence from Donovan McNabb, but he seems to be running it better than McNabb. Garcia is playing like he did for the Calgary Stampeders up here in the CFL, (and yes, I am a big CFL fan, mainly because I can watch the dang CFL here in Canada). The Giants, on the other hand, "backed into" the playoffs, Eli Manning is not playing well, and people are saying the only reason why the Giants have made it into the playoffs this year is because Tiki Barber ran for over 200 yards last game. But folks, remember that the Giants were 6-2 in the first half of the season, where their only losses came to Indy and Seattle. They were also on a 5 game win streak before they played Chicago. As terrible as the Giants have looked in the second half of the season, they have shown that they are a playoff-worthy team at points this season. I wouldn't count them out just yet. | | |
| What the hell happened?
No, seriously... what the hell happened?
The Yanks are out in the ALDS for the second year in a row, after
winning their division. I would have thought that finishing 10
games up on their closest competition would have given them some
dominance in their first series, but, yet again, the Yankees were
bounced out of the playoffs by a team with a lower payroll, younger
stars, and, I think, more motivation to knock off the Yankees than the
Yankees had to get to the LCS. What must the Yankees do to get
back to the World Series?
1) Improve the pitching for the long-term
Notice how I said "long term". I am not talking about buying the
best free agent pitcher in this offseason and make him a Yankee, that
doesn't work, just look at the Blue Jays with A J Burnett and the
Yankees with Randy Johnson, (Johnson is still a good pitcher, but he is
suceptable to injury, which doesn't help anyone). What the
Yankees need to do is wrangle together a trade where they can get a
couple of young pitchers and let them develop into starters within the
Yankee organization, which brings me to...
2) Look within the organization, not at other teams
Look at the numbers for the hitters in the LDS, and two things will
jump off the screen (or page, if you are using paper). The talent
grown within the Yankee organization, as in, the lifelong Yankees,
produced in the LDS. Jeter and Posada hit .500. They
accounted for 45% of the Yankee hits in the series, 43% of the runs for
the Yanks, and, if you add in walks, Jorge and Derek accounted for 46%
of the Yankee men on base. These guys got it done in the LDS,
they hit, they got on base, they scored runs. Compare this number
to the guys brought into the organization in mid-career:
A-Rod: 1 hit, no walks, no runs, 4 strikeouts. (3% of hits, 2% of baserunners).
Sheffield: 1 hit, no walks, one run, 4 strikeouts. (3% of
hits again) (and I hate to do this to Sheffield, the guy is a good
player, but he was out all season, still, he isn't producing).
Giambi: 1 hit, 2 walks, one run, 2 RBI's, not the greatest, but we are getting better.
Damon: 4 hits, one walk, 3 runs and RBI's, he was getting on base sometimes, (12% of hits, 12% of baserunners)
I think you get what my point is. The biggest goose-eggs for the
Yankees were A-Rod and Sheffield, and to a lesser extent, Giambi.
The "hired mercenaries" failed us just like the hired German
mercenaries didn't detect Washington crossing the Delaware.
Final note: Abreu: 5 hits, 2 walks, 2 runs, 4 RBI's, (15%
of hits, 17% of baserunners), he did OK, not outstanding, but those
numbers show contribution, and Matsui: 4 hits, one run, no walks,
1 RBI, (12% of hits, 9% of baserunners), terrible numbers, but he did
miss most of the season with a broken wrist.
What I am trying to say is that it is time to show A-Rod the door...
quickly, and try to get 2 young pitching prospects for him. It is
also time for Sheffield to go, they might be able to get a relief
pitcher or a starter for him. Don't scrap Torre, he did a good
job this year, and keep Giambi, Damon, Abreu, and Matsui, especially
Matsui, he has shown what he can do when he is healthy.
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| Is it just me, or do the series with Wild Card teams seem to be more
entertaining and a closer matchup? Detroit and the Yankees
are 1-1 going to Detroit tomorrow, and the Mets and Dodgers, even
though that game hasn't started yet, was a close Game 1, (the Dodgers
had the tying run at second when the game ended). The Padres were
beaten again by the Cardinals today, and they didn't even get close to
tying that game. The Padres, even though they won their division,
and even though I expected them to beat the Cardinals, I never believed
that they were a better team than the Dodgers. I think the
Dodgers have a better chance at advancing than the Padres right now.
If Minny doesn't pick up the pace in Game 3 tomorrow, it will be a
shameful and unfortunate end to their season, and will be a huge morale
booster to Oakland, who will then have the confidence to knock off the
Tigers or the Yankees, whomever they would play.
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| Oakland 2, Twins 0: Even
though I picked Oakland to win this series, I didn't expect them
to have a stranglehold on the Twins. Oakland has suceeded by
having the two most important playoff game sucesses:
lights-out pitching and timely hitting. Not merely good hitting,
but hitting when you need it. Getting base hits when there are
people on. Oakland can ride their pitching arms all the way to the
World Series playing like this.
Cardinals 1, San Diego 0: This
won't last for the Cardinals. They got their hitting, and
Carpenter pitched well, but can they rely on the other 3
pitchers? No. Their W-L is atrocious, along with their
ERA. Couple that with Isringhausen, their closer, out for the
postseason, and the Cards ain't goin far.
Yankees 1, Tigers 0: What
did I tell you? Those Yankee hitters are that good. 6
straight hits and 5 straight runs in the 3rd inning last night, and
that was the ballgame. There has been only one pitching duo that
could probably shut down a Yankee team like that, it is Sandy Koufax
and Don Drysdale. The Tigers don't have a pitcher that could be
either man.
Mets vs Dodgers: The game
is going on as we speak, (1-0 Dodgers), but I just want to say about
that double play at the plate in the second inning for the Dodgers
wasn't as stupid of a play as it looked. Which catcher in their
right mind would expect the second base-runner to come in for a score
like that? That is why the play was a good call, because it had
the potential to make Lo Duca look foolish. It didn't work, but
it was aggressive, and the Dodgers need to be aggressive if they are
going to knock off the Mets.
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| Seeing as I wasn't so perfect on my predictions in my last post, (as
in, Toronto did finish second in the division, and the Padres won the
pennant, and the Phils didn't make it into the playoffs), the only
thing I can do now is... make more predictions! (Hopefully
I will be more on the mark this time.)
American League:
Yankees vs Tigers:
The Yankees topped the AL with a slightly better record than the other
3 playoff teams, (they won 4 more games than Oakland, the worst playoff
team). It is not a mismatch between the Tigers and the Yankees,
but I am still going to pick the Yankees to win in 4-5 games.
Why? Today, it was announced that A-Rod was going to bat sixth in
Game 1. That's right, the most expensive Yankee is batting
sixth. There is just no weakness in the Yankees batting
order. You start with Damon, who has a decent on base percentage
(.359) coupled with 25 steals, then you have Jeter, who lost the AL
batting title by 4 points, then Abreu, Sheffield (who still has amazing
power and bat speed), Giambi, A-Rod, Matsui, Posada, and batting 9th,
Cano, who, by the way, was one point behind Jeter in batting
average. The Yankees have the best team batting average in the
league, and the second best batting average in the league.
Detroit needs a much better pitching staff, and much better team play,
if they are to knock off the Yankees. The only way the Yankees
are going to be beat is if their pitching staff melts down.
Twins vs Athletics: The
Twins have both of their punches going well, they have good hitting and
good pitching, beginning with Johan Santana. The Athletics are a
team built on good pitching, starting with Barry Zito. The one
chink in the Twins armor, however, is that their starting pitching
behind Santana has not been that impressive, with 12, 12, and 11 wins
respectively. Oakland doesn't have a 19 game winner, but they do
have two 16 game winners. Pitching consistency is going to play a
big part in this series, and Oakland may just upset the Twins if their
starters deliver.
National League:
Mets vs Dodgers: Now, I love the Dodgers. They had
to put on an amazing run to jump into playoff contention, and also put
on another amazing run to ensure that they made the playoffs. The
addition of Greg Maddux helped them along the stretch, and will no
doubt help them in the playoffs. Statistically, there is not much
between these two teams, the Dodgers having a bit better batting
average, and the Mets having a bit better ERA. However, the Mets,
even without Pedro, are too deep to be knocked off by the
Dodgers. Much like the Yankees, their batting order is filled
with dangerous hitters. I will have to pick the Mets in 4-5 games
in this one.
Padres vs Cardinals: This
is not the same Cardinal team of last year, and it is not the same
Padre team of last year. The Cardinals barely made it into the
playoffs in one of the weakest divisions in the league. The
Cardinals have Pujols... and that is about it. This Padre team is
too deep in pitching and batting to be beaten by the Cardinals.
Expect the Padres to advance in 3-4.
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