2012 League Championship Series Predictions: Final Four of familiar faces

Unless you count the defending World Champion  Cardinals, most of the unlikeliest teams to make the playoffs this year saw their feelgood stories end in the Division Series. Considering that I bought into the whole charm of the surprising seasons of the Orioles, Athletics and Nationals, I was somewhat surprised that all three failed to advance. However, considering that all four Divisional Series went the maximum five games for the first time ever, I really can't complain. What we're left with offers some hope for continued great baseball, although I still doubt that I'll really have much of a team to feel genuinely happy for. You have the three teams that have won the last three World Series, leaving the Tigers as pretty much the only fanbase that's been deprived of recent success.

Maybe Detroit will invoke some more passionate enthusiasm from this particularly disappointed Braves fan in the next few weeks, but basically I'm presuming that it will not be so bad, after all, that I'm getting married the night of Game 3 of the World Series.

In my picks for the last round, I had the winner of one series correct, the predicted number of games in another series right, and was wrong about everything else. So, I am 2-4 on picking winners thus far in these playoffs, and I'm going to blame it always going with my rooting interest in these first two rounds. So this round, I've decided to go completely the opposite of that previous philosophy:

New York Yankees over Detroit Tigers in six games

It will be interesting to see which team takes advantage of the respective aces both being unable to start the opener. However, I'm guessing that Detroit's late arrival in the Bronx for tonight's Game 1 gives the Yankees an edge to start. I am tempted to believe that the Tigers have a better rotation beyond the Verlander-Sabathia headliner, but Detroit has also shown vulnerability with its bullpen. And there's still those lingering concerns about its fielding. I do think Detroit probably strikes me as the team I'd be personally rooting for the most right now (sure would make one co-worker pretty happy), but I have the sense that A-Rod snaps out of his slump at some point in this series and there's additional contributions for assorted the smaller-names making big impact.

St. Louis Cardinals over San Francisco Giants in seven games

At the beginning, I noted that St. Louis could certainly be considered one of the unlikeliest teams to be in the playoffs this year, but I have trouble referring to them as a "feelgood" vibe. Yes, it is truly remarkable what they have done one year after losing what is essentially the premier slugger in all of baseball; and it is equally astonishing that they have once again survived after twice being down to the team's final strike. Oh, believe me, I don't want to see St. Louis repeat again, but I refused to pick them all of last year, and it's finally time for me to jinx them by picking the Cards here. Rest assured, I would not be surprised if the Giants won the first three, held a 10-0 lead going in the ninth inning of Game 4 and St. Louis still came back to win. As a baseball fan, the dramatic comebacks the Cardinals have made these past two seasons will rank as some of the most unforgettable moments I've seen. It's somewhat comforting to know that Atlanta's more self-inflicted loss to St. Louis severely pales in comparison to what fans in Texas and now Washington have gone through. We can only imagine what's in store for San Fran.