While I will certainly be pulling for these series to have outcomes that allow me to continue to have real, genuine rooting interests, I fully expect my favorite teams to be promptly eliminated. In truth, this might be a good thing since the wife and I will be in New England in a second attempt to have our honeymoon right around the time of our one-year anniversary. And also around the time of possible Game 7s of the ALCS and NLCS.
So yeah, at worst, I'm right on all counts and won't miss any games I care about. At best, the teams I like (namely a certain ball club from Atlanta) advance and my efforts to watch possible games in the next round while camped out in Maine could make for additional blogging material—when I have more time, of course (the transcribing needs to be done before we leave, so there).
I typically mention how these picks are being presented in descending order of confidence, but that isn't entirely accurate here. Rather, I'm just posting them in a somewhat random order. Feel free to draw your own conclusions, but I think you know why I'm saving a certain one for last.
Boston Red Sox over Tampa Bay Rays in four games
I suppose we might as well start with the one team that I completely missed the mark on this year. Like some people, I actually took a little bit of joy in dismissing Boston as a joke this year and relegating them to the cellar. Then, of course, they went on to finish with the best record in all of baseball. Excuse me while I wipe this egg from my face. Sure, it's tempting to think that the Sox would immediately sink the hearts in Beantown by getting bumped by Tampa, but I'm not counting on it. In case you weren't paying attention, nearly every role player added to the Boston roster has worked out better than expected, and the Red Sox have arguably the best closer in all of baseball in the bullpen coming off a historic season.
St. Louis Cardinals over Pittsburgh Pirates in five games
Oh, who doesn't want to see the remarkable Pirates comeback story keep going? Well, the spoiled fans in St. Louis. And the Cards have developed quite the reputation for quashing out dreams of cities in recent years, and I can't say that I don't see them doing it again this year. I've been burned picking against the Cardinals more than enough times now to stop doubting them, and the team has been just efficient this year. They defied my expectations in even making the playoffs and chances are that I will have a hard time picking against them the rest of the way. I will most certainly be rooting passionately for every Pirate who comes to the plate in this series, but it just feels like we're doomed to see Pittsburgh end up as the team that commits the crucial errors under the spotlight while St. Louis plays like the professionals. A couple more wild games at PNC should be a treat, but in the end, I cannot really count the Cards out until somebody has officially eliminated them.
Oakland represents yet another team that I completely underestimated—again. Like St. Louis, I almost always immediately dismiss their postseason chances, and unlike the Cards, that's usually been right in years past. This year, however, I believe that Billy Beane has actually put together a team that is designed to score specifically in their home park. Seeing as the A's own home field in this series, that's kind of critical. There's also the matter of the health of Miguel Cabrera that has to be of some concern to the Tigers. In all honesty, this would probably be the series that I am the least confident about because I could very easily see Oakland's bullpen not being able to close out a potent Detroit lineup and the Tigers starting rotation can't be dismissed either. Still, since my first instinct is to pick the Motor City, I'm going to instead go with the Athletics.
Los Angeles Dodgers over Atlanta Braves in four games
And last but not least, forgive me for going against my favorite team in all of MLB. My logic is that I always pick the Braves and always end up disappointed. Perhaps by picking against them, they'll surely prove me wrong. There's reasons to go with Hell-A, for sure. Namely one Clayton Kershaw and secondly one Zack Greinke. Considering the Braves' tendency to waver between offensive onslaughts and completely anemic absences of hitting and scoring, I'm not riding real high on my confidence there. The bullpen of the Dodgers is certainly suspect, but it could be hard for Atlanta to get to it. Believe me, if I only get one prediction wrong this round, I certainly hope it's this one. Still, I wanted the Braves to get home field precisely because I wanted them to avoid this very matchup. Instead, here we are, and I feel pretty far from optimistic.
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