2014 League Championship Series Predictions: The feel good stories and the same old stories

After another abysmal round for me, I am now one for six in picking winners this postseason. At this point, I would almost be better served just pasting the predictions I made before the season began even though most of those teams have been eliminated.

This will be a somewhat strange rooting interest for myself (and a lot of fans) as it relates to this pair of series. Over in the American League, we have two relatively likable squads from cities that are three decades (or more) removed from their last World Series appearances.

And in the National League, we have the same two teams that have alternated as pennant winners for the past four years. 

So we're left with a feeling of "Finally!" for one series and "Again?" for the other. It's already pretty clear which league I will be pulling for when we're down to the last two teams, but there's certainly reason to believe that we'll at least get two competitive series over the next week or so.

And having said that, now watch us get two sweeps.

San Francisco Giants over St. Louis Cardinals in seven games

Ever since they walked into Pittsburgh and quickly silenced those fans, I've been pretty convinced that we're about to see another parade in San Francisco this fall. The fact that St. Louis has home field here almost works in the Giants' favor, as San Fran has now won seven playoff series in a row and six straight Game 1s on the road. Credit to the Cards for finding a way to beat the game's regular season best pitcher in the last round, twice, but I simply think the Giants will ultimately win what will probably be a very closely played, well-managed series.

Baltimore Orioles over Kansas City Royals in six games

Speaking of well-managed, I couldn't have been more wrong about Ned Yost getting out-managed last series. The Royals continue to defy expectations, and oh, how glorious it would be to see that scrappy little club make it all the way to the Fall Classic. However, the Orioles have succeeded all year long with little respect the entire way. Baltimore ran away with an American League East few expected them to win, they've got more power than Kansas City, and the bullpen could rival that of the Royals. I'll probably be pulling for K.C., but I've got no complaints if I'm right that the O's end up finally getting Buck Showalter to the World Series.