Its playoff time

Well folks, Hockey season has started again... and still nobody cares. Instead people are getting excited to watch the battles of the division series in baseball where we have seen some dominant individual performances, some dominant team performances, and some poor managing that of course I will critique because I could clearly do a better job. Also I know what you are thinking, and no, hindsight is not 20-20 that has always been a rule amongst sports writers because when games end we get to pick the decision making apart as if we would have done better. So now I will implement that rule and give you a rundown of what I have thought about each series so far, starting in the American league with my Boston Red Sox

Red Sox v. Angels:
Game 1 certainly was a feel good game for any Red Sox fan that was particularly nervous about how are team was going to hold up after stumbling a little down the stretch of the regular season. Josh Beckett clearly put that uneasiness to rest with a dominanting performance. This is a guy who truly thrives off of adrenaline and it shows everytime he plays in big games. After a big strikeout he often comes off the mound and looks like someone infected with the rage from 28 days later, yelling and screaming and fist-pumping that puts John Papelbon to shame.

In this game it was different, he was completely in control of every single on of his pitches and you could just tell that the Angels, whose lineup looked like the Mariners lineup the night Clemens wiffed 20, had absolutely no chance at finding any rhythm against Beckett who didn't use a single fist pump or primal scream to vanquish the Halos. I will however withhold judgement because Dice K will be an adventure tonight, and Schilling is only beginning to get fully healthy, although I will still take Schilling over anyone in the playoffs outside of maybe Sabathia, Beckett and Webb. Other quick points.

• The one good thing about TBS playoffs is there is no more Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, who collectively are the bane of my existence.
• The Angels really need Juan Rivera, nobody named Maicer will ever strike fear in an opposing pitcher hitting 5th.
• The one thing I respect about the Yankees is their decision to not have the contrived publicity stunt that was a rally for the division playoffs. The Red Sox are like a media circus, the team, the ownnership and the fans need to act like they have been here before and go about their business the way New York does, its really pathetic.
• I will take a now healthy David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez and a throw in (maybe Mike Lowell) over any three hitters on any other post season team.

Yankees v. Indians:

I think it is a very bad sign for the Yankees that their most consistent starter got roughed up so badly in game 1. But I don't believe that Yankees fans have lost hope, first of all Lebron is rooting for them so he can always go off for like 65 points against Cleveland while Hideki Matusi stands around like Ilgauskas and A-Rod whines about not getting the ball enough like Drew Gooden. Also their lineup is frankly just too deadly to ever be counted out, especially against a team like Cleveland who doesn't have a single starter that has a lot of postseason experience.

I predict Carmona will be hit or miss tonight, he will either baffle the Yankees by keeping his sinker down in the strike zone and probably steal game 2 for the Indians because you know Petitte is too clutch to get rocked, or he will get shelled because of postseason jitters and the experienced Yankees hitters like Posada, and Jeter, and A-Rod will take advantage of that and send him to the showers early. The x factor tonight really is Carmona because Petitte is frankly just too solid to really get rocked and he will most likely set the bar around 3 or maybe 4 runs and it will be up to Carmona and whoever comes after him to keep the Yankees under that quota. Other thoughts;

• Can't you just picture Kenny Lofton and Paul Byrd taking full advantage of the fact that they are really the only two players who have substantial postseason experience. It must be like story time for Byrd and Lofton, "Yes guys we are washed up, but let me tell you a story about my 5.40 postseason ERA and how to accomplish something as incredible as that. Did you know Kenny used to be a feared lead off hitter who was a key cog in a number of post season teams when you guys still fought over who was the cooler the black power ranger or Leonardo from the ninja turtles?" They must relish it and bask in the spotlight, I mean Byrd got interviewed before Game 1 and he is likely to make no impact on the series whatsoever.
• You hear that coughing and choking sound, thats A-Rod struggling to force down an 0-2 with a runner left on base night. I still don't buy him as a scary postseason threat until he puts together a massive game like some of the ones he had in the regular season.
• Chien Ming Wang was followed by Russ Ohlendorf and Jose Veras, I can just see the "Spahn and Sain and Pray for Rain" rhyme now, "Ohlendorf and Veras, please Joba save us."
• Did I mention Kenny Lofton is 40 YEARS OLD!!! He must have his sights set on Julio Franco.

Rockies v. Phillies

I want to make it clear that I think if the Phillies were playing any other team in the NL playoffs right now they would have at least split the series and looked substantially better than they have against the Rockies. But the way the Rockies are playing right now they might as well be a Soviet Hockey team from the middle 70s, just a flat out buzz saw that is cutting down everything in their path. They are killing Philadelphia's pitching that looked so good down the stretch, and making Utley and Howard look silly up at the plate, although Howard has looked silly this season to the tune of 200 strikeouts.

Mark my words, the Rockies will sweep this series and I think they have a great chance of running the table on the Diamondbacks as well because right now their combination of timely hitting and solid but unspectacular pitching is a winning formula. They had 12 hits against the pitching of Philadelphia last night and probably could have had more if they weren't just trying to preserve the lead later in the game. Other notes;

• Troy Tulowitski is phenomenal, his stats may not measure to Ryan Braun's but he is far and away the NL Rookie of the Year, nobody that young and green should ever be as clutch as he has been. He is the remaking of Andruw Jones of the early 90s and 2000, he plays terrific defense and always has timely hits. If the Rockies are interested I hear Julio Lugo really likes the skiing in Vail, we can always trade?
• After all I just said about Tulowitski, Jimmy Rollins is the best shortstop in baseball right now and my vote for NL MVP no matter what Matt Holliday does the rest of the way. There is nobody more integral to the Phillies than Rollins and nothing illustrates that better than in the last regular season game him leading off with a single and stealing second and third. Matt Holliday just can't do that. Did I mention Rollins is going to be on Baseball Tonight once he retires, mark it down that is a sure thing.
• I mean Philly fans can always rely on the Flyers and the Eagles..........oooooh I love to rub it in.
• Breaking news! Willie Randolph has gained 10 pounds on beer and junk food alone watching this series.

Diamondbacks v. Cubs

Whether it be Bartman in 2003 or Zambrano coming out this year Cubs fans, and Red Sox fans also, love to find that one thing about a series they lost and point to it as the only reason they lost the series. Bartman didn't lose the series, the Cubs blew it, they pulled a Red Sox in 1986 except Bartman was a little less directly to blame that Bill Buckner was. This season I cannot say enough about how much of the wrong decision it was for Lou Piniella to take out Zambrano. I am pretty sure managers since Stengel has been quoted as saying "you take it one game at a time." and you play to win each and every day. That does not mean you take out your best starter in a 1-1 tie after 6 innings, if Zambrano really wants to win he will pitch again in Game 4 no matter how many pitches he threw. Piniella can stand by his decision but now he is in an 0-2 hole that he will almost likely not be able to climb out of. But hey, at least Zambrano is ready for game 4.

With all that being said it is not Piniella's decision that has cost the Cubs this series. Ted Lilly's 88 mile an hour chest high fastball to Chris Young is more directly at fault, and the fact that Soriano and Derek Lee, who were so pivotal for the Cubbies down the stretch, have mailed it in and gone a combined 4-27. When your best offense play of the postseason was a home run hit by Hernando de Soto, the influential and daring Spanish explorer and conquistador of the 15th century, you know you aren't producing.

• I am pretty sure Brandon Webb, Chien Ming Wang, and Carmona are all the same pitcher with different skins, kind of like a FaceOff Nicholas Cage type deal. They literally throw all the same pitches and get people out the same way, its really quite eerie.
• Will someone please tell me who Mark Reynolds, and Jeff Salazar and Chris Snyder are? Imagine if they win the World Series, they will set records for least number of people to care about a championship team. F.Y.I I am convince the fans in Phoenix are the nouveau Dodgers fans who are very passive and mild and love to wagon hop.
• Chris Young is going to be good once he learns to be a little more selective, and Stephen Drew is going to be as good if not better next year after the showing at the plate he has displayed in Games 1 and 2.
• Hey Cubs fans, there is always next year right? Isn't that what you guys always say? I am wrong, do I have it backwards?

I will most likely write again in the middle of the Championship series, I like being creative and writing mid series rather than summarizing the whole series. It allows me to make predictions and if they come true, I look smart.