Detroit Tigers vs. Oakland Athletics in the American League,
New York Mets vs. St. Louis Cardinals in the National League.
I think these are going to be a couple of great series.
Detroit and Oakland feature some of the best young pitching in the AL, particularly Harden, Verlander, Bonderman, Street, and Zumaya, not to mention some quality veterans like Zito and Rogers. Neither offense is truly overwhelming, so the ALCS figures to be a low-scoring, hard fought series.
Some people find this sort of baseball "slow" or "boring," but in my opinion those people don't appreciate the confrontation between batter and pitcher. The pitcher has to avoid both the middle of the strikezone, where it's easiest for a batter to hit a pich, and throwing too many balls, which would result in too many walks. That means that a pitcher has to aim for the very edge of the strike zone, while changing speeds and locations from pitch to pitch to avoid becoming predictable. It's so tough to do that most hitters rely on pitchers making at least one mistake during the course of an at-bat, which is why it's such a thing of beauty to watch a pitcher on his game completely dismantle an opposing offense. The ALCS should be rich in this sort of play.
On the other side of things, the Mets vs. Cardinals NLCS looks like a high-scoring affair. The Mets have one of the most feared offenses in the major leagues, and the Cardinals have possibly the greatest hitter of the generation, Albert Pujols, anchoring an above-average offense. Neither team has an outstanding pitching staff, the Cardinals becoming very thin after their ace Chris Carpenter, and the Mets losing Pedro Martinez to injury just before the playoffs began. Fans of all sorts of offense, from the home run (Albert Pujols, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado) to the bunt and stolen base (Jose Reyes, David Eckstein) should be well pleased.
I think both these series will be hotly contested and well-played. But personally, I think the Tigers will win it all in six or seven games to the New York Mets in the World Series. 2006 has been a great year for baseball!
New York Mets vs. St. Louis Cardinals in the National League.
I think these are going to be a couple of great series.
Detroit and Oakland feature some of the best young pitching in the AL, particularly Harden, Verlander, Bonderman, Street, and Zumaya, not to mention some quality veterans like Zito and Rogers. Neither offense is truly overwhelming, so the ALCS figures to be a low-scoring, hard fought series.
Some people find this sort of baseball "slow" or "boring," but in my opinion those people don't appreciate the confrontation between batter and pitcher. The pitcher has to avoid both the middle of the strikezone, where it's easiest for a batter to hit a pich, and throwing too many balls, which would result in too many walks. That means that a pitcher has to aim for the very edge of the strike zone, while changing speeds and locations from pitch to pitch to avoid becoming predictable. It's so tough to do that most hitters rely on pitchers making at least one mistake during the course of an at-bat, which is why it's such a thing of beauty to watch a pitcher on his game completely dismantle an opposing offense. The ALCS should be rich in this sort of play.
On the other side of things, the Mets vs. Cardinals NLCS looks like a high-scoring affair. The Mets have one of the most feared offenses in the major leagues, and the Cardinals have possibly the greatest hitter of the generation, Albert Pujols, anchoring an above-average offense. Neither team has an outstanding pitching staff, the Cardinals becoming very thin after their ace Chris Carpenter, and the Mets losing Pedro Martinez to injury just before the playoffs began. Fans of all sorts of offense, from the home run (Albert Pujols, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado) to the bunt and stolen base (Jose Reyes, David Eckstein) should be well pleased.
I think both these series will be hotly contested and well-played. But personally, I think the Tigers will win it all in six or seven games to the New York Mets in the World Series. 2006 has been a great year for baseball!
