AL/NLCS Recaps

I just got back from a Writing Competence Exam that I'm required to take in order to graduate college. You pick one of 10 questions presented to you. I chose the question asking if, since the two teams with the best record in the AL were eliminated in the first round, should we increase the series to a seven-game format from the current five-game format? Let's get something straight - these ten questions were all current event questions to be answered in typical, five-page, persuasive format. There were questions asking about the college's upcoming "Coming Out" week. There was a question asking about Congressman Foley's "deplorable" behavior. Questions of great and worldly importance. And a question about baseball. Well, I think I passed.

Now, look where we are? The Tigers have a 3-0 series lead on an Oakland team that I berated SI for rating as the "2nd best" in all of baseball. Looks like they weren't that far off the mark. Actually, Oakland beat the Twins because, in the all-important Game 3, the Twins sent out tough guy Brad Radke. When your very existence in the postseason is on the line, you don't send out a guy with so many physical problems that, less than halfway through the season, he says "screw it, I'm retiring after this." If he's you're Game 3 stopper, you have no business in the postseason anyway. Taking one step back, the A's made it into the playoffs because, heck, they're in the AL West. If you can take out the pitching-deprived Rangers, the talent-deprived Mariners, and the offensively-deprived Angels, you win. And I know the A's finished with 93 wins, and the Angels with 89. Toronto had 87 wins in a heck of a lot tougher division. If Toronto had played say, eight games, against the Mariners instead of the Yankees, they might have 95 wins. But good job Oakland, I'm sure it means a lot to you guys, even after you get your brains beat in by a very good Tigers team.

This Detroit team is, quite simply, a team that is not going to be beaten right now. This is the kind of team that I play in MVP Baseball 2004, and they make every play. The pitcher will spot every pitch on the corner. The outfielders catch up to every ball. It's like the team is playing on god mode. Now, I'm not saying that the Tigers aren't a good team. They're great. But they're also hot right now, and the postseason is the right time to get hot.

Now, who saw last night's Game 2 of the NLCS? First, let it be known that, in every conceivable way, the NL is a wreck of a league. I simply cannot find the entertainment in any NL Game. There's something about it that just is not exciting. I know it's crazy, but I feel like the parks are darker, the players are more formal, and the excitement level just isn't there. I feel like I'm watching a golf match. (Is it called a match?) I don't expect anything exciting to happen. But when I watch an AL game, I never know what to expect. It's like getting together the 2004-2005 Pacers team; some idiot is going to throw a punch, or fire a gun, or scream at Rick, or freak out at the media. You don't know what will happen, but you know it will be big. In the AL, we have all the drama of Kenny Rogers and the Tiger's bullpen limiting the A's to two hits to go up 3-0 on them and on the brink of a World Series. Meanwhile, in the NL, we have Chris Carpenter pitching as well as John Maine; actually, worse, but only because he was in for one more inning. And then we have a tie game, broken up when the great So Taguchi - who didn't even start - hits a home run. The Cardinals score twice more, and the Mets respond -- as their own stadium empties -- by striking out, and then grounding out twice more to end the game. Fabulous. Did you actually listen to So's Home Run? It was morbid. Shea was silent. The announcers were mildly excited. Now the series is tied 1-1, while the Tigers are about to enter the World Series. It's just boring. However, I won't deny the fact that, since the only NL team I even come close to caring about is the Cardinals, maybe I just don't like it because I don't follow it. Oh yeah, and because every team is awful.

So where do we go from here? Is a well-rested Tiger team better off than a down-trodden, pitching deprived Cardinals or Mets team? The writing is on the wall, people. I just have one question - when is the parade? *Edit, 11-16-08: Opps.