Baseball: First Round Playoff Predictions

Please don’t ask me to be arrogant enough to assume I know who’ll win the Series when there’s two rounds until we get there. If I had to pick a favorite, I’d say the LA Dodgers, but let’s take it 1 round at a time:

American League:
Chicago beats Tampa Bay 3-1

The Sox truly have the veteran team and the leadership to make it through the post-season.

Boston beats Los Angels of Anaheim 3-2:

My initial thought would be to favor the Angels. However, and this is totally a hunch, the Red Sox find themselves in an impossible position with Game 3 and question marks surrounding Josh Beckett, and a whole host of problems. It’s under these circumstances that champions shine.

National League

Los Angeles Dodgers defeat Chicago Cubs, 3-2

Sorry, David. Take the Dodgers strong second half, the presence of Joe Torre (four World Championship to Lou Pinella’s one), Manny Ramirez, and a strong 1-2 punch in Derrick Lowe and Chad Billingsley coupled with the Cubs’ hard luck in the post-season and I narrowly favor the Dodgers will win their first post-season series since 1988.

Phillies defeat Brewers, 3-1:

Welcome to the playoffs, Milwaukee. It’s great to have you. I’m genuinely thrilled for the folks in Milwaukee and CC Sabathia, whose clutch pitching makes him the best mid-season acquisition since the ‘84 Cubbies acquired Rick Sutcliffe. Still, I’d bet on the Phillies who have the last 2 MVPs on the team plus Chase Utley and Pat Burrell, plus ageless wonder Jamie Moyer,