You know that you spend too much time playing HBD when you're sitting at a wedding in Texas, and you're thinking less about the bride's tits (which were exquisite, fyi), and more about how your AA team is doing in the BPF world (they won the World Series, in case you were wondering) and how you hope domi's team blows it (which they did, in case you weren't paying attention). And then before you even unpack your bags after getting home, you focus on getting your minor leagues up to par, since they have been neglected for three or four days. I might need an intervention.
After a slight upset of #4 seed KC, Montreal got beat down in their series with New York, 3 games to 1. It did not start well for NY, as their starting pitcher got knocked out in the first game, as the Yanks lost to open the series. But they eventually got their shit together, winning three in a row, with the final two wins coming via some late-inning heroics. Also in the AL, Milwaukee put a hurting on Syracuse in the first two games, outscoring the ITK's 18-2. Syracuse tried to make it interesting with a bottom-of-the-9th win in game 3, but the Ueckers rattled off another 11 runs in game 4, putting a nail in 'Cuse's coffin.
With #1 playing #2, we should get a good series. New York's pitching and defense versus Milwaukee's high powered offense. Or is it Milwaukee's pitching and defense versus New York's high powered offense? I get that mixed up sometimes, since both squads were quite prolific in every facet of the game this season. Number two and number three in team ERA in the AL, numbers one and two in OPS, numbers one and three in HR's and RBI's, and numbers one and three in team fielding %, it's tough to tell these two teams apart. Maybe Milwaukee is a little bit younger. And this is their first playoff appearance, while New York has won their division 8 years in a row, and has two titles to their name. Wow, did that just sway my prediction? It might have. I was hoping to find out that maybe NY swept their season series against Milwaukee, but no, it was a wash, 5-5. I'll probably regret it, but I'm going to pick the kids. The young Milwaukee Uecker's are going to take the series in 6 games for their first ALCS.
Meanwhile, over in the NL, it appears that Jackson manhandled Jacksonville, winning their series 3-0. But it took a bottom-of-the-10th RBI to win game 1, and a 5-spot in the 9th inning to win game 3. Let's not talk about game 2. But the bookends of the series could have gone the other way. On the other side of the bracket was Indy versus Hartford, which turned into one hell of a series. All three of Indy's wins were in extra innings. Ouch. That's a punch in the gut if I've ever seen one.
So just like the AL, we get #1 versus #2. As noted in a previous blog, the NL was super close this season, and therefore the team stats were a bit more spread out. These two teams can't lay claim to the top spots in every category in the NL like their AL counterparts can, because there were a lot of good teams in the NL this season. So statistically, they don't look like the best of the best in the NL, but goddamn if they're not the top two teams in the league, and are going to put together a hell of a series. This is the third NLCS appearance for both Indy and Jackson. And I'm torn on who to pick. Jackson had a slight edge in the season series. Neither team is exceptionally old. Let's keep it consistent and go with the #2 seed over here also. But in seven games. Sorry to jinx you, Mr Gargle.
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