World Series Preview

With the 2013 Wolrd Series beginning tomorrow between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals, lets take a preview of the series to come. Game 1 starters will be Wainwright for the Cards, who was dominant until his last outing versus the Dodgers, and Lester for the Red Sox. Both pitchers have been there and done that, so choosing which one will out-duel the other is really a toss up. I feel that the National League playoffs for the Cardinals were a lot more about pitching, both from their starters and bullpen. But, now in the World Series against the Red Sox good starting rotation the Cardinals will need to find a way to generate more offense. The Red Sox have faced great pitching throughout the American League playoffs so I feel that for them it will be about getting good outings from starting pitchers and bullpen. Just to throw out my personal opinion I believe the Red Sox will capture their 3rd World Series title in 9 years. I think the series will last 6 games with Boston ultimately winning in Fenway. I am going to take David Ortiz as my 2013 World Series MVP, who is in the top 10 all-time for career postseason homeruns.

Mid-Season NFL Review

Next week in the NFL marks Week 8 of the season. This means that already the NFL season is half-way over. With that in mind lets take a look at some of the bigger topics from the first half of 2013:

• Strong/Weak Divisions Flip-Flop
• This season has shown that usual tough divisions (AFC North, NFC North, NFC East, NFC South) are just not living up too standards this year. A lot of hype was thrown into the NFC South with the Falcons coming off of a strong playoff push, the Saints regaining their head coach, and Cam Newton and the Panthers having one more year of experience under their belt. However, this division has a miserable combined record of 8 wins and 13 losses. Along the lines of unexpected divisional results there have been several overachieving divisions as well this year. The AFC and NFC West this year have both out played their previous expectations. Both divisons did have heavyweights coming in (Broncos, 49ers, Seahawks) but it has been teams such as the undefeated Chiefs, the Chargers, and the Rams have all been playing pretty well thus far.

• Most/Least Impressive Teams
• The 2013 NFL season has not seen too many heavy favorites pull ahead of the pack, but I have noticed two teams, within the same division, that have impressed me so far. Clearly you know I am going to say the Denver Broncos. With Manning setting passing records early, the receivers and running backs playing well, and a defense improving every week the Broncos have looked as close to the most well-balanced as possible in the league. This is all being said even with the Broncos defense missing Champ Bailey and Von Miller, two defensive captains and all-NFL players. My least impressive team would have to be the Atlanta Falcons. Blame it on the injury bug for setting them back, but this team, fresh off an NFC Championship appearence, has just not played well. And I understand the need for a solid running back, but why take the risk on Jackson when he has a history of missing the majority of season with St. Louis. The Falcons are 1-4, buried third in the division behind the Panthers and Saints, and are showing no real substance on defense.

• Mid-season MVP
• Obviously I would not be considered a reliable football source unless I chose Peyton Manning as the mid-season MVP. However, I am gonna pick the MVP off who I think will win the award at the end of the season. My vote is going to go to Adrian Peterson, who had a crazy second half of the season last year.

~NLCS/ALCS~

Almost half way through the month of October and that means MLB playoffs are in full swing. So far my playoff predictions have been correct so far with the Dodgers, Cardinals, and Red Sox all wining thus far. Game 5 of the NLDS between the A's and Tigers is being played tonight, in which I have the A's winning the series. My prediction for the NLCS, between the Dodgers and Cardinals, is for St. Louis to win the series in 6 games. Coming off a dramatic series over the Pirates the Cardinals will be full of confidence, especially since they had struggled slightly against the Pirates all year. St. Lous pitching will continue to dominate with Wainwright and the other young pitching talent. Also, St. Louis' killer lineup, which is solid 1 through 8, will continue to hit the ball, even though they will face the likes of Kershaw and Greinke. One thing I look to be a decding factor in the series will be St. Louis' bullpen, which had its shakey moments against Pittsburgh. For the ALCS I have been having a little more trouble deciding a winner. Clearly Boston has been pretty dominant all year, including a severe hot streak toward the end of the season to take the AL East. However, it seems that this is yeat another year where Oakland gets into the playoffs flying under the radar, even thought they won the AL West. I really like Oakland's pitching rotation, mixed with some yound and old talent, as well as the deep lineup and bench that they use effectively each game. But, the Red Sox have been hitting the ball all over the field, and was even able to touch up David Price last series. The Red Sox throw out a veteran rotation with a lot of great stat lines. I am going to take Boston in this series in 5 games. I like Oakland and they are an up-and-coming team, but the Red Sox are the team to beat in the AL. I just cannot see the Athletics stringing enough hits together to beat Boston 4 times this series.