The High Court

Deep Thinkers Only...

Dog Days Predictions

Aimless August Assumptions

 

 

As we turn the calendar from July to August, all baseball teams have played over 100 games, so we can start to see how the races will shape up for the final two months.  As the historian on the High Court bench, normally I prefer to look backwards into baseball history – but today I will gaze into the crystal ball and attempt to predict how some key issues will be resolved on the field.

 

AWARDS

                                                    American League                    National League

 

Cy Young Award                      Jon Garland, CHW                    Chris Carpenter, STL

                          (Runner-up)      Mariano Rivera, NYY              Chad Cordero, WAS

 

Most Valuable Player               Alex Rodriguez, NYY             Albert Pujols, STL

                          (Runner-up)      Manny Ramirez, BOS               Derrek Lee, CHC

 

Rookie of the Year                    Gustavo Chacin, TOR               Willy Tavares, HOU

                          (Runner-up)      Nick Swisher, OAK                  Brad Halsey, ARI

 

Manager of the Year                 Ozzie Guillen, CHW                 Bobby Cox, ATL
                          (Runner-up)      Ken Macha, OAK                     Phil Garner, HOU

 

 

PLAYOFF TEAMS

 

American League

Chicago White Sox (AL Central Champions)         100 wins

-ChiSox will coast to Central title without any sort of threat from the rest of the division.

Oakland Athletics (AL West Champions)                  93 wins

- A’s will catch and pass the Angels on their way to October glory.

New York Yankees (AL East Champions)                 90 wins

- Too many offensive weapons to be held down entirely by their poor starting pitching.

Boston Red Sox (Wild Card)                                        89 wins

- Inconsistent pitching hurts them, but they will be able to hold off Angels for the WC.

 

National League

St. Louis Cardinals (NL Central Champions)        103 wins

- As injured stars come back, they will solidify NL supremacy.

Atlanta Braves (NL East Champions)                        97 wins

- I may not know much, but I know that the Braves always win their division.

San Diego Padres (NL West Champions)                   83 wins

- Only because someone has to win the worst division baseball has seen in a decade.

Houston Astros (Wild Card)                                         92 wins

- Pitching will propel Astros to a rather easy Wild Card crown.

 

PLAYOFF RESULTS

 

ALDS

White Sox d. Red Sox                                     

Athletics d. Yankees  

*Ozzieball gets the White Sox past the defending champs as bullpen woes kill the BoSox chances of repeating.

*Moneyball finally gets past the Bombers.  Simply put, the A’s have a better team, especially pitching.

                           

NLDS

Cardinals d. Padres

Astros d. Braves

*Cards fly past the pathetic Padres in what will amount to tune-up for LaRussa’s boys.

*Clemens, Oswalt, Pettitte will be plenty to get Astros past a young Braves lineup.

 

ALCS

Athletics d. White Sox                       

*Oakland’s solid, if boring, offense will work its on-base magic and allow them to sneak out with a 7-game victory.

 

NLCS

Cardinals d. Astros

*Houston will take the Cards to 7 games again, but the Redbirds will have enough of an offensive advantage to advance.

 

WORLD SERIES

Cardinals d. Athletics

*Assuming Rolen and Walker are somewhere close to 100% physically, St. Louis will finally have the balance of pitching, defense and offense to get their first World Series title since 1982.

Tavares’ speed (27 SB) has injected a resurgent Astros offense with a bolt of energy.  That puts him on top of a thin NL rookie crop.

(mlb.com)

 

The hot-wired Guillen has molded Chicago in his image.  And the Sox are cruising to the AL central title.

(mlb.com)