The TBB’s 2010 Playoff Picks

For last week’s blog, we showed you a pair of interviews that we conducted at 8/31’s Yankees/A’s game at Yankees Stadium and asked which interview you liked best. Of the 5 votes we received, 3 people chose Tracy and Cathy while 2 people picked The Family. We admit that this poll was pretty dull to begin with and since Tracy and Cathy didn’t win in a landslide, we have absolutely nothing witty to say about this. We apologize for being utterly humorless.

Fall is a beautiful time of year. The stifling heat and humidity recedes in favor of cool, crisp weather perfect for wearing just a sweater and a pair of boots. The leaves melt into brilliant colors of fire before fall from tree branches and carpeting the ground. Kids return to school on yellow buses, the glory of football begins, and October Baseball is upon us. With the post season mere weeks away, we’ve decided to bring to you our playoff picks. First, we’ll show you the current standings as of this morning and then we’ll break it down by Lisa’s picks for each Division, followed by Serena’s

Current Standings:
AL East:
Yankees
Rays (2.5 games back)

NL East:
Phillies
Braves (1 game back)
* Mets are 11.5 games back

AL Central:
Twins
White Sox (6 games back)

NL Central:
Reds
Cardinals (5 games back)

AL West:
Rangers
Athletics (7.5 games back)

NL West:
Padres
Giants (1 game back)

Lisa’s Post Season Contenders:
AL East:
I think that Tampa Bay will win the division and the Yankees will take the wild card. Had our ex boyfriend been pitching like a normal person and Andy Pettitte was healthy, I would’ve reversed it, but I believe that Tampa Bay has the better pitching.

NL East:
I am rooting for Atlanta. I like the team. Their pitching is strong and Tim Hudson is hot. I am hoping they can bring the title back for Bobby Cox in his last year. That would be real nice.

Phillies will wind up in the post season as the wild card…blahh booo hiss.

AL Central:
I am going with our M&M boys and the Twins.

NL Central:
I am going with St. Louis. I think they can make a comeback being only 5 games back from first place. They have strong bats and are always good contenders at the end of the year. I don’t see 5 games holding them back.

AL West:
I am going with Texas because I highly doubt Oakland will rise to the top and stage a comeback. It’s Oakland. Maybe Vin Mazzaro should consider coming to New York to be our new boyfriend.

NL West:
Going with Tiny Tim and the Giants. They have had a great year and their pitching has held up well. Their bats have been strong and they’ve been fighting the whole year with some come from behind wins.

Serena’s Post Season Contenders:
AL East:
I am 99.98% sure that the wild card is coming out of this division (like always). Despite the standings being extremely close, I think the Yankees are going to take it and leave the Rays with the wild card. My reasoning strictly has to do with offense. I feel that both teams have a concern regarding pitching. I am worried about the Yankees’ pitching rotation. For starters, AJ Burnett (and I swear, I’m not harping on him just to pick on him) gives me heart burn. When he’s good, the man’s good. But when he’s not? It’s like Joe Girardi rolled a pitching machine out to the mound to start the game. Second of all, I want Andy back! He’s like a familiar childhood blanket that you can’t sleep without. He finally had a rehab start in Trenton last night. He pitched pretty well, lasting 4 innings, striking out 4, and only allowing 2 hits, but I’m not comforted by this. I will only feel relief when he returns. Whenever the hell that is. For the Rays, after David Price and Matt Garza, they do not have anyone reliable to slide into the third slot. While Price and Garza are a nasty one-two punch, Price’s recent performance against the Red Sox proves that they’re not infallible. You can break them down. If Price and Garza both have uncanny performances, a series is toast and there may not be a man in the rotation to count on to at least salvage the last game of series. You cannot afford those types of mistakes this late in the year and in such a tight race.

Offense will be the game changer in the AL East. When you boil it down, the Yankees hit and the Rays don’t. They’re currently residing in the basement of the MLB pile in both team batting average and total hits.

NL East:
I think the NL wild card is coming out of the East as well. Both the Phillies and Braves have been extremely competitive and neither team seems to be budging an inch. However, I think experience gives the Phillies the edge as well as the division.

AL Central:
Twins all the way. I do not think that the White Sox are strong enough to climb themselves out of the 6-game hole that they’re in and the Twins aren’t weak enough to collapse that badly. Plus, my future second husband, Justin Morneau, is confident of a return to the lineup before the end of the season. He will be a vital asset to the Twins in the post season.

NL Central:
Reds. The Cardinals are a very good team, but the Reds have been hot all season. If this was any other year, I’d go with the Cardinals.

AL West:
The Rangers have been pummeling their competition. I will lick a garbage can in the Port Authority if the Athletics manage to magically overtake the Rangers and win the division. In fact, the Rangers have performed so well this season, that I’d go so far as to say that they’ll be representing the American League in the World Series this year.

NL West:
Even though the Padres are currently in first, I don’t see it lasting. I think the Giants’ momentum will surge them past the Padres. The Giants have won 8 of their last 11 games, while the Padres have been losing their grip on the situation, losing 11 of their last 14. The Giants handed Jon Garland his third straight loss and it’s the 13th straight game in which the Padres have only scored 4 runs or less. Combining the Padres’ inability to score runs and the Giants fierce pitching staff (Tiny Tim, Matt Cain, my future ex-husband), the Padres simply do not have the staying power to remain on top, let alone combat what the East has to offer in the wild card race.

Don’t agree with any of our statements? That’s cool. In fact, it wouldn’t shock us one bit. You can either post your choices to this blog or send us an Email. We can talk about it during next week’s posting

On to this week’s baseball notes. Sadly, there wasn’t much since today’s post basically covers baseball’s hot news. However, this little accomplishment is definitely celebratory worthy. Trevor Hoffman recorded his 600th career save on Tuesday in the Brewers’ 4-2 rout of the Cardinals. The only player in MLB history close to this statistic is the one and only Mariano Rivera with 555 saves. We think that this feat definitely deserves TBB Super Hero of the Week honors, so congratulations, Trevor. This Bud’s for you.

With tomorrow being the somber anniversary of September 11th, we want to express a note of thanks to the selfless police officers and fire fighters who risk their lives every day to make us safe, as well as to the men and women stationed overseas. We hope that you’re brought home soon and safely.

“This is the time to remember cos’ the post season does not last forever. These are the division titles they need to hold on to cos’ some teams won’t, although we’ll want them to. This is the time, but some leads are gonna change. Some teams have given us the best of them and now the rest of the teams need to win.”