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By uxley11, Section MLB
The past two weeks in baseball will be two weeks that I could hardly forget. I mean sure the American League playoff teams are set with the Yankees, Twins, Tigers, and A's making the post-season this year. But now it is the National League's turn as only one of the four playoffs spots have been secured. So as I speak six teams are fighting for three more spots in this years playoffs. And you better believe all six teams have as realistic a chance as the Mets to play baseball in October. So let's see the teams involved.
The Astros, who were expected to win the Wild Card, is the team that is most likely to catch the Cardinals. I am sure most of their fans would tell you that this has been an off year and suddenly someone lit a fire under their ass and they were able to make a great run winning nine straight and 9-1 in their last 10. But they play the pesky Braves and if they lose either of the next two and the Cardinals win one then they are out of playoff contention. The Astros had a fantastic run but winning so many games can catch up to you and I feel that it has. I look for the Stros to win today but lose in the finale tomorrow ending their playoff dreams and probably Roger Clemens career. The Cincinnati Reds. What can you say about the way they've played this season? Coming into the season they were projected to be fighting with their NL rivals, the Pittsburgh Pirates, for the NL Central doormat. But new General Manager, Wayne Krivsky, would hear nothing of it as he completely changed the team from joke to contender. In fact, Cincinnati led the wild card for ¾ of the season until a West Coast trip ended their hopes for that. But the Reds are now in prime position to take the NL Central crown from defending champion, St. Louis. The Reds are 2.5 back but they have the Pirates for the last two games. The reason the Reds are still in contention is because unlike the Reds and Astros the Cardinals have three games left because of a make-up between the Giants. I see the Reds on a four game winning streak to end the season but don't think the Cards will lose three straight. So my pick for the NL Central winner will be the Cardinals by one game. The NL West had been a great battle between every team in the division until the Padres and Dodgers separated themselves. The current leaders of the NL West are both the Dodgers and Padres because of a five game winning streak by the Dodgers. The Dodgers are scheduled to play two more against the Giants and the Padres are scheduled to play two against the D-backs. But according to the Dodgers and Grady Little all that matters is getting into the playoffs not winning the NL West to get in. The loser of the division will still go to the playoffs but it is a big difference play the Pedro-less Mets than the pitching strapped Cardinals, who have struggled the greater part of this season. The manager of the Dodgers, Grady Little, says that even if there is a tie going into Sunday for the division lead that Brad Penny will sit to be ready for Wednesday's opening playoff game against the Mets. I project the Dodgers to sweep their series and to win the division while the Padres will see the Mets on Wednesday. This is the reason we watch baseball because of the fact that it always is a fight to the finish. I won't lie I am a huge Reds fan and even if they don't make the playoffs I feel that they will be considered contenders next season for their division's crown. I watch a lot of baseball and I don't think anyone predicted St. Louis would blow such a huge lead away in such a short time. This is why we shouldn't write anyone off until the last pitch of the last game of the regular season. Because you never know what is going to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a three-team tie in the Central or a two-team tie in the West. I don't want to see teams win divisions by fifteen games. I want to see how teams play it out till the end. Because the teams right now are lucky. The winners have already played a little post-season baseball before the post-season starts. Got any ideas? I'd love to hear them. Send questions or comments to andrewuxley@insight.rr.com
Also, look out for my 2006 MLB Playoffs predicition column next week.
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