This Year's MLB Playoffs

You might see the title of this post and think, why is there a post about the MLB playoffs in the middle of a series. Not at the end or the beginning of the playoffs or even at the end or beginning of a series. Well the reason I am writing this right now is because I feel that now is the best time to predict who will win each series and to talk about a lot of things that have happened so far and what I think will happen later on in this year's playoffs. The other reason is because I really didn't have anything else to write about. So lets get started.
Giants vs. Phillies
Coming into this series I liked both teams. I would have rather saw Atlanta be here, but I liked the Giants. I thought the Giants weren't good enough to stand up to this Philly team, but they proved me wrong. Throughout the whole series I had the Phillies as favorites and still do. I doubt whether or not that will actually happen, but the Phillies still have a chance and the next two games are at home. Both these teams are very good and will put up a strong fight whether they are playing the yankees or the Rangers. I'm still sticking with my guns and picking the Phillies, but the Giants might come along and ruin my whole day. And if they do, I think I would be fine with it.
Yankees vs. Rangers
First thing I'm going to say about this is that I am a Yankee hater. Just because I don't like the Yankees doesn't mean I don't think they are a good team and they will compete every single game, but I think the Rangers have the right weapons that will hurt the Yankees. They have the one pitcher that can actually handle the very strong Yankees line up. If the Rangers want to win they will need to have him go more than he did the last time in which he only went 6 innings. The Rangers don't have a great bullpen. But, if they can score off the Yankees pretty good in the first few innings and they won't have to face rivera in a win or not situation they will win tonight. No disrespect to the Yankees and how good of a team they are, but this year isn't the year, last year was. This year they won't win it all.

One final thought. I think the National League this year is very strong. Both the teams left in the American League just don't match up to the teams in the NL. So I think no matter what American team and no matter what National team. The National team will win series.

Trades

First I want to talk about the trades that have already happened. Like the Oswalt, Haren, and Jackson trades. Then I will talk about potential ones.
Okay first Dan Haren. I think that the Angels had to make a move because if they didn't everybody would think they were crazy. So they made a move and got a good pitcher. The person I thought was the best pitcher on the market this year. Then he got hurt. He will not miss any starts, but it just seemed fitting with the way the whole angels season is going. I thought that trade was very smart.
Then, the trade that Philly did to get Roy Oswalt. They pushed so hard for this pitcher. He isn't even, in my opinion, the best pitcher on the market this year. They could have done better, but they could have done worse. I think that Roy Oswalt and the fact that they went out and got somebody will help this team get to the playoffs. I don't think that they will win their division, but I think they will win the wild card.
Edwin Jackson is the trade that I am really confused about. First, why trade a pitcher for a pitcher that both are in the major leagues and about even. Then, your only going to have this pitcher for this year because next year Jake Peavy will be back. So you are spending more money now on this guy for only one year where he might not make a big difference.
Other smaller deals were like Tejada moving from the Orioles.

Now onto the trades that might or might not happen, but have not happened yet.
First, Adam Dunn. He has been the guy that people have been talking about. Everybody keeps saying that he is going to move no matter what. Where to is the big question. The favorite was the White Sox, but they bowed out. Now it could be the Yankees or the Rays. We all know that the Nationals want to trade him. The fact is that they want someone who is a really good prospect. That is why I think he will go to the Yankees, because the Rays aren't going to give up their prospects. Prospects is how they get better, not trading.
Then, there is talk about Lance Berkman possibly moving to the White Sox. There is one problem, getting Lance away from Houston is going to be hard. He loves playing there and doesn't want to leave. This makes sense and might be a huge difference maker for the white sox if they can get him. I'm about 20% sure that this trade will happen.
There was also talk about another Astros player leaving. This is Brett Meyers, but he won't be moving.

A-rod's chase for 600

So far A-rod's chase for his 600th home run hasn't really been publicized. Now its on ESPN.com, but only because he hit 599 last night. When Griffey was chasing it the last five was publicized. Is it because A-rod took steroids? I don't think so. I think that maybe if they don't over do this before its real news, then when it is real news they will over do it. I have been 50-50 with my opinion on A-rod for his whole career. Sometimes I like him and think that he has the potential to be a great. Then there are times when I hate him because he is a little overrated. I think that because this hasn't been very publicized it might get rid of a little bit of the opinion that A-rod is overrated. I really don't think that he is overrated anymore. Now we realize he is human because he did steroids. And now he is a better player because he has been able to finish in the playoffs. Last year was the first time A-rod actually played well in the playoffs and the end of the regular season. Now I think that A-rod has earned all the publicity he gets. I think that doing steroids might have been the best thing that happened to him. Let me explain. People got over the steroids thing pretty quickly because almost everybody else did it at that time. Now he doesn't get as much tv time. So people think a little better of him. Now he is better because he wants to prove himself without steroids. So now A-rod is a lot better and viewed better all basically because he did steroids.

Rivalries.

Recently I heard on the radio that someone said that rivalries are basically dead in professional sports now. I'm going to write this blog about my opinion on that statement.
First, they made a good point by saying that the big one everyone mentions is the Red Sox and the Yankees, but that's not a rivalry between the players, its more between the fans. I agree with that.
BUT, if I were a yankees player I would still want to beat the Red Sox because they are in my division and so I would hate their guts when on the field. I could still be their friend off the field, but when that game starts I want to beat them soo bad.
I do know of one rivalry that is still intact between the players and the coaches. The Bears and the Packers are huge. Coach Lovie Smith came in saying I am going to make sure that this team beats the packers. Thats what the fans wanted from a coach. The players when that kickoff happens hate the players on the other team. So rivalries are still true today. They may not be true in baseball or basketball, but in football the most physical sport there are still rivalries. They still want to hit each other as hard as they can because they hate the other team.

Steinbrenner. My opinion on him

Most of my dad's opinions have gotten stuck into my head and made into my own opinions. One of these opinions is the opinion that George Steinbrenner ruined professional sports. At first, it was just me agreeing with my dad, then I formed my own opinion on it. I found it true that he did sort of ruin sports. He made it so that teams try to buy championships. This made the fact that usually the team with the most money will win a championship. This is true for the Yankees 27 times. You might say to yourself, the Yankees are always the richest team and they don't always win, but they have the most. Nobody is even close to the Yankees. It's not because the Yankees have some magic power that they are the best all the time. The reason is they are willing to spend millions on players when spending hundred thousands was spending a lot. Of course the good players are going to go there. Now if you are a professional athlete if you don't get paid millions you are considered a 2nd or 3rd tier team. My dad told me this was because Steinbrenner spent a lot of money on players to get them to come to the Yankees. He put a little seed of hatred for the Yankees and Steinbrenner in my heart and since then it has grown from my brain. Now, I'm not saying that I'm glad the guy is dead. The damage is done, and it is sad for the Yankees to lose a person with such a big impact on their team. I don't wish any bad things on the family. He did do good things for the game, but he also ruined it. R.I.P George Steinbrenner

4th of July

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!! Today is the fourth of july and i thought that i would just write a blog about it. I thought I would just say. happy 4th. Nothin about sports today other then the fact that baseball is going on today. I saw the Yankees on TBS today. They just seem to be on any network they can get their hands on. This really annoys me. They should make each team equal. There are fans that want to see their team but all they see are the yankees. ESPN is like the yankees network. Baseball is a pretty big deal, though today. Today is independence day. Celebration of our nation. Did you like the rhyme? I know I am so creative.

Im BACKK

hey to the five people that have ever read this. I'm sorry for not posting anything lately. I kinda get side tracked and I'm just an amateur blogger. I'm sorry but, lets get on to the good stuff.

yankees won the world series. they had an amazing parade and the people of new york loved it. Derek Jeter and many others spoke. I personally did not like the parade because i was rooting for the Phillies to win. But, New York is a great franchise that is known for spending the most on the best and this year it paid off. They got their 27th world series title. The closest behind them is the Cardinals with 10. In honor of getting the 27th world series, manager Joe Girardi is going to change his number from 27 to 28. Meaning he wants to get # 28 for world series with the yanks.

in football, Oregon is still my favorite team playing out there right now, excluding Illinois, but I don't know if you could even call that playing other than them beating Michigan and Illinois State. Anyway, the quack attack is an outstanding offense that just blows away teams that are good. Teams like USC with a good defense. Go Ducks!