Phillies in the World Series, Baby!

Fighting back from behind in clutch situations...jumping out ahead early on...forgetting mistakes and making the next play...this Phillies team has done it all this postseason.

They removed the hearts of the LA Dodgers for the second year in a row and have shown the character of a championship team.

This team has captured the hearts of the city of Philadelphia and their chemistry is unmatched--even by the New York Yankees which is basically a team of mercenaries, free agents with big contracts and low levels of loyalty...(Damon and Boston...A-Rod and his wife and the integrity of baseball...Teixeira and the Braves/Angels/Texas...Burnett Blue Jays...Sabathia Brewers).

(Continue to Philadelphia Sports Scene)

I Guess I Love L.A.

First of all, I want to take this opportunity to officially throw the 200 Miles From The Citi endorsement behind the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Not only are they my only hope for a non-wasted baseball year (read: no repeat matchup in the World Series), I really like them. Especially this year - they're my feel-good story. So go Angels!

That said, time for my predictions...it's kind of an L.A. story:

ALCS - Angels vs. Yankees

I don't have much solid evidence to back up my rooting for the Angels here...other than the fact that I'm still not 100% buying the Yankees this year.

If the Minnesota Twins could run the bases without looking like the New York Mets, they could have pushed the Yankees to four games...possibly even a fifth...but they just couldn't figure out New York this whole season.

The Angels, on the other hand, match up well against the Yankees.

(Continue to 200 Miles From the Citi)

Cool Hands Reign in SoCal

Joe Torre and Mike Scioscia remind me of each other, because all these two men do is produce winning ballclubs. Their styles might not be mirror images of one another, but their results are.

Fans in Los Angeles are fortunate to have Torre and Scioscia in the dugout. They are two managers who make the right moves.

Yeah, of course, managers win with talent. Don't forget what the late Yankees manager Ralph Houk told a sports journalist who once asked him what it took to be a great manager.

"Great players," Houk replied.

(Continue to Justice Is Served)

Coping with Season's End

Reality finally set in during the fourth inning of Saturday's Game 3 of the NLDS.

The Cardinals were dead birds. It was sad like someone punching you in the gut. I had made the journey to St. Louis in August for the first time in over 20 years. I felt a special bond with this year's team. But it was your classic one and done.

How could this team with so much promise in July boosted from the Matt Holliday and Mark DeRosa trades and playing lights out baseball in August, fall with a giant thud?

(Continue to Paul's Redbird Report)

Cardinals Waste Wainright Gem

Adam Wainright deserved better.

In a perfect world, the 6-7 Cardinal righty would have been rewarded for a stellar pitching performance Thursday night against Los Angeles in Game 2 of the NLDS. Instead, he a earned a
no-decision that would eventually turn into a crushing Cardinal loss.

True, Wainright wasn't perfect, but pretty close. He allowed only three hits including a solo homer. His curve demonstrated serious bite and when he did get into trouble, he survived. How can this guy not win the Cy Young?

(Continue to Paul's Redbird Report)

MLB Playoff Predictions

I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen this post-season. Perhaps you picked up on that when I predicted so surely that Minnesota would easily dispatch of the Tigers in the AL Central playoff. No such luck there. (Obviously, I got the team right, but not the route to victory.)

Ask me an hour ago who was the best team in the National League and I would have said hands-down Saint Louis. Then I had myself a look at the standings and realized the Cardinals finished with the worst record of all of the National League playoff teams. I don't know when that happened...I would have thought the Dodgers' recent slide easily put them ahead of only Colorado...but no. So now I'm not sure I even like the Cardinals.

In the American League I may be trying to convince myself the Yankees will lose, but I'm just not feeling as confident about the Yankees as everyone else is. Perhaps they run away with everything...but I feel like there are teams that can beat them.

So I have no idea going into this write-up who's going to win what. But I'll have it worked out in the next few paragraphs.

(Continue to 200 Miles From the Citi)

Cards-Dodgers: Old School Matchup

When the Cardinals and Dodgers open up their series tomorrow in Los Angeles, it will be an old-school match up among long-time rivals.

The Cardinals have had good success against LA in recent playoff history. Remember Jack Clark's dramatic HR that stunned the Dodgers.

This series looks like some hard fought baseball. Both teams struggled to the regular season finish line. Both teams are looking for some postseason magic that will erase how the regular year ended.

You know the logic. Teams want to play their best baseball heading into the playoffs. So the next best thing is actually playing well in the playoffs.

(Continue to Paul's Redbird Report)