Nothing better than postseason baseball

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Well, it's already been a wild start to the beginning of the MLB playoff season.

We had a Detroit-Minnesota play-in game to determine the final playoff spot, a ninth-inning thrilling win by the Los Angeles Dodgers and outstanding pitching from a host a starters.

It's October and there's a reason why it's the greatest month of the year -- well, besides my birthday falling on this month -- because of the MLB playoffs.

Some observations from the postseason so far:

* Are Red Sox fans nervous yet? It's only one game, don't hit the panic button yet Red Sox Nation. Big-game ace Josh Beckett is on the mound tonight, no worries, right? I'll call it now, if Beckett gets the win tonight, the Sox wins this series vs. the Angles. If not, then bye-bye.

Boy, John Lackey was great last night for the Angels. If he pitched at Fenway, he would have been yanked after 5. One mistake by Jon Lester -- he looked fine since getting drilled on the leg with a line drive by New York's Melky Cabrera -- a Tori Hunter 3-run blast, cost him.

* So CC Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez are suppose to be choking dogs in the playoffs, but not Wednesday against the Twins. Sabathia allowed only one earned run in 6-2/3 innings, while A-Hole was 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs. At least for one night, the stage wasn't too big.

Does it surprise anyone that Derek Jeter is so good? His two-run HR got the Yankees back even at 2-2 and the team fed off that emotion later in the game. He's a captain and best leader in MLB for a reason.

* I think that Colorado-Philladelphia series is boring, perhaps because I think NL baseball is a snoozer. But Cliff Lee is nasty. He showed that by going the distance in Game 1 for the Phillies. Shows you how important a legit ace is worth in the playoffs.

* Even the biggest of Dodgers fans were writing off their boys against the Cards. They said, based on history, that there was no way that the Dodgers would beat St. Louis in a five-game series, but that tune might change real quick after the Dodgers now lead the series 2-0.

Los Angels beat St. Louis ace Chris Carpenter in Game 1 -- who would have called that one? -- and now they can send St. Louis left fielder Matt Holliday a Christmas card after his bonehead play in the ninth gave the Dodgers life.

Holliday, who the Cards traded for during the season, totally gaffed a liner off the bat of James Loney which would have been the final out, and led to LA's dramatic two-run, game-winning rally in the ninth with big RBI hits by Ronnie Belliard and Mark Loretta.

Yes, Holliday is claiming he didn't see the ball, and St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright complained after the game about Dodger fans waiving white towels which is why Holliday missed the ball.

He suggested blue towels and didn't think it was fair that they can waive white ones. Cry me a river. Shut up and deal with it. Your outfielder had the boner play of the game. Be a man and deal with it. Good luck trying to win three straight now. It's not going to happen.

FFS Staff Predictions: 2009 MLB Playoffs

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

The MLB playoffs begin this afternoon, so it's time for the staff at Fan Fanatic Sports to put their reputations on the line. It's a tough one for me as I am a die hard Dodgers fan. I want nothing more than to see them win the World Series, but realistically I don't see them getting past the Cardinals in the first round. They have a history of playing poorly against the Redbirds, and this season is no different as they were 2-6 during the regular season. It also doesn't help that Chris Carpenters is a career 5-0 against them and 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA this season. Oh well, enough of that. Now let's get to the picks:

Finally! The Dodgers get the job done

Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Maybe I just predicted the Dodgers would win last night because I am a Dodgers fan. Maybe I predicted they would win last night because Joe Torre is their manager and is a proven winner. You know what, it doesn't matter because the Dodgers finally wrapped up the NL West Division as they beat the Colorado Rockies 5-0 on Saturday night. That wasn't the only thing they clinched last night. They also clinched the best record in the National League to secure home field advantage throughout the NL portion of the playoffs. For Joe Torre this is the 14th straight year he's lead a team to the playoffs.

The man who should get most of the credit from last night is Clayton Kershaw. The 21 year old phenom was fantastic. While he didn't earn a decision, he did pitch 6 shutout innings, allowing 3 hits and 10 strikeouts. It's hard to imagine he's only 21 and posted an 8-8 record with a 2.79 ERA this season. Torre will be relying heavily on the young lefthander as they enter the playoffs. It looks like Randy Wolf will take the mound for game 1 and be backed up by Kershaw in game 2. After that, Joe Torre has yet to decide who the 3rd and 4th starters will be. He will have to pick from All Star Chad Billingsley, (my best bet for the 3rd spot), Jon Garland and Vincente Padilla. If I was making the decisions, I'd go with Billingsley and Garland hands down.

How will the recent offensive struggles affect the Dodgers in the playoffs? One has to be a little worried that Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, James Loney, Russel Martin and Orlando Hudson have all hit under .200 the last week of the regular season. One could also say they all went into a slump at the same time, and the time off before the playoffs will refresh and refocus the lineup. My guess is the latter will hold true. This lineup is too good, and too deep to not break out of the team wide slump.

You can wait for my prediction later this week!

Even with Loss, Sox fans can take a sigh of relief, maybe

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

In the grand scheme of the 2009 season, a 9-5 loss to the Yankees means absolutely nothing. The Red Sox really have no chance of winning the AL East crown, and it would take a monumental collapse for them to lose the Wild Card race in the American League. What does matter is Jon Lester's health. If you watched the game, saw the highlights, or simply read another article about what happened to Lester in the bottom of the third, than you know how bad it looked for the playoff chances of the Red Sox.

I saw the play live, and have seen the highlight a hundred times, and I still am shocked to see that the x-rays were negative. Apparently he just has a bruise to his quadriceps. By all accounts, Jon Lester and the Red Sox got lucky. My question is this. Have they? I have never been, or will ever be a pitching coach, but I do know that an injury to a pitcher's plant leg is no small thing. While he'll still be able to drive with the other leg, if you're plant leg is tender, and in pain, it's going to cause inconsistency in you delivery at the best, and could even play games with a pitcher's mentality. I wouldn't want a pitcher of mine to keep thinking about how it's going to hurt when you finish your delivery. My guess is Lester misses his next start to get him ready for the playoffs. That would be the smart, prudent thing for the Sox to do.

I think that despite the good news, Jon Lester's effectiveness in the playoffs took a major hit last night. All we have to do now is wait and see.

MLB: Pennant Races ho hum in 2009

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

This has got to be the most boring Pennant Race season in a long time. If you're a huge baseball fan, like myself, you're rooting hard for the Minnesota Twins to make the final week and a half of the baseball season exciting. Realistically, that is the only race that is left. The Yankees and Dodgers lead their division by 5 games, The Phillis by 8, Angels by 7.5 games, and the Cardinals by the widest margin of 10 games. Even the Wild Card race is pretty much over. The Red Sox lead the Rangers by 7 games and the Rockies are starting to pull away from the Giants with a 4 game lead.

What does this all mean? Well, it means that most playoff teams will be well rested. It will mean their starting rotations will be set up. It should mean the best team will win, but you never know. You still have to play the games. The Red Sox could have made the AL East race interesting if they didn't blow a huge lead against the lowly Royals last night. The Yanks lost, once again, to the Angels. A BoSox win would have brought them within 3 games in the loss column a few days before they head into the Bronx for a 3 game series. Of course, a Red Sox sweep this weekend would certainly make things interesting, but I just don't see that happening. Even if they take 2 of 3, they would still only game a game with one full week on the schedule remaining.

Personally, I can't wait to get to the playoffs. As a die hard Dodgers fan, I've been waiting for quite some time to start the postseason. I will, however, be watching the Twins & Tigers battle it out over the next week and a half.

I'm rooting for the Twinkies. What about you?

Byrd not the word. Sox staff could strenghten itself from within

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Paul Byrd was pretty awful last night in Chicago as the Red Sox lost 12-2. Byrd lasting a scant 2 1/2 innings while giving up 7 earned runs on 10 hits. Ouch! Luckily for the BoSox, the calendar said it's September 4th and that means expanded rosters. Still, it wasn't good to see Junichi Tazawa only last 3 2/3 innings himself. To me, the real story is how Byrd fared against a real major league lineup. He impressed last week against the Toronto Blue Jays, but really he faced a team that had given up on the season. The White Sox brass may have given up on the season, but so far the Sox roster hasn't. That was evident last night as Paul Byrd may have made his final, or next to final start for the Sox this season.

Tim Wakefield takes to the bump this afternoon in a very important start for him and the Red Sox. In addition to Wake's return, Dice-k had himself a strong start last night for Pawtucket. If Wake and the Japanese enigma can make a decent return to the rotation, then a recent Red Sox weakness flips itself into a potential strength. With the return of Wakefield and Matzusaka, they round out the rotation after Lester, a struggling Beckett and suddenly consistent Bucholtz.

If Wake and Dice-k can return and be productive, maybe it's time to give Josh Beckett a rest. The Big Texan has been awful over his past 4 starts. He's already eclipsed the 180 innings pitched mark and looks like he needs to rejuvenate himself for the playoff run.

I think the Red Sox may now be poised to create some breathing room in the Wild Card Race. When they do that, they can start getting Beckett, and a few other players some much needed rest.