Back in April, I wrote a prediction on how the A's season would play out. While my player stats have been mostly incorrect, I have been spot on with the most of the teams and will continue to believe that the Oakland Athletics will be facing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. However, I will now change what will happen.
I still believe that the A's will sweep Tampa Bay in three games, winning the third game at home, thus meaning out of the three division winners, the A's will have the worst record and Tampa Bay the second best record. Detroit, who will own the best record in the American will face the winner of the wildcard match-up between Boston and Texas and will win a hard fought series in 5 The rest and hard fought ALDS will force the Tigers to be a bit tired and the A's will defeat the Tigers in 6 games exacting revenge from the 2012 ALDS.
The World Series gets a little interesting. I feel that the pitching for LA has an edge over the A's because of Kershaw, but the A's have the stronger bullpen, which will be the difference. The A's will have a pair of comeback victories and will use the long ball to help them win. Oakland's Runners in Scoring Position since late August has been outstanding, hitting .315 as a team and even better at .335 with less than 2 outs. In the Cuban battle of Cespedes vs Puig, Puig's inexperience of being a rookie will show on the big stage and he will make mistakes that plagued him during the season. Cespedes, with a year under his belt and who struggled throughout the year has turned it up in the playoffs hitting 7 home runs, hitting .435 and driving in 27 runs, winning the ALCS and World Series. My sleeper pick in the World Series will be Eric Sogard who would bat .500 for the series in the 9 hole and naturally get the final out of the World Series in 6...
(Joe Buck and Tim McCarver at the mic)
Joe: Oakland leads 4-2 in the top of the 9th, two down, 1-2 count on Gonzalez, Puig still at 2nd after a lead off double.
Tim: The crowd of over 47,000 can really feel it. Balfour, however is shaking his arm and working real slow, so I am wondering if the nerves are getting to him. He may be injured. Should Melvin and the training staff go look at him?
(Silence and just crowd noise in the background)
Joe: He is working rather slowly...The 1-2 pitch from Balfour...Broken bat ground ball to second....Sogard's got it, flips it to Moss and MONEYBALL HAS FINALLY GOT ITS CHAMPIONSHIP!
(a minute later)
Tim: Oakland has played on a budget for so long and they have shown that money will not buy Championships.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Just a Quickie A's Sniff Thought
As we all know a sports season is a roller coaster with many highs and many lows. Currently, the Oakland Athletics are at a low after having a 6 game lead on July 29th, they are now 2.5 back of the Texas Rangers; an 8.5 game swing. They still lead hold the second Wild Card spot with three games up on Baltimore, who they happen to play this weekend. Many fans have hit the panic button and I haven't. Below are 3 reasons why the A's will be A-OKAY...
1. Each team goes through a time where they lose to "bad teams" they shouldn't be losing to. Losing 2/3 to the Mariners and Astros at home this past week is a prime example. Let it go, shake it off, move on. The current AL MOY is pissed and has let his players know. Melvin knows what he's doing, so roll with him. I noticed a ton of manager questioning this season on various media outlets. You want Geren instead?
2. Let's rewind to April 2013 and I tell you that Reddick/Cespedes have combined for 30 home runs and Brett Anderson has been out for half of the season. Nakajima/Sizemore is hurt and Eric Sogard is your starting second baseman. Josh Donaldson and Jed Lowrie are arguably your best players. Tell me the A's record and most of you will probably say under .500 and way out of the playoff race.
3. This 2013 A's team hasn't reached their potential yet. As I said in number two, Cespedes and Reddick haven't figured it out yet and when they do this season, this team is going to be scary for anyone to face. Also, they have left about 5 million runners in scoring position in the second half so far, but remember it all evens out at the end. I know this is going to make some fans butt hurt, but it is all about timing in the game. Look at the 2010 and the 2012 Giants as they had the "Perfect Storm" of playing baseball at the right time and navigated to 2 World Series Championships... (A's still lead 4 > 2 though =P). Also with this blown lead, the A's have plenty of time to right the ship. How would you feel if the Rangers won the West in the fashion the A's did last year?
In October, the A's will be there and will be contending for a World Series title. The starting rotation will be Colon, Parker, Gray and Anderson and I am not sure if any team in MLB wants to go up against that.
1. Each team goes through a time where they lose to "bad teams" they shouldn't be losing to. Losing 2/3 to the Mariners and Astros at home this past week is a prime example. Let it go, shake it off, move on. The current AL MOY is pissed and has let his players know. Melvin knows what he's doing, so roll with him. I noticed a ton of manager questioning this season on various media outlets. You want Geren instead?
2. Let's rewind to April 2013 and I tell you that Reddick/Cespedes have combined for 30 home runs and Brett Anderson has been out for half of the season. Nakajima/Sizemore is hurt and Eric Sogard is your starting second baseman. Josh Donaldson and Jed Lowrie are arguably your best players. Tell me the A's record and most of you will probably say under .500 and way out of the playoff race.
3. This 2013 A's team hasn't reached their potential yet. As I said in number two, Cespedes and Reddick haven't figured it out yet and when they do this season, this team is going to be scary for anyone to face. Also, they have left about 5 million runners in scoring position in the second half so far, but remember it all evens out at the end. I know this is going to make some fans butt hurt, but it is all about timing in the game. Look at the 2010 and the 2012 Giants as they had the "Perfect Storm" of playing baseball at the right time and navigated to 2 World Series Championships... (A's still lead 4 > 2 though =P). Also with this blown lead, the A's have plenty of time to right the ship. How would you feel if the Rangers won the West in the fashion the A's did last year?
In October, the A's will be there and will be contending for a World Series title. The starting rotation will be Colon, Parker, Gray and Anderson and I am not sure if any team in MLB wants to go up against that.
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