MLB PLAYOFFS AT-A-GLANCE

[Boone Moone]

Don't really have the time to get too deep on this thread, but just voicing my opinion on the Major League Baseball Playoffs................I'll post a little deeper as we go along, but for now, I see it like this:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

It's too bad that the two best teams going into the fall tournament from the A.L. have to face each other right off the bat but I'm pretty sure that the A.L. representative in this year's Fall Classic will come out of the YANKEES/INDIANS series..............Laugh as you may, but who can argue that the Cleveland Indians are not the hottest team this side of Colorado...........This time of year has historically favored the "hot" teams moreso than teams that may possess more talent............We saw the Cardinals get hot at the right time last year as they defeated a far superior team talent-wise.............The year before witnessed the White Sox domination over equally matched teams, and they too happened to get on a roll at the right time..............Nobody in the A.L. finished with the flair of the Indians , and they looked to be having a mighty good time while doing it...............The Yankees on the other hand -- showed their class in the 2nd half as well, and gave Boston a race that looked unimaginable at the All-Star break, but I just get the feeling that their pitching staff will be their demise in the end, but they will no doubt go down swingin'.


Two months ago, the baseall world was ready to hand the World Series trophy over to either one of the two teams in the other series.............Boston had that huge lead, hot pitchers and the cast of veteran sluggers and all, but they hit a pretty good bump in the road, and hobbled to the finish line..........My feeling is, you take them out of Fenway, and they're just another team...........No longer being able to count on the leadership and pitching prowess of Curt Schilling, and a topsy-turvy Dice K, I see these guys checking out of the playoffs shortly after checking out of the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim.............And that's because the Angels despite the injuries and unreliable starting pitching after John Lackey, will find a way to get the job done under the far superior managing talents of Mike Scioscia............This guy has quietly brought back memories of such legendary bench skippers as Sparky Anderson, Earl Weaver and Tommy Lasorda, with his strategic abilities and "small ball" thinking -- he's turned some mediocre ballclubs into win machines..........Like the Angels in this one.


NATIONAL LEAGUE

The race for the National League Pennant looks like a real grab bag...............but I'm thinking that the N.L. representative comes out of the PHILLIES/ROCKIES series...........Both of these power-hitting ballclubs had to do the most to get here, and simply put -- have got all of the momentum going in...............This is a tough series to call, and I won't play it (because of my sentiments in regards to a small future bet on the Phillies )..........and because of the fact that the Rockies are playing out of their minds...........This will undoubtedly be the most competitve, most exciting series to watch.........regardless of who you're for............Good Luck here.


In the other N.L. contest, the Cubbies are the obvious sentimental choice, but the Diamondbacks are far better on paper..........What does give the Cubbies a fighting chance however, is the fact that once you get past Brandon Webb, there's not much to follow with...........This is also a tough call since I'm not really interested in either one of these ballclubs going all the way.

Just my opinion, and I'm sure many will beg to differ.........but that's what it's all about............Good Luck to all, and I hope your team does well.

Courtesy of the World Famous Boone Moone Fan Club and Radio Network

[jpehl]

Nice write up.... Really surprised that you didnt have more to say about the NL... Really like the phillies and the cubs to win this series.....Little bit hesitant to put any cash down....... got slaughtered last year with the tigers....
jpehl

[Boone Moone]

Thanks again J-Pal.............I will have more to say about the N.L. a bit later.............I just feel these teams need to sort themselves out a little...........I seriously think the two best teams are in the same series (Philly/Colorado) and that's a shame, but they would face each other evetually, even if it wasn't in the first series, so whatever.

But after round one, we'll have a much better idea where it's at............It's still early............plenty of time to make $$$$$ !!!

[Boone Moone]

Time to have fun.............For today's openers, I'm going with these:

COLORADO ROCKIES +138

ANAHEIM ANGELS +155

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS -133

Just to get the feet wet, hope I don't take a bath.... Like the D'Backs better than the other two.....All plays are with Bodog lines.

Good Luck !!

[jpehl]

Man good luck...... Really not feeling the Arizona pick....Thats good news for you...
jpehl

[woodee12]

Like the Dbacks pick in Game 1. i think this is there best shot at winning one with Webb dealing against an inconsistent Zambrano. Like the UNDER 7.5 the best but alos will probably play the Dbacks here in game 1 and the cubs after that.

[jpehl]

Gotta admit Rockies have not cooled off yet..
jpehl

[Boone Moone]

Not a bad start...........could've been worse..........No excuses for the Angels, other than I think I got a little greedy when I saw the price -- sometimes I allow that to force my hand, even though I have come to realize that the Sox are virtually unbeatable in Fenway.............Oh well, no harm no foul..............Let's try these for Thursday:

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES - 158 Feel best about this game today..........don't care for for the young kid Morales having to face this type of pressure on the road, look for the Phillies to slap him around early and often.


CLEVELAND INDIANS + 107 Don't really care for the line here, was thinking the Tribe should be favored and I don't like it when they look this easy but this happens every post-season.........The bookies post the lines according to how they think the players will hit it, not necessarily for how the game matches up..........Look at yesterday's Philly/Colorado game as proof...........Think we can steal one here with clever veteran Sabathia going from the home bump............When Wang is good, he's real good, but even he won't get away with painting corners against this ballclub..........they swing at anything...........Indians in a nail-biter.


ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS (N/L YET) Early in the morning here and Bodog still has no line posted..........I'm figuring the D'Backs open up around -145 or -150.........Not too keen on Doug Davis, but his last few haven't been too bad.............never cared for Lilly and I hate to admit this but I'm just not feeling it for the Cubs at the moment..........Arizona to go up 2-0 today.

Don't really like to put my reasoning behind my plays as I tend to jinx myself at times, but what the hell...........it's only 2 or 3 games a day, so why not?............Good Luck to you and let's make some loot.............The lines listed are from Bodog.

Boone.

[Sovrano]

Bodog has Arizona at +120, but since I'm already 1-2 I'm only making 2 plays now, Phila -134 and Cleveland +117, and see how those go before the night game. Though from the Lilly v. Davis stats I actually like Chicago tonight, so hopefully I'll win the first two and feel confident to play it.

[Boone Moone]

POST SEASON RECORD TO DATE: 4-2

Not bad when you consider that 3 of the 4 winnners were underdogs........Although the game I liked the most yesterday is the one that went down, that's just the nature of this beast called gambling.............We'll try to keep things rolling with these for Friday:

CLEVELAND INDIANS +109 This may not be the actual line at Bodog because as of this writing they still haven't posted one, but it should be thereabouts............I don't care what the line is -- I'm going with the Tribe again here because I never ever cared for Andy Pettitte, and I have made a small fortune betting against him.........I don't care if he's pitching at home, the road, little league or whatever, I can't stand a pitcher that doesn't like to throw the ball over the plate............He'll probably have 100 pitches by the 5th inning if he lasts that long..........All that being said, he'll probably go out and pitch a gem............I don't care, I'm on the Indians again.

Small Note: A buddy of mine read my thread on Tuesday, and made a $200 wager with Bodog that the Colorado Rockies would face the Cleveland Indians in the World Series and 12-1 odds..........Not ready to start salivating yet, but you've gotta admire his ballsy-ness.............I no doubt just jinxed him.


ANGELS/RED SOX OVER 9 1/2 (-110)

Can't get myself to pull the trigger on the Angels again, so this might be the safest route...........I mean, Boston could trot Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck out to the mound and win at home -- that's how tough it is to win there as the visitor...........I don't really care for this game, so I"ll play the total instead of the side...........Just score baby !!

Good Luck to you today.........See you back here tomorrow.

[woodee12]

I heard Mickey Mouse is still rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and crystal meth addiction somewhere in China.

And Donald Duck is fianlly back at it after sharing needles with Barry Bonds over the years. Sources say that he now wants to be a closernd is traingin with Mitch 'wild thing' Williams.

[woodee12]

Shit, I can't type or spell worth a poop. Need to hire an editior for my posts!

[Sovrano]

I'm going to make a bet on Boston tonight just to jinx it and screw with your record.

[JD9587]

hooray!!!! I went with Boston -1.5 and thought I was screwed!!!!!!!!

Go Boston!!!!

[Boone Moone]

Smart plays with the last two posters, and rightly so..........Boston is virtually unbeatable at home and that's why I couldn't go against them.........Just wish the total had gone over for us to make a nice score.........Oh well, so much for wishing, but the post season record still stands at 5-3, with 4 of the winners being underdogs.

Don't really want to toot the horn too much, but anybody on the Cubbies or the Yankees at this point, isn't really seeing the real picture..........These are two tight ballclubs right about now..........Ted Lilly throwing his glove in disgust Thursday night after giving up the deciding blast really showed the mental standpoint of their situation in the series up to now...........Blame Lou "Paranoid" Pinella for that as he figured that yanking Zambrano early in Game 1 to save him for Game 4 would be a strategic move in his favor, and instead it blew up in his face.......Not only do they lose the game after this blunder, but they lose the confidence and momentum they had acquired in a promising stretch run that got them here in the first place.

As for the Yankees, they have suddenly become the Pittsburgh Pirates of the post season..........I think their record in October over the last few playoff appearances is something like 3-12 or so.........I'm not much of a statistical handicapper at this time of the year because when you get to this point, it's all about pitching and pressure -- and either you have it and handle it, or you don't............There is and was no pressure on the Indians to win this series because everyone figured (statistically anyway) that they should lose or have no chance against the mighty Yankees in here, but all they do is go out and have fun doing what they do best -- play baseball.

True, neither series is over by any means -- and miracles can happen........but judging this scenario from a mental standpoint, it's on to round two for the D'Backs and the Tribe..........barring a real meltdown from either club soon.

The Rockies are playing like the proverbial "Team of Destiny, and remind me of the St. Louis Cardinals from last year...........It's gonna take some real pitching and scouting brilliance to stop this century's version of "Murderer's Row"..........They would be downright scary to face right now even if your name was Cy Young..........Stop them, and you win it all............The Red Sox will go as far as the home-field advantage takes them, but I don't really see them as serious players for the whole thing.

Be back early tomorrow for the take on Saturday's games, but just wanted to spout off for the take on things so far.

Good Luck to you.