After 162 games the real season begins today with the Wild Card round of the Snider World playoffs. Here's a breakdown of the matchups.
#4 Huntington White Trash vs #5 New York Yankees- What a great opening round series. On paper this teams are virtually even, the Yankees had the 6th best pitching staff in the AL while the White Trash were 7th. The Yankees scored the 2nd most runs in the AL while the White Tash were 4th. Both have superstar lineups with players who can change the outcome of the game with one swing. The teams split their regular season series with each winning 5.
Prediction
New York in 5
These games will be won by the bullpens and this is where the Yankees have a true advantage. Both teams feature explosive lineups that will expose pitchers especially late in games.
More coming soon....
Monday, January 28, 2008
AAA Playoffs
The AAA playoffs have reached the League Championship round and I'm here to break down each series.
American League
#4 Hartford Heartbreakers @ #3 Huntington White Trash- After sweeping Burlington in the first round, Huntington faced the #2 seeded Baltimore Iron Birds. Huntington lost the first two games then came back to win the last three to secure their place in the LCS. Powered by Kenny O'Keefe and Octavio Cabrera the White Thrash look to continue their playoff run against the Heartbreakers. Hartford swept Los Angeles in the opening round and then defeated the #1 Seeded Honolulu Longboards to get to the LCS. The Heartbreakers are led by David Wang who is having an amazing postseason (.417, 9, 15) so far.
Prediction
Hartford in 6
The Heartbreakers have gotten solid starting pitching from Melendez, Miliard, and McClellan and with the way Wang is hitting the ball, Hartford is one tough team. Teams have hit only .245 against them this postseason while they've hit .326 against opposing pitchers. Look for this trend to continue. Huntington needs to get better performances from their starting pitching as Brett Buddie is the only one who has been dominant. Teams are hitting .273 against the White Thrash pitchers and that will be the undoing for this squad. Their offense is hitting .283 against opponents but it won't be enough against Hartford.
National League
#1 Ottawa Otters vs #6 Syracuse Polar Bears- Ottawa survived a tough series in the Divisional Championship and will look for a berth in the World Series against Syracuse. Vinnie Barrett and Chance McConnell shined in the series vs Oklahoma and will look to continue that vs Syracuse. Syracuse came into the post season with the worst record of the playoff teams, but they have surprised everyone with their performances so far. After upsetting #3 Cincinnati in the first round, they went on to sweep #2 Las Vegas. Rock Meyers has pitched great allowing a mere .211 batting average to opposing hitters.
Prediction
Ottawa in 6
Ottawa played a bad series against Oklahoma and still pulled out the victory. Tim Jacquez will wake up and start giving this team more production. The Ottawa offense will propel this team into the World Series. Syracuse will make it a series because of the inconsistency of the Otters pitching. However, Syracuse will not have enough firepower to stay with Ottawa as the pitching won't be able to carry them to the World Series.
American League
#4 Hartford Heartbreakers @ #3 Huntington White Trash- After sweeping Burlington in the first round, Huntington faced the #2 seeded Baltimore Iron Birds. Huntington lost the first two games then came back to win the last three to secure their place in the LCS. Powered by Kenny O'Keefe and Octavio Cabrera the White Thrash look to continue their playoff run against the Heartbreakers. Hartford swept Los Angeles in the opening round and then defeated the #1 Seeded Honolulu Longboards to get to the LCS. The Heartbreakers are led by David Wang who is having an amazing postseason (.417, 9, 15) so far.
Prediction
Hartford in 6
The Heartbreakers have gotten solid starting pitching from Melendez, Miliard, and McClellan and with the way Wang is hitting the ball, Hartford is one tough team. Teams have hit only .245 against them this postseason while they've hit .326 against opposing pitchers. Look for this trend to continue. Huntington needs to get better performances from their starting pitching as Brett Buddie is the only one who has been dominant. Teams are hitting .273 against the White Thrash pitchers and that will be the undoing for this squad. Their offense is hitting .283 against opponents but it won't be enough against Hartford.
National League
#1 Ottawa Otters vs #6 Syracuse Polar Bears- Ottawa survived a tough series in the Divisional Championship and will look for a berth in the World Series against Syracuse. Vinnie Barrett and Chance McConnell shined in the series vs Oklahoma and will look to continue that vs Syracuse. Syracuse came into the post season with the worst record of the playoff teams, but they have surprised everyone with their performances so far. After upsetting #3 Cincinnati in the first round, they went on to sweep #2 Las Vegas. Rock Meyers has pitched great allowing a mere .211 batting average to opposing hitters.
Prediction
Ottawa in 6
Ottawa played a bad series against Oklahoma and still pulled out the victory. Tim Jacquez will wake up and start giving this team more production. The Ottawa offense will propel this team into the World Series. Syracuse will make it a series because of the inconsistency of the Otters pitching. However, Syracuse will not have enough firepower to stay with Ottawa as the pitching won't be able to carry them to the World Series.
Final Day
The second season of the Snider World will conclude with tonight's games. With one game left, there are still plenty of questions that need answering. The playoff brackets are not yet determined as a few teams are still battling out for position. Here's what we got going in the AL.
#1 Seed- Burlington Primetimers- The Primetimers will enjoy a bye week as the have clinched the #1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs by defeating the Yankees.
#2/3 Seed-Pittsburgh Punishers/Los Angeles Penetrators- This race will come down to the final game of the season. If Pittsburgh wins they get the first week bye, if they lose and Los Angeles wins, the Penetrators get the bye due to the divisional records.
#4 Seed- Huntington White Thrash- Will face the Yankees or Iron birds in the Wild Card Round
#5/6 Seed- Baltimore and New York are separated by one game in the Wild card race. If New York loses and Baltimore wins, the Iron Birds would get the #5 seed due to head to head records.
In the NL it shapes like this:
#1 Seed- Las Vegas Gold Diggers- They are the hottest team right now having won 8 straight and clinching the best record in baseball.
#2 Seed- Boston Poppies- Will get the bye week and come into the final day with their own 7 game win streak.
#3 Seed- Minnesota Icefishers- Will face the Portland/Philadelphia depending on the outcome of those games.
#4 Seed- Memphis Madmen will face the San Diego Turistas in the wildcard round.
#5 Seed- San Diego Turistas- They have lost 4 straight and 7 of their last ten but have secured the #5 seed. They'll look to end on a positive note and gain some momentum heading into the playoffs.
#6 Seed- Philadelphia and Portland have the same record going into the last game. Portland owns the tiebreaker in case both are tied at the end of the year.
#1 Seed- Burlington Primetimers- The Primetimers will enjoy a bye week as the have clinched the #1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs by defeating the Yankees.
#2/3 Seed-Pittsburgh Punishers/Los Angeles Penetrators- This race will come down to the final game of the season. If Pittsburgh wins they get the first week bye, if they lose and Los Angeles wins, the Penetrators get the bye due to the divisional records.
#4 Seed- Huntington White Thrash- Will face the Yankees or Iron birds in the Wild Card Round
#5/6 Seed- Baltimore and New York are separated by one game in the Wild card race. If New York loses and Baltimore wins, the Iron Birds would get the #5 seed due to head to head records.
In the NL it shapes like this:
#1 Seed- Las Vegas Gold Diggers- They are the hottest team right now having won 8 straight and clinching the best record in baseball.
#2 Seed- Boston Poppies- Will get the bye week and come into the final day with their own 7 game win streak.
#3 Seed- Minnesota Icefishers- Will face the Portland/Philadelphia depending on the outcome of those games.
#4 Seed- Memphis Madmen will face the San Diego Turistas in the wildcard round.
#5 Seed- San Diego Turistas- They have lost 4 straight and 7 of their last ten but have secured the #5 seed. They'll look to end on a positive note and gain some momentum heading into the playoffs.
#6 Seed- Philadelphia and Portland have the same record going into the last game. Portland owns the tiebreaker in case both are tied at the end of the year.
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