The Major League Baseball postseason brings four teams from both the American League and the National League. It puts the three divisional champions and a wild card team (the team with the best record without winning the division) in a number of series to decide who advances.  

The first series is the Division Series. The American League Division Series and the National League Division series places the winners of the Western Division against the Wild Card team and the winners of the Central Divisions against the winners of the Eastern Division. The games are played on a best-of-five format meaning the first team to win three out of five games advances to the League Championship Series. Home field advantage is decided by the team with the better record against their opponent during the season.  

The League Championship series is a best-of-seven series putting the two winners of the respective Division Series against each other. The team from the American League to win and the team from the National League to win advance to the World Series - baseball's Holy Grail.  

The Fall Classic dates back to 1903 when Boston played Pittsburgh for the first World Series. It takes the best team of both leagues and puts them against each other for the right to call themselves World Champs. The series is a best-of-seven format and takes place in late October.  

Here is a list of the teams and the divisions they fall in: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams  

AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES  

The two teams for this years ALCS are the Tampa Bay Rays, who defeated the Chicago White Sox, and the Boston Red Sox, who defeated the Loas Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  

Red Sox vs. Rays  

Series tied 3-3

Game 1 FriOct. 10  BOS 2 - 0 Rays
Matsuzaka(W) vs. Shields(L)

Game 2 Sat Oct. 11Rays 9 - 8 Sox
Beckett(L) vs. Kazmir(W)

Game 3 Mon Oct. 13 Rays 9 - 1 Sox
Lester(L) vs. Garza(W)

Game 4 Tue Oct. 14 Rays 13 - 4 Sox
Wakefield(L) vs. Sonnanstine(W)

Game 5 Thu Oct. 16 Sox 8 - 7 Rays
Masterson(W) vs. Howell(L)

Game 6 Sat Oct. 18 BOS 4 - 2 Rays
Beckett(W) vs. Shields(L)

Game 7 Sun Oct. 19
Lester(BOS) vs. Garza(TB)

NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES  

The two teams for this years NLCS are the Philadelphia Phillies, who defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Los Angeles Dodgers, who defeated the Chicago Cubs.  

Dodgers vs. Phillies  

Phillies win series 4-1

**Most of this topic was created by killtyronedead. Credit goes to him for his MAJOR contributions to this topic. Thank you, Ty. rofl, this is his baby. **

Please contact me if you're interested in contributing an analysis of any of the team matchups.

Post edited at 7:47 pm on Oct. 19, 2008 by audrey820

-------
kid, I wrote back,
all lovers betray.

The Red Sox have a 10 game postseason win streak against the Angels and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. The Red Sox, as a team, are a complete package. They have the bats to produce runs and the legs to gain extra bases. JD Drew and Mike Lowell are both seemingly healthy and the rest of the team is ready to make their case for repeat champions. Behind the efforts of MVP candidate Dustin Pedroia and rookie Jacoby Ellsbury, the Red Sox have improved their overall numbers on the bases. The late addition of Jason Bay from the Pirates in the Manny Ramirez deal has been huge. Of course, none of this matters because the Angels have Francisco Rodriguez. In overall pitching, though, the Red Sox have the advantage with Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Josh Beckett. The Halos are boasting Chone Figgins, Vladimir Guerrero, Torii Hunter, and Garrett Anderson in their lineup, but I expect the Sox pitchers to handle them no problem.

Prediction: Boston in 3

**This analysis was written by the member killtyronedead.**

-------
kid, I wrote back,
all lovers betray.

The Chicago White Sox barely made it into the playoffs after going 3-6 over their last nine games before beating the Minnesota Twins in a one game play off to decide the Central Division. I honestly expect this to be a quick sweep for the Rays, though. They've been strong all season, playing and winning the toughest division in baseball, the AL East. For 10 years, the Rays finished at the bottom of the division before taking the crown in '08. The Rays are a talented young team with a lot to prove. Scott Kazmir hasn't been all that great this season and the Rays Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria have been battling injuries all season. The White Sox are starting to get older with players like A.J. Pierzynski and Ken Griffey Jr. Neither team has been exceptionally strong on the mound, so the key to this series is going to be who has the better offense.

Prediction: Rays in 3.

**This analysis was written by the member killtyronedead.**

-------
kid, I wrote back,
all lovers betray.

This is my premiere match up for Division Series play this postseason. The NL Central division champs, the Chicago Cubs, had the best record in the NL this season behind the bats of Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano as well as the arm of Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano, for the most part, has been outstanding all season not only pitching, but also batting. I'm excited to see Big Z on the mound against Manny Ramirez. One of the best pitchers in the game against one of the best hitters to ever play the game. When the Dodgers acquired Manny in a three team deal from the Boston Red Sox, he provided the bat that the Dodgers needed to capture the NL West and make a push into the playoffs. I don't think it's going to be enough to beat this Cubs team, though. Lou Piniella has this team managed very well and I think he has the edge in this series over Torre's west coast crew.

Prediction: Cubs in 5

**This analysis was written by the member killtyronedead.**

-------
kid, I wrote back,
all lovers betray.

The Brewers snuck into the playoffs as the Wild Card team for the National League. The Brewers have had a roller coaster of a season, including the odd decision to fire their manager Ned Yost with only two weeks left in the season. The offensively, the Phillies have the edge. Behind the bats of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Jimmy Rollins. But that doesn't mean that the Brewers should be overlooked on offense. With players such as Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, the Brewers have a lot of potential at the plate. As far as starting pitchers go, the Brewers have a huge edge with Ben Sheets and C.C. Sabathia. This is going to be a tough series for the Brewers and they're going to need everything they've got to beat the Phillies.

Prediction: Phillies in 4

**This analysis was written by the member killtyronedead.**

-------
kid, I wrote back,
all lovers betray.

Post edited at 1:30 pm on Oct. 2, 2008 by audrey820

-------
kid, I wrote back,
all lovers betray.

---

Red Sox vs. Angels  

The Red Sox have a 10 game postseason win streak against the Angels and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. The Red Sox, as a team, are a complete package. They have the bats to produce runs and the legs to gain extra bases. JD Drew and Mike Lowell are both seemingly healthy and the rest of the team is ready to make their case for repeat champions. Behind the efforts of MVP candidate Dustin Pedroia and rookie Jacoby Ellsbury, the Red Sox have improved their overall numbers on the bases. The late addition of Jason Bay from the Pirates in the Manny Ramirez deal has been huge. Of course, none of this matters because the Angels have Francisco Rodriguez. In overall pitching, though, the Red Sox have the advantage with Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Josh Beckett. The Halos are boasting Chone Figgins, Vladimir Guerrero, Torii Hunter, and Garrett Anderson in their lineup, but I expect the Sox pitchers to handle them no problem.  

Prediction: Boston in 3  

**This analysis was written by the member killtyronedead.**

---

---

Brewers vs. Phillies  

The Brewers snuck into the playoffs as the Wild Card team for the National League. The Brewers have had a roller coaster of a season, including the odd decision to fire their manager Ned Yost with only two weeks left in the season. The offensively, the Phillies have the edge. Behind the bats of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Jimmy Rollins. But that doesn't mean that the Brewers should be overlooked on offense. With players such as Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, the Brewers have a lot of potential at the plate. As far as starting pitchers go, the Brewers have a huge edge with Ben Sheets and C.C. Sabathia. This is going to be a tough series for the Brewers and they're going to need everything they've got to beat the Phillies.  

Prediction: Phillies in 4  

**This analysis was written by the member killtyronedead.**

---

---

Well, fuck. My NL predictions are about to go in flames...but I did pick the right teams to win. Who the hell could have picked Zambrano and Sabathia to get shelled like they did?

---

Oh well, maybe next season....here's a start--

1) Why did you trade Pudge?
2) Send Justin Verlander down, he's like the second losing most pitcher in the MLB. I mean come on, he was like 2-11! ha.

-------
Indoor soccer is like the coolest sport, ever.