Playoff Predictions

When no clear answer presents itself, go with the most obvious..

Cubs over Dodgers in 4

Phils over Brewers in 3

Angels over Red Sox in 5

Rays over White Sox in 5


Cubs over Phils in 6

Angels over Rays in 7

World Series

Cubs over Angels in 5

Past the time until first pitch by doing some ball hawking.The playoff roster has been announced as well.

C - Blanco, Soto

INF - Lee, Ward, Fontenot, DeRosa, Theriot, Cedeno, Ramirez

OF - Soriano, Edmonds, Johnson, Fukudome, Pie

SP - Demspter, Zambrano, Harden, Lilly

RP - Wood, Marmol, Samardzija, Cotts, Marshall, Howry, Marquis

With DeRosa limping, the Cubs needed someone who could play the outfield when Lou needs to pinch-hit for Fukudome or the couple dozen other late-inning possibilities. Hopefully the only time we see Bob Howry is if the Cubs are nursing a 13-0 lead after Sutcliffe and the Penguin homer.

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49 is my high in that game btw...

make it 53

Oh my... this going to be addictive.

53 first try, and that's only because I missed 4 in the first inning before I realized how dead on you had to be to catch the thing...


I got 72 on my first attempt (I assume you're leaving off the last two zero's)

highest you can get is 63?

you must be talking about score, we were using total catches.

It is playoff time--where is the decorative bunting for the TCR website? I demand red, white, and blue bunting!

Howry on the playoff roster is atrocious...As I have said before, let's send him to Mesa with the other guys who didnt make it and have him learn a new grip on that fast ball so that it actually moves a bit...Realistically, I would have been fine with them taking another hitter instead of him.

Cubs in 4
Phils in 4
Rays in 4
Angels in 5

Cubs in 5
Angels in 7

Cubs in 6

He's on the roster and I don't get it.
Same goes for Daryl Lard and Lob Howry.


You're so clever. You must write these days in advance, right? It's just consistently too good.

Pie is not poison, because he's not there to start. He's there for defensive replacement and, perhaps, running the bases.

Rafael Furcal SS
Russell Martin C
Manny Ramirez LF
Andre Ethier RF
James Loney 1B
Matt Kemp CF
Blake DeWitt 2B
Casey Blake 3B
Derek Lowe P


Cubs over Dodgers in 4
Phils over Brewers in 4
Red Sox over Angels in 5
Rays over White Sox in 4

Cubs over Phils in 5
Red Sox over Rays in 6

World Series
Cubs over Red Sox in 6


Cubs over Dodgers in 3
Cubs over Brewers in 3
Cubs over Red Sox in 3
Cubs over White Sox in 3

Cubs over Cubs in 4
Cubs over Cubs in 4

World Series
Cubs over Cubs in 4


Dodgers 3 - Cubs 0

* last predictions I made in 2006, I was 0-7 in predicting series winners. Here is to continuing my streak!

The biggest reason to pick the Dodgers would be their improved, Manny-fied offense, right? Well, what does it tell you that the Cubs outscored the Dodgers over the past two months (275-250) even with Manny Ramirez, and outscored L.A. by 155 runs over the course of the season? One NL executive's description of Manny's supporting offensive cast: "Thin."

We agree. The Cubs' pitching is rested and recharged. The Dodgers need too much to go right. Cubs in four.

cubs in 4
phils in 4
redsox in 4
w-sux in 5


red sox in 5
cubs in 6

cubs in 6

hangover on october 30th and sick from work

for Phils/Brewers as well....

Isn't parachat always open? :)

nuh only appears to always be open. Sure if you click on it now you can get in, but what actually happens is I get a message that someone wants to get in, run down 8 flights of stairs to a wooden lever hidden in the basement of my job and let you guys in. To the reader, it just looks like Java is opening, in reality it's a portal to the other side of the world.


So, you're the TCR's Benjamin Linus?

look out for any black smoke if I decide to ban you...

I kinda see myself as the black smoke monster of TCR.

Cubs in 4
Phils in 4
Angels in 5
WSox in 5

Phils in 6
Angels in 7

Angels in 6

I feel dirty.

Cubs 163, Dodgers -4

lets see how the west coast pansies handle 50 degrees, 10+ mph winds and the nastiest crowd they have seen all year. We have a Canadian pitcher (2 actually).

p.s. love lilly in dodger stadium if we need it, his downside is the HR and that park is big. good job lou.

"Sutcliffe and the Penguin"

Sounds like a 70's cop show

Cubs over Dodgers in 4"

So, everyone thinks Lilly will beat "The Unknown Pitcher" in game 4. But, which game do we lose?

Dempster vs Lowe?
Zambrano vs Billingsley?
Harden vs Kuroda?

one of them?

based on pitching matchups alone, I think the Cubs could lose all 3 of those games....

or win all 3 of those games. But if I went for percentages, chances are probably best the Cubs win 2 of the 3.

Here is my game by game prediction.

1: W (low scoring game that scares the hell out of us all)
2: L (Z sucks)
3: W (game goes to bullpen early, Cubs almost give up lead, but hold it)
4: W (Lowe on 3 days rest, pitches well, but Dodgers offense is bad)

Anyway, let's just get this done in 3, and move on to the fun stuff.

12 of 18 ESPN folk pick the Cubs to win the NL, 6 of 18 pick them to win the WS.

Angels > RSox in 5
Rays > WSox in 3
Cubs > Dodgers in 4
Phils > Brewers in 4

Rays > Angels in 6
Cubs > Phils in 7

Cubs > Rays in 5

Greg Couch doesn't like Alfonso Soriano much...,CST-S...

I'm guessing that some writer noticed that Soriano finished the season in a pretty significant slump and is seeing a good "told you so" opportunity.

Sounds like some of the posters here, actually.

in terms of Soriano's playoff performance last year...can't say I disagree with him. I thought Sori was tight and nervous and it showed, and it set the tempo for the team on offense.

I really do think he is the top key to this series from an offensive stand point. He doesn't do anything, we are in trouble. He has a good series, we should be in great shape.

Here are the three players who need to absolutely need to take at least the first goddamned pitch: Ronnie Cedeno, Soriano, and Felix Pie. Those three remind of Corey -0 and 2 -Patterson. It's going to be cold, so it will probably be small ball that wins the game. Trying to rip one out, is probably not going to work. I hope these games go longer only if we're working the pitch counts. Who wants it more, Cubs?

Not only cold, but lots of wind blowing in from the north (basically straight in from left field). Hopefully a good day to be Ryan Dempster.

What's the over/under on Derek Lee ground ball double plays in the NLDS?

Cubs in 5
Phils in 4
Rays in 4
Angels in 4

Cubs in 7
Angels in 6

Angels in 7 (The billy goat curse is replaced by the Uggla curse.)

Wow... lots of people picking the Angels over the Red Sox...

Rsox not playing with the full deck...

For me, it's because of Beckett's status and the fact that Lowell and Drew are also hurting.

I generally don't like Couch, but aside from the article's snide tone, he has a point about Fonzie. At least try to take some pitches tonight vs. Lowe, don't make it easy on the guy. Sounds like basic advice, but we all know that sometimes Fonzie gets homer - happy up there. OTOH, what do I know? When he gets hot, it doesn't matter what his plate discipline is at the time, he hits everything anyway.

Couch grudgingly admits that Soriano has drawn more walks this season. Actually, his BB/K is much better than last year, .417 (43/103) to .238 (31/130).

He seems much more disciplined to me. He takes a lot of close pitches. I wonder how many of his strikeouts were called-strike-threes compared to last year, but I don't know where to find that.

Soriano got a huge contract specifically for October games this year and the next couple of years. Okay, Sori, you've got the spotlight.

Soriano got a huge contract specifically for October games this year

there's one for the VA Phil HOF of comments...


You don't get a player "Specifically for October" get a player who can get you to October. Then you simply hope they continue what they did in Apr-Sep.

Well, Rich Harden is one who was certainly acquired (at a high cost) for a single season that was not expected to end in the first playoff round. And they didn't care how few innings he pitched along the way--just keep babying him and try to get him to Game 3.

Lilly was their best pitcher in September but won't pitch till after Zambrano and Harden get a turn. Did Zamabrano get them to October more than Lilly did? No, but he's a star, and this is when the stars come out.

Fukudome is in the lineup tonight and batting second, not because they hope he continues to do what he's been doing. He was a star in Japan and in the World Baseball Classic, so you put him in the spotlight and expect him to perform.

Soriano is a high-maintenance guy who may or may not get you to October, but he can carry you for a week or two when a championship is at stake. I think that's why they got him.

Except Harden wasn't aquired for a single season.

You like to be wrong, don't you.

- Harden was not acquired for a single season.
- Fukudome is not playing because he is a "star." He is playing because, as Lou said, he wanted to focus on defense.
- Lilly was not the best pitcher in September. Both Dempster and Harden had better ERA's, though Lilly did have a better WHIP.

Um...source? For the latter sentence, that is.

I'm at work and, once again, am really happy to be able to watch the game online. And, once again, screw you MLB.

still don't have the order...

Japan is watching Fuke (now more than ever). Maybe this atmosphere will revive him...or maybe he'll choke (now more than ever).

Late to party, but:

Red Sox lose to Angels in 4

White sox lose to Rays in 3

Angels beat Rays in 7

Cubs beat Dodgers in 3

Phillies beat Brewers in 3

Cubs beat Phillies in 6

Cubs beat Angels in 7

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