ALDS recap and Angels v Chisox

One thing is clear after two exciting ALDS matchups - the better teams won. The Red Sox looked like a two man team (Manny and Ortiz of course) and the Yankees proved once again that money can't always buy a championship. Exhibit A - A-Rod the $252 million man : 2-15 in the series, no home runs, no rbis, and a rally-killing double play in the top of the 9th in game 5. And of course the postgame quote : "I had a great year, something I'm very proud of," A-Rod said. "I left my guts on the field, I left my heart out there. I'm not going to hang my head. I'm going to learn from it and become a better Yankee." He also went on to say how proud he was "of the guys." Maybe I missed something but why does Rodriguez get to be proud of the guys? He let them down as much as anyone - 4-32 in his last 8 playoff games and he's proud of the guys? Well keep on being a better Yankee - he's got the ego and the paycheck for it. And yea ok he did have a good season - afterall he should be the AL MVP but he's not doing anything to do away with the notion that for all his talent, he is the furthest thing from clutch. Now the Bombers staved off elimination a little longer than their AL East companions, but in the end they will be watching the ALCS from home all the same. The Sawx relied on Manny and Ortiz as always - both of whom didn't really break out til game 3 and by then it was too late. Who thought that the pitching heavy White Sox would outscore one of the best offensive teams in baseball 24-9. Those age old adages of pitching beating hitting and defense winning championships are looking pretty true right now. In the battle of the Sox, Tony Graffanino made a huge error on a routine ground ball which eventually led to Tad Iguchi hitting a game-winning 3-run home run off David Wells. Meanwhile the White Sox made plenty of plays behind their strong pitching staff and bullpen. And in the Yanks - Angels how bout Chone Figgins - ok he made a bad throw in game four but made a game-saving stop on a Hideki Matsui shot in game 2 at 3rd base and a run saving diving catch in centerfield in game 3. Throw in Darin Erstad's series-winning dive at 1st base, and counter it with Jason Giambi's less than stellar play at first base and a costly collision in right center field between Bubba Crosby and Gary Sheffield and you have the series. Bottom line: White Sox and Angels made the plays and were the better all around teams, while the Sawx and Yanks didn't. But don't tell Sean McAdam and Gene Wojciechowski - they're probably still writing somwhere that the Red Sox have a chance to comeback. On to the ALCS....

For their efforts, the LA Angels are presently aboard a flight to Chicago where they will land and play the White Sox tomorrow night. Meanwhile the ChiSox have been off since Friday waiting for the Yanks and Angels to battle it out and have the winner limp into US Cellular, exhausted from a coast to coast series which has been extremely taxing on both teams. Now the Angels survived that battle of attrition but the one that stands before them is even tougher. They play a well rested Chicago team that has a fully rested pitching staff, bullpen, lineup and bat boy. The Halos have to face Jose Contreras who shut down Boston in game 1 ( 7 2/3 inn 2 runs) and has lost only twice since July. So who will LA run out to the mound? Paul Byrd? I'm going to go out on a limb and give game 1 to the White Sox. Now anything can happen in baseball but Chicago is fully rested and the Angels are on fumes. These are two very similar teams but the rally monkey's pitching staff is in shambles. Bartolo Colon left game 5 of the ALDS with a shoulder injury, John Lackey pitched twice on 3 days rest in the DS, Ervin Santana filled in for Colon in game 5 and the bullpen hasn't been spared either. Kelvim Escobar, Frankie Rodriguez, Brendan Donnelly and Scott Shields have all been fully utilized but the good news for the Angels is that Donnelly and Shields got the night off in game 5. Both teams play small ball - Chone Figgins and Scott Podsednik to set the table, both manufacture runs, and both have some bats in the middle of the lineup. Bengie Molina hit just under .500 in the division series but Vlad Guerrero was hardly heard from (no HR, no RBI). The White Sox on the other hand had clutch home runs from Iguchi and Paul Konerko. Jermaine Dye and Joe Crede were relatively quiet against Boston considering they both finished the season red hot. These two teams are very similar and matchup very well...during the season the Angels won the season series 6-4. But I'm going with the White Sox in 6 just a few summary points as to why....1. El duque - after that amazing game 3 performance Duque proved he's still a gamer when it comes to the postseason 2. Chicago's rested bullpen - Jenks as an emerging and confident closer, Marte and Cotts as power lefties, Hermanson and Politte- now both these pen's are very good but we saw what happened to the Angels (Escobar, K-rod, Shields, Donnelly) in August when their bullpen got overworked and tired - they stumbled a bit and the A's got right back to the top of the division before the Angels pulled away for good. This time the Angels don't have a couple weeks to rest up, recover and get it back together. 3. A balanced Chicago lineup - homers from Podsednik, Iguchi, Konerko, Pierzynski, Uribe. 4. The rally monkey needs a serious dose of caffenine pills/adderol/no dose - the little guy isn't gona be up for game 1 and it may be games 3 and 4 before the Angels get caught up rest-wise - by then they might be able to make the series somewhat competitive, but it'll be too late to make a serious comeback to win the series. ChiSox win in 6 and make their first postseason appearence since 1959.