Major League Baseball League Championship Series

So my predictions for the Divisional playoffs weren't all that great. I was wrong on the Red Sox vs Angels series, and that alone is enough to make the entire prediction game a massive failure. I picked those pricks from New York to beat the Twins so I was right on that one, as painful as that is. I was right to pick the Phillies over the Rockies, and I was wrong to pick the Cardinals over the Dodgers.

That's a winning percentage of 50%. Not so great, not so bad.

Now we come to the League Championship Series. I will start in the National League. I was wrong to go against the Dodgers. Hell, I saw the Dodgers play in Dodger Stadium this summer, how could I have picked against them (Joe Torre and Manny Ramirez, that's how). The Phillies were my first little league team. How can I root against them now?

Easy. I am picking the Los Angeles Dodgers to win this series. Being a repeat champ is probably the hardest thing to do in all team sports. The law of averages says the Phillies are going to lose. I even wore a Dodgers jacket to work on Tuesday. That's how sure I am of the Dodgers making it to the World Series. (not really, the dodgers jacket just happened to be the closest jacket to the front door, but why spoil the drama?)

Now for the American League. The Red Soxless American League. The Boston-free American League. Damn it, it still hurts! Ever since Dave Henderson turned things around in 1986 the Angels (be they from California, Anaheim, or Los Angeles) have been Boston's bitches. There, I said it. We've smacked them around and squashed them at all turns. We owned them.

Now? Now? Now that they've beaten us, what does it mean? It means I have to root for them because they are facing the friggin' Yankees in the cursed second round. Damn you New York!

I am a 100% Angels fan now, just as I was a Twins fan in the last round. I root for two teams. The Red Sox and whoever beats the Yankees. It's the Angels' turn to try and beat the Yankees so I am totally in their corner.

Of course the Yankees are going to win the series. They are going to beat the Angels and then beat whatever National League team gets to be their cannon fodder in the World Series.

That's my prediction. I seriously hope I am wrong about the American League, but my picks for the second round are the Yankees and the Dodgers. There, I said it. I can't take it back now. DAMN IT I HATE THE YANKEES!

Go (urgh) Angels. (barf)

On the up side, the league will have a good marketing angle for the World Series regardless of who wins. If the Phillies win then the focus will be on the attempt to repeat. If the Dodgers win there will either be a cross town L.A. series against the Angels (please let this happen, please!) or the classic rematch of the old Yankees/Dodgers rivalry.

According to this site the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers have met in the World Series 11 times.

The Yankees won in 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1977, and 1978 (Bucky Bleepin' Dent!). The Brooklyn Dodgers won in 1955 and the Los Angeles Dodgers won in 1963 and the most recent meeting in 1981.

Here's hoping the Dodgers take it in 2009 too.

Here's hoping even more the rematch doesn't happen because the Angels bounce the Yankees out in the second round.

Go Dodgers.
Go Angels.

Go Bruins.