By the time the night is through, the Red Sox will know who they are facing in the ALDS. Will it be the Cleveland Indians, led by old friend Terry Francona, or the Tampa Bay Rays, led by Joe "Goggles" Maddon? The good news for the Sox is that they have winning regular season records against both teams. They went 12-7 against the Rays and 6-1 against the Indians. The maybe-not-so-good news is that anything can happen in a short series (see 88-74 Cardinals besting the 98-64 Nationals just last year).
As for the rest of the teams, the other ALDS has the Tigers facing the A's. The Pirates won the NL Wild Card so they'll face the Cardinals in the NLDS while the Dodgers will face the Braves. Seeing the Red Sox play October baseball after a four-year hiatus is exciting, to say the least. It's also stressful, because expectations have been raised as high as a World Series trophy. For every 2004 and 2007, however, there are 2009s, 2008s, 2005s, 2003s, 1999s, 1995s, 1990s, 1988s, 1986s, 1975s, 1967s, and 1946s. There are the quick exits, the Game 7 World Series losses, and everything in between.
That being said, the Red Sox have as good a chance as any of the other playoff teams to make it to the Fall Classic. When their offense is clicking, they can make quick work of any starting pitcher, with threats up and down the lineup. They have some pitchers who are capable of taking the ball in big games. They have a closer who has been lights-out far more often than not. They have their resilient spirit, which helped them avoid long losing streaks all season. They have their vulnerabilities, such as middle relief and going into maddening RISP slumps where they strand baserunners left and right. The pitching staff tends to be walk-prone. Through it all, however, they won 97 games and tied the Cardinals for the best record in baseball. Let's see what October brings.
No comments:
Post a Comment