First, because I wanted more names on the board; Granderson, Upton, etc. had great years and I'd rather highlight that than fluff Roy Halladay more than I was already going to. Second, because I'm not certain whether pitchers' WAR and hitters' WAR can really be translated on the exact same scale. The idea is to have a leaderboard that resembles the way MVP voting usually shakes out. And while the board looks alright this year (3 pitchers make the top 10 in the NL, 2 in the AL), two years ago you had Greinke leading the AL in WAR, Lincecum leading for most of the year (and I think finishing 2nd to Pujols) and something like 6 of the top 10 MLB-wide were pitchers. Third, because somehow calling Pablo Sandoval the fourth best hitter in the National League sounds better than calling him the 7th best player.

bay bias. gotcha

Fact of the day: Fister is Mormon.

Fister? I hardly knew her!

and also, Ivan Nova has not had a better season than Hellickson or Pineda. Nova's 16 wins are BS and Hellicksons 1.15 WHIP and 2.95 ERA are impressive enough to put him ahead of Ivan Nova who is a mediocre pitcher at best. Pineda's strickout numbers and whip are also just as impressive as Nova's 16 wins. I think Hellickson or Pineda is the de facto AL ROY, there's no way Nova deserves it since he's not close to being as good a pitcher as the other candidates.

nova's 16 wins are about as impressive as hughes' 18 last year.

and monga youre playoff predictions are pretty spot on wit mine except i think the yanks will give more trouble to texas. i feel like sabathia should win both games he pitches

I like New York, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee in the first round.

No afternoon playoff baseball today makes Paulie a sad sad boy :/

Cardinals-3 Phillies-2 homer pick! but seriously I think the Cards have a chance. Halladay/Hamels/Lee is obviously insane, especially in a five game series, but idk. The Phillies lineup does not scare me at all honestly, and with Carp pitching game 2 (and if there is a game 5, you can bet he'll be there too) I just can't give up hope. This is contingent on Matt Holliday being healthy of course.

Brewers-3 D'Backs-2 Neither of these teams are as good as their records would suggest and in general I think they're pretty evenly matched. Brewers have been great at home all year and have the home-field advantage in this series, so I'll go with them.



Rangers-3 Rays-1 I reallllly wanna root for the Rays 'cause they're probs my favorite team from the rest of the league, but I think the Rangers are too good. Love their manager, love their offense even more, GREAT defense at 3rd, SS and 2B, solid bullpen and solid rotation. Probably the best all-around team in the playoffs.

Yankees-3 Tigers-2 Meh, I haven't watched much of either of these teams this year so I have a hard time breaking the series down. Basically, I'm just assuming the Yankees offense will come through. If Verlander beats Sabathia in game 1 and I could switch my vote, I'd pick Detroit.

The five most exciting Division Series of all time:

1. 1995 ALDS
Seattle Mariners 3, New York Yankees 2
Scoring margin: SEA +2
Game 2: Ken Griffey homers in 12th, Yankees tie, then win on Jim Leyritz's 15th inning HR
Game 4: Edgar Martinez hits game-winning grand slam in 8th
Game 5: Randy Johnson and Jack McDowell pitch, both in relief. Johnson gives up run in 11th, but Mariners win on Martinez's 2-run double.

2. 2010 NLDS
San Francisco Giants 3, Atlanta Braves 1
Scoring margin: SF +2 (All four games decided by one run)
Game 1: Tim Lincecum Ks 14 in 2-hit shutout (fanboy note: Roy Halladay threw a goddamn no-hitter the day before and this was still the best-pitched game of the postseason)
Game 2: Brian Wilson blows a 3-run lead in the 8th, Braves win on Rick Ankiel HR in 11th
Game 3: Brooks Conrad has the 2nd worst day of any player in MLB history (after Ray Chapman)
Game 4: Cody Ross breaks up Derek Lowe's no-hitter with HR in 6th, hits game-winning 1B in 7th

3. 2003 ALDS
Boston Red Sox 3, Oakland A's 2
Scoring margin: OAK +1
Game 1: A's win in 12th inning on Ramon Hernandez bunt single
Game 3: With Boston down 2 games to none, Trot Nixon hits walk-off HR in 11th
Game 5: Down by one run, A's load bases in 9th but fail to score

4. 2001 NLDS
Arizona Diamondbacks 3, St. Louis Cardinals 2
Scoring margin: STL +2
Game 1: Curt Schilling throws 3-hit shutout
Game 3: Craig Counsell hits game-winning 3-run homer in 7th
Game 5: Schilling shuts out Cards through 7, JD Drew HR ties game in 8th, Arizona wins in 9th despite a failed squeeze play

5. 2000 NLDS
New York Mets 3, San Francisco Giants 1
Scoring margin: NYM +2
Game 2: JT Snow hits game-tying 3-run homer in 9th, Mets win in 10th. John Franco strikes out Barry Bonds with 2 men on to end game
Game 3: Benny Agbayani hits walk-off HR in 13th inning, is never heard from again
Game 4: Mets win series behind Bobby Jones' 1-hit shutout

idk where it would place, but the 2001 Yankees/A's series was really exciting and the most memorable DS I've seen all the way through.

Their manager who, trailing 6-0 in the 5th, had Josh Hamilton...lay down a sac bunt. Wat :/

Holliday might be out for Game 1, but I doubt he misses the whole series.

The Phillies lineup has been a lot better in the 16 games its been healthy (especially in the 8 with Pence).

Giants Phillies last year was the most I've ever enjoyed a series of any sport

Top 10, not top 5. The series I chose all had at least two games decided by one run, in extra innings, or both. NYY-OAK only had one (the Flip game). It also gets penalized for the appalling amount of Jeter knob-gobbling performed by the announcers (not so much over the Flip, which was merited, as over the dive into the 3rd base seats, something I've seen half a dozen other guys perform successfully without an ounce of OHMYGODBESTSHORTSTOPEVEREVENTHOUGHSTATISTICALLYHESWELLBELOWAVERAGEGIVEHIMANOTHERGOLDGLOVESHITFUCK!)

Oh, and even though it's well past time to stop bitching about them:

A QUICK INFORMAL BREAKDOWN OF THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS' COMPONENT VALUE:

Replacement level = 48 wins
Starting rotation = 17 wins
Bullpen = 6 wins
Pablo Sandoval = 6 wins
Hitters who spent less than two months on the active roster due to injuries (Posey, Sanchez, Beltran, Burrell) = 5 wins
EVERY OTHER HITTER = 4 wins
Total = 86 wins