ffice:smarttags" name="State">ffice:smarttags" name="City">ffice:smarttags" name="place"> The baseball season is almost over the playoff series are starting to shape up. The American League looks up for grabs with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Boston Red Sox, and the Los Angeles Angels all going. Whoever goes from the Central is going to be swept in the first round. I do not think I have ever seen a sadder pennant race than the one showcased for the last month between the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox.
The season has broken down into who can play worse. So far it appears the Twins are theta team. The White Sox are the favorites with 71 percent to make the postseason. White Sox playoff tickets are only going to be available for a game or two (if they can somehow pull out a win). This team can only score with the long ball and the bats have cooled off since Carlos Quentin had surgery and left a giant hole in the lineup. Even if he makes it back for the playoffs his swing is going to be off and he is going to be useless.
I would much rather have tickets to a game on the Rays postseason schedule, to Fenway Park, or out on the West Coast for a loaded team like the Angels. I like the Angels. Their division was easy, but the team is just scary. After a slow start Mark Teixeira helped energize a dangerous lineup with Vladimir Guerrero, Garret Anderson, and Torii Hunter. Angels tickets to any game see a great starter. No matter what their numbers, John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders, Jered Weaver, and Jon Garland all have scary stuff.
The National League is pretty much already set. I do not care about the great play of late by the Los Angeles Dodgers or the fight in the East between the Phillies and the Mets. The winner is going to be the Cubs. If you are lucky enough to find Chicago Cubs playoff tickets you will see an incredibly balanced team on the field. The batting lineup has been good all around. Good all around means that no one player has a case for the MVP, but if somebody is off there are plenty of players to pick up the slack.
No pitcher wants to see Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Geovany Soto, Mark DeRosa, or Alfonso Soriano in one lineup. The pitching is just as scary with a solid playoff rotation with Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, Ryan Dempster, and Ted Lilly are as good as anybody else’s top four starters. Kerry Wood is a solid starter and the bullpen has two or three dependable players to hold any lead.
That and the club has a historical season behind them. Trying to end 100 years of embarrassing futility is more of a motivator to than the last season at Shea, especially when the stadiums last season has been overshadowed by Yankee Stadium. New York Mets games may have been great to watch as the season boiled down and the race with Philadelphia has been entertaining, but Cubs nation has the bitching and moaning coming out of New York beat out this fall.
