2005 Baseball Postseason, Volume II

I was 3-1 in LDS picks, just like last year. I picked to the game on two series, although I was never confident the Padres could win a game in the other one I got right. The one I got wrong (Red Sox in 4 over the White Sox), just like last year (Twins beating the Yanks in 4), I got really wrong. Last year, I was 2-0 in my LCS picks.

ALCS: White Sox/Angels

Regular season: Angels 6-4

The Angels are tired after a 5-game, brutal series with the Yanks. History tells me that the rested team usually wins the playoff matchups, and the Angels have a serious uphill battle here with a team that is playing out of its mind and has had the whole weekend to prepare. With starting pitching that seems to be ailing a tad, the Angels still have some fight to them, and they should still make this a series. Their hitting can be scary, but it's not as scary as the Red Sox, who the White Sox just dumped. I think you definitely have to go with the White Sox to make their first World Series since 1959 here.

White Sox, 4-2

NLCS: Cardinals/Astros

Regular season: Cardinals 11-5

A true rematch of last year's LCS, which the Cardinals won 4-3. The difference here is that the Astros didn't have a healthy Andy Pettitte. The Cardinals also aren't much more rested than the Astros, although the Astros did play the equivalent of 5 games to the Cards' 3. Besides, this doesn't start until Wednesday, and Mr. Pettitte has been rested since last Wednesday. Let's not underestimate the Cardinals, though. They have good pitching, too, and an offense that seems to put 5 or 6 runs on the board before you can blink. With both bullpens in the slightly-shaky range (both with good closers), that evens out. And the Astros, despite their lowly offensive numbers if you examine them for a complete season, got significantly better in September. Remember, they were without Berkman most of the year. This is a tough series to pick and just like last year it could go either way, but I'm going with the Astros here.

Astros, 4-3

So is anyone ready for a White Sox-Astros World Series? Doesn't sound sexy does it? In my previous predictions I had Astros-Red Sox, which is exactly why I don't like picking an entire postseason because that went out the door quickly. So I will wait until the World Series starts before I offer who I think would win such a matchup should it occur. It would be sexier to see the best teams over the entire season square off (Sox/Cards), as they nearly had identical records and I think it would be a heck of a series. Anyway, we'll see soon. I'm going for the White Sox here. I want them to break their curse.