Baseball Playoff Spots Up for Grabs
By Barry J. Hicks
Capital Times Staff Writer
With two weeks remaining
in the Major League Baseball
regular season, three divisions
and two wild card spots are vir
tually up for grabs.
In the National League, the
Mets and Braves are battling for
top spot in the East while the
Reds and Astros fight for the
Central Division crown.
Of the two teams that don’t
win their respective division,
only one can get the National
League Wild Card.
That means a team could
presumably finish the season 28
games over .500 and be sitting
home in October.
In the American League, the
Red Sox and Yankees are in a
dogfight to win the East title
while the surprising Oakland
Athletics try to stay in con
tention for the wild card spot.
Here is a team by team break
down of the 1999 pennant race
and post-season predictions.
ATLANTA BRA VES
Coming into the season, the
Atlanta Braves had one of the
most intimidating teams in
Major League Baseball.
Their offensive lineup is,
without a doubt, the National
League’s best, acquiring Bret
Boone and Brian Jordan in the
off season.
They were dealt a huge blow
when Andres Galarraga devel
oped cancer in his back and was
lost for the season.
The pitching staff struggled
miserably through the All-Star
break, and somehow they still
have a stronghold on the NL
East crown.
Greg Maddux looks like his
old self but this lineup is
absolutely horrible without
Galarraga, and Brian Jordan’s
hand is hurting him worse than
he wants to let on.
Chipper Jones is having an
MVP season but he can’t carry
the load much longer. They
face the Mets six times in the
final two weeks of the season
and will lose five of those meet
ings. Look for the wheels to
come off of this team and they
are left out of the post season
completely.
ARIZONA
DIAMONDBACKS
The Arizona Diamondbacks
are a great team. Buck
Showalter has his team produc
ing runs when they need it.
Randy Johnson is getting the
worst run support in the league,
but it’s no coincidence. A good
team scores just enough runs to
win a ball game, and when a
guy is striking out 12.7 batters
per outing, an opposing team
can’t score too many runs.
When Johnson pitches, the
D-backs don’t have to score a
lot of runs to win. They save
their offensive support for
another day in the form of Matt
Williams, Jay Bell, and Luis
Gonzalez, all of whom are hav
ing career years.
This team is quality. Look
for them to be in the World
Series against the Yankees set
ting up another Randy Johnson
vs. Yankees match up. The
Diamondbacks will win it all in
1999.
HOUSTON ASTROS
The Houston Astros have
the only two 20-game winners
in the National League in Mike
Hampton and Jose Lima. The
problem is that they are
absolutely horrid against good
teams.
Against the other National
League contenders, the Astros
are a sub-par 11-22. This divi
sion looks to display one of the
most exciting finishes in Major
League Baseball history.
Mark September 28 and 29
on your calendar because this is
a two game series with the Reds
that will determine the Central
Division champion.
The Astros will lose both
games in that series, at home,
and grab the Wild Card in the
National League. They will
then lose to the New York Mets
in the divisional series because,
once again, they can’t play
against good teams.
CINCINNATI REDS
Who in their right mind
would have predicted the Reds
to be this far into the playoff
hunt on September 22?
They hold the 22nd highest
payroll in Major League
Baseball and the team is made
up of a bunch of comeback
player of the year candidates.
Their bullpen sports a 3.27
ERA and won 31 games. The
acquisition of Juan Guzman
will prove to be a great deci
sion.
This team is hitting home
runs like crazy, as of late,
including a nine home run game
against the Phillies on Sept. 4.
They’ve come too far to
blow it now. The scariest team
is always the one with nothing
to lose.
Pete Hamisch is pitching
with a tom rotator cuff but is
having a stellar year.
They win the Central
Division crown but lose to the
Diamondbacks in the divisional
series due to the over worked
bullpen, which has already
logged over 450 innings this
year.
NEW YORK METS
The New York Mets have
the best defense in baseball, an
exceptional starting rotation
including Kenny Rogers and A 1
Leiter, the second best bullpen
in baseball.
Therefore they win the NL
East and defeat the Astros in the
divisional series
Rey Ordonez might be the
best defensive shortstop ever
and this team is a nice tnix of
young talent and veteran leader
ship.
Randy Johnson is just too
much, however, and will pitch
three times in an unbelievable
seven-game-NLCS to beat the
Mets.
NEW YORK YANKEES
The New York Yankees are
still the team to beat. They are
the defending World Series
Champions and until someone
can take them out in the post
season, they are the best team in
the league.
Derek Jeter is having an
MVP caliber year and they are
getting tremendous starting
pitching from Andy Pettitte and
Hideki Irabu down the stretch.
The Yankees will win the
division, defeat Texas in the
divisional series, beat
Cleveland in the ALCS, and
move on to the World Series.
Hats off to the Yanks for not
panicking and holding on to
Pettitte at the trade deadline.
CLEVELAND INDIANS
The Cleveland Indians had
their division wrapped up when
they signed Roberto Alomar in
the off season.
An obscene 24 games up in
the Central Division, the
Indians have been looking for-
ward to the postseason since
May.
Manny Ramirez is an RBI
machine and that lineup is
enough to make a starting pitch
er nauseous on game day.
The Indians are a tremen
dous team but they failed to
acquire starting pitching at the
trade deadline.
How many years are they
going to try to win a champi
onship with offense before they
realize you can’t win a title
without pitching?
Indians will finish with the
best record in the American
League, beat Boston in the first
round, and lose to the Yankees
in the ALCS.
TEXAS RANGERS
The Texas Rangers, like the
Indians, are a high powered
offensive machine with below
average pitching.
They will hold off the pesky
Oakland Athletics and, win the
West, but then they’ll have to
face the New York Yankees in
what, is always , a tremendous
post season series.
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SPORTS
but the Yankees are too strong.
BOSTON RED SOX
Two words: Pedro Martinez.
If one man can shake up the out
come of this year’s playoffs,
Boston has him. Pedro Martinez is
one of the best pitchers ever seen,
and that includes Nolan Ryan.
With three starts left in the
regular season, and a schedule
including Detroit, Toronto,
Chicago, and Baltimore, the
Red Sox have the Wild Card
wrapped up.
If Martinez can push the
divisional series to five games,
he will pitch twice against the
Indians and they have a shot at
going to the ALCS.
Don’t look to see the series
going that far. Boston is ousted
in the first round.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS
The Oakland Athletics have
put up one heck of a fight. With
one of baseball’s lowest pay
rolls they’ve managed to go 15
games over .500, which is quite
an accomplishment.
The Boston Red Sox are just
too good and Oakland gets left
out in the Wild Card race.
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