2018 League Division Series

Visits: 4

As we inch towards the 2018 Fall Classic, we have already experienced historic events!

Before we could even get to the Wild Card games, the National League gave us something to talk about … not one, but two teams tied for first place in the Central and West divisions causing a game 163 for all four teams to decide who moves into the NLDS! The winners are locked into the playoffs while the losing teams made to face each other in the NL Wild Card (play-in) game. Back on that historic day, on Monday, October 1st (my dad’s birthday), the Brewers beat the Cubs 3 to 1 while the Dodgers beat the Rockies 5 to 2.

In the Wild Card round, the Cubs lost in 13 innings 2 to 1 to the Rockies despite a strong 6 innings of work from veteran Jon Lester who had 9 K’s before being pinch hit for in the 7th after only allowing one run in those 6 frames. In the other game, the Yankees beat the A’s who used primarily relief pitchers as no one pitcher threw more than 3 innings in a game that saw them use 6, yes 6 pitchers (aka “bullpenning” … yuk!) and lost 7 to 2.

Now as we move into the 2018 League Division Series, in a best 3 out of 5 game scenario, that sees the Rockies pitted against the Brewers and the Braves against the Dodgers in the NL. In the AL we see the reigning champion Astros pitted against the Indians and the age old rivalry between the Red Sox and the Yankees! By the way, this is the first time these two teams have faced each other in the postseason since the historic events of the 2004 postseason where the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the ALCS after being down 3 games to none to not only win the series, but they went on to sweep the World Series for their first Championship since 1918!

In this social media connected society that sees modern fan bases as rabid as ever as they root for their teams. Some go the face and body painting route, while others decorate their houses, cars and even their computers and cell phones with the likes of stickers for team sports, flags and fancy team wallpapers.

At the time of this writing, I have to admit that the Brewers are already up 2 games to none against the Rockies, the Dodgers lead the Braves and the Astros lead the Indians 1 game to none, while the Red Sox are beating the Yankees 5 to 0 after 5 innings with Chris Sale on the mound with 8 K’s so far … so much for this shoulder concerns!

So with that in mind, I feel it is a safe bet to say I think the Brewers will beat the Rockies as they need only 1 more win to accomplish that feat! I also think the Dodgers will beat the Braves, the Astros will beat the Indians (hopefully in 5 games) and the Red Sox (admittedly my home team!) will beat their arc rival Yankees. Check in next week to see if I was right!