7
Oct
Posted by John S in MLB Preview Bonanza, Sports. Tagged: 2007 Diamondbacks, Adam Jones, AL East, Alex Rodriguez, baltimore orioles, Buck Showalter, Camden Yards, CC Sabathia, Chris Davis, Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter, Hiroki Kuroda, home runs, Ichiro, Jason Hammel, Jeffrey Maier, Jim Johnson, Joe Girardi, Mark Teixeira, matt wieters, MVP, new york yankees, Nick Markakis, phil hughes, Rafael Soriano, raul ibanez, robinson cano, the imminent decline of the Yankees. Leave a comment
Baltimore Orioles (93-69) at New York Yankees (95-67)
OVERVIEW
The two teams that battled for the AL East over 162 games now face each other for five to see who advances to the ALCS. Because that’s fair. The teams split the season series 9-9, with Baltimore outscoring New York by two in those games (the Orioles did end the season with a positive run differential, for those of you keeping track). The Orioles are this year’s Cinderella team, making the postseason for the first time since 1997, which was also the last time they had a winning record. The Yankees, meanwhile, are in their 28th postseason series since that year.
LINEUPS
Baltimore’s offense this year was all about the home run. The Orioles don’t walk much—11th in the league in OBP—or hit for a very high average—10th. They are last in stolen bases and 10th in hits. On top of that, their best contact hitter, Nick Markakis, broke his thumb in a totally innocent and not at all suspicious accident and is still out for a few more weeks. But the Orioles were second in the league in home runs, and there are power threats littered throughout the lineup. From Mark Reynolds to Matt Wieters to J.J. Hardy to Chris Davis to Adam Jones—who had a breakout season this year—nearly everyone is a threat to hit it out. Facing the Yankees, who play in a home run haven and trot out pitchers with a tendency to give up the long ball, that will obviously come up. Continue reading →
4
Apr
Posted by John S in MLB Preview Bonanza, Sports. Tagged: 2011 MLB Preview, A.J. Burnett, adam dunn, Adrian Gonzalez, Andy Pettitte, Bartolo Colon, Buck Showalter, Carl Crawford, Carlos Quentin, CC Sabathia, Clay Buchholz, cliff lee, Felix Hernandez, Freddy Garcia, Gio Gonzalez, Ivan Nova, Jon Lester, Josh Hamilton, Justin Morneau, Manny Ramirez, mariano rivera, Mark Teixeira, messin' with Texas, Miguel Cabrera, MLB Preview Bonanza, Oakland A's, Omar Vizquel, phil hughes, Texas Rangers, the 1972 Uruguayan rugby team, the genius of Buck, Trevor Cahill, Victor Martinez. 2 comments
We’re a full weekend into the baseball season, and NPI still hasn’t previewed the most important league! Don’t fret, though, John S is here to break it all down for you, and to make sure you don’t get fooled by Baltimore’s 3-0 start.
AL West
1. Oakland Athletics
2. Texas Rangers
3. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
4. Seattle Mariners
So you’re on the A’s bandwagon? Yeah, and I’m not even going to pretend like I got on it particularly early. I was really just looking for someone to pick over the Rangers.
Why do you feel the need to mess with Texas? Well, I was early on the Rangers bandwagon, picking them to win the West at the beginning of 2010, so it’s not like I’m anti-Texas. This year, though, the defending AL champs are both overrated and underrated. They are underrated because people have inevitably focused on the loss of Cliff Lee this off-season; but while losing Lee is obviously big, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that the Rangers were in first before trading for Lee last season, and that they likely would have won the division even without his acquisition (Lee was actually pretty mediocre for Texas in the regular season). Continue reading →
The two teams that battled for the AL East over 162 games now face each other for five to see who advances to the ALCS. Because that’s fair. The teams split the season series 9-9, with Baltimore outscoring New York by two in those games (the Orioles did end the season with a positive run differential, for those of you keeping track). The Orioles are this year’s Cinderella team, making the postseason for the first time since 1997, which was also the last time they had a winning record. The Yankees, meanwhile, are in their 28th postseason series since that year.
