A Fall Classic to Remember

Wow. Where we even begin? It felt like this World Series had a chance to be special. But who knew it would be THIS special? Someone’s drought was going to end. All of a sudden after an NBA championship and being the Cubs’ opponent in the world series, nobody felt bad for Cleveland anymore. After the first four games, it was getting pretty boring. Cleveland silenced the crowd at Wrigley Field with a shutout in game three and seemingly slammed the door shut in game four with a blowout victory.

But then, much like in the National League Champoinship Series after they were shut out in back-to-back games and trailed two games to one, the Cubs showed championship resolve. Everyone knew they had the talent, but how would they respond when punched in the gut? The degree to which they were punched in the gut increased in each of the three rounds of the playoffs. The Cubs needed a four-run ninth inning in the fourth game of the National League Division Series against the Giants to avoid having to play a decisive fifth game back at Wrigley against Johnny Cueto. They rallied to win the last three games of the NLCS with ease after showing no signs of life in games two and three. But to cap it off with a comeback from 3-1 down against a Cleveland team that was the best of their three opponents in the postseason? And to win an epic game seven 8-7 in 10 innings after leading 5-1 and 6-3 in what looked to be a relatively routine baseball game? Of course that’s how a 108-year drought is going to end.

                                                                       Chicago Tribune

Let’s start at the top. The man who put assembled the beast that is the Chicago Cubs. After taking the job in October 2011, President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein opted to gut the roster and start over. With several small-market tactics, Epstein and the rest of the front office loaded up their farm system and traded for players they saw as undervalued. Then, when the time was right, the Cubs flexed their financial muscles that any Chicago sports team has, and added free agents. The result of that? Draft picks that resulted in Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber, trades that netted Anthony Rizzo and Jake Arietta, and free agent signings that brought Jon Lester and even the manager Joe Maddon to the north side. All of a sudden the Cubs were loaded with young talent and are now set to win their next championship much earlier than another 108 years down the road. At the age of 42, Epstein has already been the mastermind behind the Red Sox and Cubs respective curses coming to an end. Can you say Cooperstown?

While Maddon made some very questionable moves throughout the series, when you have as much talent as the Cubs did it’s important to have a players’ manager. Maddon lightened the team’s pregame workload throughout the season in an effort to keep his players fresh. What’s even scarier is how young the bulk of the Cubs’ roster is. With several players of their core under the age of 28, Chicago is now the heavy favorite in the National League for the foreseeable future.

It’s easy to forget the Cleveland side of this story. The Indians did not necessarily have the flashy names in their lineup the way the Cubs did, but they all did their jobs which is a credit to manager Terry Francona, who was Epstein’s manager in Boston and like Epstein will also end up in the Hall of Fame when it’s all over. Team president Chris Antonetti was at the top of a front office that drafted and developed tons of talent which turned into a loaded pitching staff and a prospect core that was deep enough to trade for the best reliever in baseball, Andrew Miller, at the deadline. Their shortstop, Francisco Lindor, is perhaps the best shortstop in the game. This was a likeable group that steamrolled their way through the American League losing just one game in the ALDS and ALCS. They probably would have won the series if starting pitchers Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco were healthy enough to make starts in the series. Salazar was limited to a bullpen role while Carrasco did not pitch at all. They will be back.

But when it was all said and done, Ben Zobrist was the MVP of the series after his clutch double in the top of the 10^th in game seven broke a 6-6 tie.  The emotion from Rizzo was on display throughout the decisive game proving that these athletes are human too. But the real MVPs were those sitting in their living rooms that were old enough to be alive the last time the Cubs were in the World Series in 1945. Heck, one man drove from his North Carolina home to his father’s grave in Indiana to listen to the game with his dad fulfilling a pact made between the two. They waited a lifetime and it finally happened. It’s disappointing a team that was so easy to cheer for like the Indians was on the wrong side of all of it, but there’s nothing quite like what baseball fans just witnessed particularly in that seventh game. As Brad Pitt said in Moneyball, how can you not get romantic about baseball?

Making sense of the Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles season is only five games old, but their performance thus far has been wildly inconsistent. The Eagles were the talk of the NFL following their week three beat down of the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field. The team was 3-0 heading into their bye week and all three wins came in convincing fashion. Granted the first two were against two of the worst teams in the National Football League in the Cleveland Browns and the Chicago Bears, but their dominant performance against Pittsburgh seemingly silenced any doubters.

                                                                     Associated Press
Wentz was under duress all afternoon last week at FedEx Field.

However, then the Eagles entered their bye week and the momentum they had built up in the season’s first three weeks disappeared. It was a potential concern of having the bye so early, but not an excuse nonetheless. In Detroit, against a subpar Lions team, their defense looked like it was still on a bye week in the first half allowing chunks of yardage which resulted in a 21-10 halftime deficit. The Eagles rallied, only to blow the game in the waning minutes as Ryan Mathews fumbled on a play that didn’t have much of a chance to go for a first down to begin with. The fumble resulted in Detroit taking a 24-23 lead on its ensuing possession that would hold up. Last week against Washington, the defense again looked lifeless. Washington dominated the line of scrimmage and ran the ball at will to the tune of 230 rushing yards and seven yards per carry. Cornerback Jalen Mills who was a bright spot in the first three games, could not keep up with former Eagle DeSean Jackson on the outside. Washington did this on offense without one of its best players on its entire roster as tight end Jordan Reed was sidelined with a concussion. On offense, things weren’t any better for the Eagles who lost the battle in the trenches against Washington’s defense as well. Rookie right tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai’s first start in place of Lane Johnson, who began serving his 10-game suspension, was a disaster and rookie quarterback Carson Wentz had next to no time to operate in the pocket all day. The score was 27-20 but felt much worse since the Eagles two touchdowns came on an interception returned for six by Malcolm Jenkins and a kickoff return for a touchdown by Wendell Smallwood. Additionally, in both the Detroit and Washington games, the Eagles had over 100 yards of penalties.

So now what? Who are they? Are they the team that looked flawless before the bye or are they the team that’s continuously shot themselves in the foot coming out of the bye? It’s probably something in between, but will that be good enough to remain competitive in the NFC East? For as critical as many have been about the mediocrity of the division in the last couple of seasons, right now it’s not shaping up like a mediocre division. Dallas is 5-1 heading into a bye week and certainly looks to be for real. Washington has righted the ship after an 0-2 start and won four straight games, two of which have been against NFC East opponents. The Eagles are still over .500. The Giants halted their three-game losing skid last week with a win against Baltimore and now have a very winnable game on Sunday in London against the Rams as they look to get back over .500.

Beginning with Sunday’s date with the only remaining unbeaten team in the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings, the Eagles schedule is about to get much more difficult. To remain competitive and have a shot at making the playoffs heading into December, they’ll likely have to take care of business against the inferior opponents, which they didn’t do the last two weeks, and sneak up on a few teams the way they did against Pittsburgh. It’s a tall task, that likely won’t result in the Eagles playing into January.

But remember this, the preseason expectations were for this team to win between five and eight games. Almost no one had the Eagles in the postseason. Granted, expectations changed after the Pittsburgh blowout. But these last two weeks should reset expectations close to or almost right where they were before the season started. It’s okay if the Eagles don’t make the playoffs this year. What’s most important is that Wentz continues to show he’s the franchise quarterback they thought they were getting when they made the move up in the draft last spring. Then, the Eagles can move forward and address some of the roster concerns that they have, namely offensive line. As for this year, it looks like this is going to be a team that teases its fans one week and lets them down the following week. In other words, an average team headed for an average season.

Photo: http://wtop.com/washington-redskins/2016/10/penalties-hurt-as-wentz-eagles-take-another-step-backward/

2016 MLB Playoff Predictions

Wild Card Round

AL: Toronto over Baltimore

NL: San Francisco over New York

Analysis: These games still are useless and my feelings haven’t changed since I ranted about these “playoff” games last year. That being said, I like the Blue Jays and Giants to advance. The American League game could become a slugfest as Toronto and Baltimore finished fifth and seventh in the American League respectively in runs scored and I’ll take the Blue Jays’ lineup in that case. Baltimore did surprise this year and Buck Showalter deserves serious consideration for the AL Manager of the Year. In the National League, it’s a marquee pitching matchup between Madison Bumgarner and Noah Syndergaard. Terry Collins may very well be the NL Manager of the Year for getting his team back to the postseason despite being decimated with injuries, but it’s hard to see Bumgarner’s October success coming to a halt tomorrow night at Citi Field considering the Mets lineup doesn’t strike fear into many opposing pitchers.

League Division Series

NL: Dodgers over Nationals in 5

        Cubs over Giants in 5

Analysis: Dodgers-Nationals is a tricky one. Both teams have struggled recently in the playoffs. I think this series goes the distance and I’ll take Clayton Kershaw to win two games in this series and officially exercise the playoff demons that some people still think exist after he won in New York last year with his team facing elimination.  The Cubs and Giants matchup has popcorn series written all over it if the Giants win the wild card game. The Giants have the starting pitching to silence the Cubs’ lineup and go toe-to-toe with the Cubs' starters in low-scoring games. However, Wrigley Field will be rocking with many anticipating this is the year the Cubs end their 108-year drought without a World Series title. The Giants having to use Bumgarner in the wild card game doesn’t help either. Cubs clinch it at Wrigley to head to the NLCS.

AL: Red Sox over Indians in 4

       Rangers over Blue Jays in 4

Analysis: Cleveland is without Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar’s role is unknown. That doesn’t bode well facing a Red Sox lineup that led the majors in runs scored. However, while Cleveland was second in the American League in runs, the Indians scored 101 runs fewer than the Red Sox did this season. Boston’s lineup is too strong for an undermanned Cleveland pitching rotation. There’s strong cases for Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts as the AL MVP and Boston starting pitcher Rick Porcello could take home the league’s Cy Young Award. Rangers-Blue Jays certainly could be fun in a rematch from last year’s ALDS that was won in five games by Toronto. Texas is a better team this year and avenges last year’s first-round exit.

League Championship Series

NLCS: Cubs over Dodgers in 5

ALCS: Red Sox over Rangers in 6

Analysis: Whoever wins that Cubs-Giants series is coming out of the National League. It’s hard to see either the Dodgers or Nationals beating one of those two teams in a best-of-seven playoff series. The Cubs have more starting pitching depth than the Dodgers and a better lineup so the Cubs' shaky bullpen probably won’t come into play much if this is indeed the NLCS matchup. The American League series would be more interesting and there’s an argument for Texas here if you believe Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish can turn in a stellar start or two. That said, Hamels struggled down the stretch and Darvish has made one career start in the postseason so I’m still not sure the Rangers could hold the Red Sox’ bats at bay.

World Series

World Series: Cubs over Red Sox in 7

Analysis: This should really be the World Series everyone is rooting for. Two big-market teams, with devout fan bases and several of baseball’s best players colliding on the sport’s biggest stage. It looked like we might get this matchup 13 years ago in 2003 when the Cubs and Red Sox both made it to the LCS, but then Steve Bartman and Aaron Boone became household names. With Theo Epstein assembling the roster, Boston ended its curse one year later in 2004 and has won the World Series twice more since. Now, Theo’s current team ends its own curse against his former team.