Joey's Soapbox: Predictions For A Yankee-less, Phillie-less World Series

Greetings, Mets fans! Welcome to the latest edition of Joey's Soapbox, where today I will give you my predictions for this year's World Series to be played between the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants.

If you recall, last week I correctly predicted that both the Rangers and the Giants would be representing their respective leagues in the Fall Classic. (Click here if you don't believe me.)

Now I have the difficult task of picking a winner for this year's World Series. It was tough last year because I wanted both the Yankees and Phillies to lose. I hoped for Armageddon to arrive before the Series began so that we would be spared having to watch one of our hated rivals win a championship. Needless to say, the Yankees won their millionth World Series title and the Phillies were number two, which is the most appropriate number I can think of for them.

This year, I was rooting for both the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants to knock off those two teams from the previous paragraph, (I can't even make myself say their dreaded names again for fear that I'll lose my appetite.) so now that they have, how can I root against either one of them?

Regardless, I am a professional. I must perform the task at hand. You came to this blog because you either wanted my World Series predictions or you Googled "gluteus maximus" and after the first dozen or so matches, Studious Metsimus showed up and you clicked on it out of morbid curiosity. (What I'm curious about is why you would be searching for "gluteus maximus" to begin with...)

Therefore, without further ado, here are my predictions for the 2010 World Series.


World Series

Texas Rangers vs. San Francisco Giants

Because the National League won their first All-Star Game since before Al Gore invented the Internet, the World Series will begin in San Francisco.

The Giants were 49-32 at AT&T Park, while the Rangers were 39-42 on the road. However, Texas' road difficulties did not carry into the postseason, as the Rangers have played brilliantly away from home, winning five out of six road games against the Rays and Yankees in the ALDS and ALCS.

Both teams parlayed hot months into a division title. Texas was 21-6 in June, but was barely above .500 (69-66) in the other five months. Similarly, San Francisco took apart the league in July (20-8) and September (18-8), but split their other 108 games, going 54-54 in the other four months.

Texas has great hitters. If Josh Hamilton doesn't hurt you, Vladimir Guerrero will. If Guerrero doesn't come through, Nelson Cruz will. The list goes on and on. The Giants don't have that kind of offensive firepower, but they might not need it if their pitching staff shows up for duty.

The starting rotation of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner is among the best in the league. Yes, Texas has Cliff Lee, who is already searching for a bank large enough to stash away his hunka-hunka burnin' cash that he is sure to receive once he becomes a free agent. But although C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis and Tommy Hunter have all blossomed this season, they're still not in the class of the awesome foursome from San Francisco.

Another thing to consider is the bullpens. Neftali Feliz had an incredible rookie season, but he has not been tested in October. Because every Ranger victory in the postseason has been by at least four runs, Feliz has not pitched in a save situation yet.

Meanwhile, Brian Wilson has racked up five saves in nine scoreless innings of work. If the teams are deadlocked in the late innings, Wilson's pressure-packed successes in this postseason will prove invaluable to the Giants, whereas we're still unsure if Feliz's butterflies will get the best of him if he's thrust into a tight ballgame.

As I said before, this series is tough to predict, but since I'm contractually obligated to do so (although my colleague still hasn't shown me this contract...I might have to talk to my agent about that), I will say that the World Series will go six games. Unfortunately, both teams will have won three of those games.

Who will win Game 7? It will be the...Oops! Apparently, it's Bedtime for Beartran. Too bad. Guess I won't be able to tell you that tonight. Besides, does it really matter who wins this World Series?

As Mets fans, we're all winners because we don't have to watch Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and C(onstantly) C(hewing) Sabathia playing this year. We also don't have to hear Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Shane "The Cryin' Hawaiian" Victorino whine about every call that doesn't go their way. That, my friends, is why this will be a true Fall Classic. Enjoy the World Series!

Joey's Soapbox: LCS Picks That Appeal To All New York Sports Fans

Hello, everybody! I'm your sometimes prognosticator and always big masticator, Joey Beartran. Now that we've advanced to the American League and National League Championship Series, it's time for some new predictions.

I didn't do too well when I made my Division Series predictions last week, picking only one winner (San Francisco) correctly out of the four series. However, I'm not disappointed about it. After all, Oliver Perez can't even throw one strike every four pitches, so as long as I'm more effective than El Perez-idente, I know I can continue to be Studious Metsimus' resident baseball psychic.

So why is the title of the blog "LCS Picks That Appeal To All New York Sports Fans"? Read my predictions and you'll see exactly what I mean.

American League Championship Series

New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers

The Yankees have never lost to the Texas Rangers in the playoffs, defeating them in the ALDS in 1996, 1998 and 1999. Over those three seasons, both teams had explosive offenses, but the Rangers did not have the pitching to contain the Yankees' high-powered bats, finishing the regular season with ERAs of 4.65 in 1996, 4.99 in 1998 and 5.07 in 1999.

This year is another story, as the Rangers finished the regular season with a team ERA of 3.93. It was the first time since 1990 that the Rangers kept their ERA under 4.00, when Bobby Valentine was their manager.

Note: To this day, Valentine remains the Rangers' all-time leader in managerial wins, in addition to his second-place standing on the Mets' all-time ranks.

The previous Ranger teams that were disposed by the Yankees could not compete with their softball league pitching staff. This year's team has a legitimate ace in Cliff Lee, who sports a perfect 6-0 postseason record and a sparkling 1.44 ERA in seven career playoff starts. In addition, he was undefeated in three starts against the Yankees this year, including a complete game victory on June 29, when he was a member of the lowly Seattle Mariners.

Lee isn't the only Ranger starter who pitched well in 2010, as C.J. Wilson (15-8, 3.35 ERA) and Tommy Hunter (13-4, 3.73 ERA) also excelled during the regular season.

Consider this. If the series goes seven games, the Rangers will get two starts from Cliff Lee and one start against A.J. Burnett. That looks like three victories there. Also, one cannot expect that the tandem of Wilson and Hunter, who combined to go 28-12 this season, will go winless during the series.

The Yankees might have had the Rangers' number in previous postseason meetings, but this time Texas is armed and ready for them. It'll be a hard-fought series, but Cliff Lee in Game 7 (against a Yankee starter NOT named C(onstantly) C(hewing) Sabathia) will be the difference.

Rangers in 7.


National League Championship Series

San Francisco Giants vs. Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies may have the odds-on favorite to win this year's Cy Young Award in Roy Halladay, but the Giants have the pitcher who's won each of the last two Cy Young Awards in Tim "No, I Was Not In Dazed And Confused" Lincecum. Therefore, even a no-hitter by Halladay might not be enough against the Giants, who boast one of the best and most complete pitching staffs in baseball in Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan "I Threw A No-Hitter Before Halladay Did" Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner.

The difference in this series will come down to two things - who scores first and who has the better bullpen.

The Phillies and Giants had the two best records in the major leagues when they scored the first run of the game, with the Phillies going 64-13 and the Giants finishing 63-19 in games where they put up the first run. Since runs may be few and far in between, the team who scores the first run might be the team who scores the only run.

So once the starters come out of the game, it'll be up to the bullpens to keep the runs off the board. That's where the teams differ. The Phillies have Ryan Madson (6-2, 2.55 ERA) and Brad Lidge (27 saves, 2.99 ERA), but none of their other relievers posted an ERA under 3.34, and that ERA was claimed by 99-year-old Jose Contreras, who once chose Jackie Robinson as his idol because "he hit his changeup better than anyone else could".

The Giants, on the other hand, can trot out four excellent relievers. Ramon Ramirez gave up a two-run HR to leading NL MVP candidate Joey Votto on August 25. Those were the only earned runs he gave up as a San Francisco Giant. His 0.67 ERA in 25 appearances led the bullpen, but the three-headed monster of Sergio Romo (2.18 ERA, 0.97 WHIP), Santiago Casilla (1.95 ERA in 52 appearances) and closer Brian Wilson (1.81 ERA and a major league leading 48 saves) aren't too far behind.

The Phillies may have a number of weapons on offense, but the old baseball adage of good pitching defeats good hitting will determine the series. The Phillies have excellent starting pitching, but the Giants have outstanding pitching both in their starting rotation and in their bullpen.

Philadelphia will not become the first National League team since the 1942-44 St. Louis Cardinals to three-peat as pennant winners. They will leave their pennant in San Francisco.

Giants in 6.


So let's get back to why these picks will appeal to all New York sports fans. Clearly, if you're reading this, you're more than likely a Mets fan or a confused person who's wondering how on Earth you got to a site where a bear is making baseball predictions. Let's assume you're the former and not the latter.

No Mets fan is going to want another Doomsday Series in which the despised Phillies play the hated Yankees. Those Mets fans have probably turned off baseball for the season and have now moved to football and hockey. Perhaps the football fans root for the New York Giants. Maybe the hockey fans root for the New York Rangers.

Therefore, for those Mets fans, you can take comfort that this year's World Series will feature your Giants and your Rangers.



Say it with me. Let's Go Giants! Let's Go Rangers!

Maybe this won't be such a bad postseason after all.

Studious Metsimus Presents The Happy/Crappy Recap For 2009

It's the end of another year and Studious Metsimus would like to recap 2009 for you, followed by a thank you to some of our special readers and fellow bloggers who helped make Studious Metsimus what it is today.

It all began so well for the Mets in 2009. Then the Star-Spangled Banner was sung on Opening Day and everything fell apart. Injury after injury turned into loss after loss and the Mets could only manage a 70-92 record, good for fourth place in the NL East.

To make matters worse, Mets fans were subjected to the Doomsday World Series between the Yankees and the Phillies. Some major retooling had to be done after the World Series was completed and the Mets almost waited for 2009 to end before they made any noise in the free agent market, finally acquiring Jason Bay before the calendar changed to 2010.

The 2009 season saw the premiere of Citi Field with the Citi Kitty cursing the Mets on Opening Night. It also saw dropped popups, the Tony Bernazard Strongman Competition (probably seen on ESPN 2 sometime after 3 AM), the rise and fall of the Three Fernandos, David Wright's head-seeking missile and too many other moments that made this a forgettable season.

Fortunately, Studious Metsimus has something to be thankful for. To our readers such as Señor Solly, Satish, Jason, Efrain, Tracy and Anonymous (thank you to Anonymous for leaving the most comments), we'd like to thank you for your readership. You helped us surpass our goal of having two readers in 2009. Your comments were always appreciated and made us want to write more quality stories to hide the fact that the Mets really sucked this year.

To Kelly, thank you so much for designing the Studious Metsimus logo. It gave the site credibility that our excuse for writing would not have been able to get on its own. The writing got better once we said to ourselves, "Oh, crap! We look like a professional Mets blog. We'd better made the writing match the beautiful logo!"

To Denise, thank you for convincing us that we had some talent. Without your encouragement (and Kelly's as well), we wouldn't have started blogging on the Mets, first on Mets Merized Online, then expanding to Studious Metsimus.

To Joe D, thank you for giving us our first break. Without the opportunity you gave us, we never would have grown the cojones to start Studious Metsimus. We're waving our David Wright Pom Poms that we borrowed from Bayonne Mets Fan to show our appreciation for everything you've done for us.

To Jon and Lisa, thank you for teaching the two-member Studious Metsimus staff that sometimes squawking is the way to go to attract attention to our blog. Don't give up hope, Jon. We'll always have 1986. And Lisa, you may be the only Yankee fan who's cool in the eyes of Studious Metsimus. Even Joey thinks so!

Last, but certainly not least, we must give a shout out to Coop. For inspiring a number of blogs, for taking the Studious Metsimus staff on a tour of Citi Field, for being you...thank you. Hopefully, Joey will be able to persuade you to join the Studious Metsimus staff in 2010. You're a legend in the blogosphere and we'd love to have you!

From Joey and I, we'd like to wish you all the best for a happy and healthy 2010. Thank you for supporting Studious Metsimus and as always, LET'S GO METS !!

Joey's Soapbox: Phillies To Repeat; Yankees Smell Defeat

It's been a while since I got on my soapbox, but as you can see from the picture to the left, I'm back on it and I brought some props with me. It's time to make my predictions for the 2009 World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees, or as my colleague calls it, the Doomsday Series.

Let me first say that I would rather not pick either one of these teams, because I am a Mets fan first, second and always. I proudly wave my foam finger in the face of anyone who doubts where my allegiances lie.

That being said, I'm pulling for the Yankees to lose to the Phillies in the World Series. Here is my reasoning for this prediction.

I hate the Phillies and their fans more than Sally Struthers hates salads, but they've only been good for three years. Before 2007, did anybody on the Phillies annoy you? Were their fans up in your faces? No. Everything was cool before 2007 because there was no rivalry or animosity between the two teams and their fans.

However, since 2000, all Yankee fans have been saying is 26 rings this, 26 rings that. Not only that, but if you're a Mets fan who reminds them that they haven't won a ring in nine years, what will they say? They'll say that it's been 23 years since we last won and that their last ring was earned by beating the Mets.

Phillies fans can't talk (even though they will). Not only are they the only team in professional sports with 10,000 losses, but over the course of each franchise's history, the Mets have a better winning percentage than the Phillies.

Despite the fact that the Mets were regular patrons of the 100-loss club for several years before they won the World Series in 1969 and were dismal in the late 70s and early 80s, they still have a better overall record than the Phillies. In 48 seasons, the Mets' regular season winning percentage is .479 (3,655 wins and 3,981 losses). The Phillies have 9,038 wins and 10,167 losses in their 127-year history, for a winning percentage of .471. If they were to start a 1,000 game winning streak, they'd still have a losing record once the skein ended.

Yankee fans can be arrogant as well, but at least they can back it up with all of their championships that they earned in every decade except the 80s. What can Phillies fans back it up with? Not much. Two championships in 127 years isn't that impressive. The Mets have won the same amount of titles in about one-third the time. Even the Marlins have won that many championships and they've only been in existence since 1993. The only thing the Phillies can say they do better then the Mets is that the Phillie Phanatic is better at playing with his wiener.

So let the Phillies and their fans have their fun. Does anyone really expect them to stay around for long? They don't have a single everyday player under the age of 28 and by the time Opening Day comes around, their fearsome foursome of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibañez will all be in their thirties.

By the time their contracts expire, all will be past their prime but will still demand the money of players in their prime. Only Chase Utley is signed beyond the 2011 season. Jayson Werth will become a free agent after next season. Next year is also Jimmy Rollins' last year, although he has an option for 2011, while Howard and Ibañez's contracts expire in 2011 as well. Do you really think they'll all accept pay cuts to continue playing for the Phillies?

The run started by the Phillies in 2007 should end by 2011. Then it will be back to normal, where the Mets will be better than the Phillies and the Yankees will still be talking about their dozens of rings.

Because of that, I am picking the Yankees to lose the World Series in five games to the Phillies. That's right. I'm agreeing with Jimmy Rollins' prediction of five games. Don't worry. It won't become a habit. Once April comes around, it'll be back to smashmouth baseball. Or in the case of Jimmy Rollins, smashface baseball.

The Doomsday Poll: Yankees or Phillies?

Halloween has come early for Mets fans. Instead of "trick or treat", Mets fans will be experiencing "trick or trick". The nightmare Studious Metsimus has referred to as the Doomsday Series is now a reality. Mets fans everywhere will be hearing it from both sides as the Phillies and Yankees will be facing each other in the 2009 World Series beginning Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.

In lieu of a regular blog, I'll make this short and terribly bitter. Will you root for the Phillies? Will you root for the Yankees? Will you root for the Mets (if you're watching Mets Classics or your 1986 World Series DVDs as you read this)?

Please vote and leave comments as to why you made your selection. Remember, your answer can't be wrong. It just might not agree with the correct one.

For Mets Fans, It's Like A Horror Movie That Never Ends

Well, SMFs. As of this writing, both the Phillies and the Yankees have 3-1 leads in their respective series. They are now both one win away from the World Series no Mets fan wanted to see. Although I still hold out hope for both the Dodgers and the Angels to come back in their series, I am willing to accept what might inevitably happen.

A Phillies-Yankees World Series would complete the Trilogy of Terror for the Mets. In 2007, the Mets suffered their epic collapse and watched the Phillies sneak up on them, eventually taking the NL East division title on the last day of the season. Like a horror movie, the events shocked us and served as a set-up for what was to come.

The 2008 season saw the Mets lose the division title to the Phillies during the last weekend of the season and watched the Brewers take the wild card on the final day of the regular season. Not only that, but this time, Mets fans were forced to watch the Phillies steamroll their way through the postseason to win their second World Series Championship in franchise history. All horror movie sequels have a higher body count and watching the Phillies win it all in 2008 certainly left many Mets fans gasping for air, especially those of us who had 2008 World Series tickets had the games been played at Shea Stadium.


It's time for the final act of the trilogy. This is where everything comes together. Now we're on the verge of a World Series between our crosstown rivals and our division rivals. No matter who wins, Mets fans will lose. Oh, yes. There will be blood. Unfortunately, it'll be ours as we watch our TV screens in horror.

Fortunately, trilogies always end after the third act. Perhaps in 2010, the Mets will be able to come back and erase the memory of the 2007-2009 seasons. Then again, sometimes after the first trilogy ends, a second one begins. Let's hope that isn't the case for the Mets. After all, there's no room for another Jar Jar Binks in Mets-ville.