White Sox/Twins: One-Game Playoff

The White Sox won today forcing a one-game playoff tomorrow night for the AL Central title. Baseball has had many memorable playoff games or mini-series to determine division champions over the years. Here's footage from one of the best movies ever made, "Ken Burns Baseball" about the 1951 3-game playoff series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants to determine who would win the NL Pennant that season!

2002 Remembered

Angels start the playoffs on Wednesday so remembering the 2002 World Championship season in this post with some you-tube videos shot from the stands

FINAL OUT: GAME SEVEN


TIM SALMON HR IN GAME TWO, GO-AHEAD RUNS

Cap vs. Bill James

Well, techically the baseball season has possibly two more days to go, but I'm going to go ahead and compare my picks with what the computer formula made by Bill James in the 80's thinks.
First let me explain the current situation. The NL is all set. The matchups are Dodgers vs. Cubs and Phillies vs. Brewers. We also know the Angels play the Red Sox in the AL. The Rays are also in the playoffs, we just don't know who won the AL Central yet. Minnesota is 88-74 and the White Sox are 87-74. The White Sox have to make up a rained out game against Detroit on Monday and if they win then play the Twins in a one-game playoff on Tuesday.
Now, on to the predictions. Remember, one point for picking a division series correct, 3 for LCS and 5 for World Series.

DIVISION SERIES
Angels vs. Red Sox: Bill James says Red Sox; Cap says Angels
Rays vs. Twins/White Sox: Bill James says Rays; Cap says Rays
Cubs vs. Dodgers: Bill James says Cubs; Cap says Cubs
Phillies vs. Brewers: Bill James says Phillies; Cap says Brewers

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Bill James
Red Sox vs Rays: He picks the Rays
Cubs vs. Phillies: He picks the Cubs
Cap
Angels vs. Rays: Cap picks the Angels
Cubs vs. Brewers: Cap picks the Brewers

WORLD SERIES
Bill James
Cubs vs. Rays: He picks the Rays
Cap
Angels vs. Brewers: Cap picks the Angels

NOTE: I did NOT pick the Angels because they are my favorite team. I picked them to lose in the first round last year. I just picked them because they won 100 games and I think they have a great pitching staff and enough hitting to win.

Clarkson Alumni

Two guys I used to cover are in this photo from a recent NHL exhibition game. The guy with the puck on the Sharks, No. 48, is Steve Zalewski, he was on Clarkson's team last year! The Ducks player, No. 40, is Kent Huskins, he graduated in 2001. Shows you can know me and overcome that obstacle and still make something of yourself!

Coming Soon: Cap Carey vs. Bill James

One of my favorite baseball writers is Bill James, a man who is famous for his ability to break down the game with interesting statistics. I found an old Baseball Abstract, a book he published in the 80's, that gives his formula for picking the winner of baseball playoff series. He said that it had a 70 pct accuracy rating.
So, once all the division races are settled, and I know who plays who, I will pick my own winners in each series and let James pick his with this formula and we'll see who does better. I'll award one point for picking a division series winner correct, three for a league champion and five for the world series winner. Obviously if one of us has a team winning the World Series that gets beat in the first round we are out of luck.
Here's a breakdown of James formula (note, some of it defies logic, but, again, it works 70 percent of the time)
1. Give one point per half-game difference in record. So if a team is 100-62, plays a 90-72 team that is 20 points.
2. 3 points to team with more runs scored
3. 14 points to team with FEWER doubles
4. 12 points to team with MORE triples
5. 10 points to team with MORE home runs
6. 8 points to team with LOWER batting average
7. 8 points to team with FEWER errors
8. 7 points to team that's turned MORE double plays
9. 7 points to team whose pitchers have walked MORE men
10. 19 points to team with MORE shutouts
11. 15 points to team with LOWER ERA or if World Series team whose ERA is lower than the league average by more
12. 12 points to team in postseason play more recently. If both were in same year than give to team which did better
13. 12 points to lead that lead in head-to-head competition (not used for world series)

It's Time for Llizo!

No offense to BHS alumnus Bruce Eien, but I feel it's time for a change in the head coaching position at BHS and I nominate classmate Robert Llizo!! He lives nearby, working at Biola, and he can't do any worse!
Here's Brethren's latest score:
Saddleback Valley Christian 76, Brethren 32 (that's NOT made up)
Add to that a 46-6 loss to Riverside Christian to open the season followed by last week's 23-14 loss to Calvary Chapel!
This could be worst BHS team since my senior year, a team Robert was on, but I don't hold him responsible. I blame BHS's stupid policy that only seniors could have a mustache. That caused the person who would have been our starting QB, Angel Dominguez, to transfer.
My rant is over! I'm sure RichardJ, who I assume is a season-ticket holder and saw all three games, has his own opinion on this issue.

Celebrations

LA's baseball teams celebrating their respective division championships
Dodgers

Angels

Dodgers Win West

Thanks to the Cardinals beating Arizona 12-3 this afternoon the Dodgers won the NL West before they even started their last home game. San Diego won that game 7-5, but it ended with a champagne party in the clubhouse.

Funny Joe Torre Commercial

I like this commercial showing how Dodger manager Joe Torre is adjusting to life in LA after being in NYC since 1996.

Get Ready for a WILD Baseball Weekend

There are just four days left in the baseball season and there are still MANY things undecided! (Not every team is as fortunate as the Angels, who have been selling division champion hats, albeit very UGLY ones, for several weeks now).
NL UPDATE
The Dodgers are 83-75 and Arizona is 79-79. That means the Dodgers have to lose FOUR straight games while Arizona wins four straight for their to be a one-game playoff Monday night. Of course the Dodgers close the season in SF, you know the Giants would love to sweep them.
The Mets are busy collapsing again in the NL East. The Phillies are 89-70 and have a 1 1/2 game lead on the Mets, who are 87-71. But the Mets are also blowing the wildcard race and are now tied with the Brewers with four games left in the season.
The Cubs have already clinched both the Central Division and home field advantage throughout the NL playoffs.
Who the Dodgers play depends on if the Mets or Brewers win the wild card. The Cubs get to play the wild card team IF it's not from their division, which Milwaukee is. So, if the Mets are wild card the Cubs play the Mets and the Dodgers play the Phillies. If the Brewers are the wild card the Cubs play the Dodgers and the Phillies play the Brewers.
AL
The Angels are 98-60 with four games left, so if they go 2-2 they'll win 100 games for the first time in franchise history. The franchise record for wins is 99, set by the 2002 World Championship team. The Angels also have a two-game lead on Tampa Bay for best record in the league, which brings home field advantage throughout the World Series, since the AL won the all-star game again this year.
Tampa Bay is 96-62 and leads Boston, which already clinched at least a wild card berth, by three games with four to play.
The interesting race is the AL Central. Chicago had a 3 1/2 game lead on the Twins a few days ago, but Minnestota beat them twice already and now the lead is only a half-game and the teams meet again tomorrow night.
The Angels will be playing the Red Sox in the first round, barring a surprise, and Tampa Bay will play whoever wins the AL Central.

Trojan Rewind: Virginia

Hate to put these in out of order, but the site I get them from posted them that way. Here's highlights of USC's season-opening win at Virginia:

Classic 70s music

One last Disneyland post

This was one of my favorite rides, especially back in the 'ticket' days when I had run out of them and needed to kill time. I remember once taking about 4 straight trips on this thing without getting off. Also was good way to rest feet which were tired from walking.

Disney's Best/Worst Songs

Two rides at Disneyland, both songs you never get out of your head. You'll have to guess which song I think is the worst!

Yesterland

Footage of Disneyland's Main Street Electrical parade...It was sort of cool, but after you saw it once or twice it was also a GREAT opportunity go get in line for rides like the Matterhorn that usually had long lines.

Last Game at Yankee Stadium

The Yankees played their final game in Yankee Stadium last night. Even if you hate the Yankees, as I'm sure at least one of my readers does, you still have to admit this is THE baseball stadium. So much history has happened on this field, no other baseball stadium compared in that vein. I included a picture of what the NEW Yankee Stadium, which opens next season, will look like.

Billy Joel, Dream Concert (the final four)

Well, here are the last four BJ songs in my concert, my four favorite songs of his of all-time.
No. 4 River of Dreams


No. 3 Scenes from an Italian Restaurant


No. 2 My Life


No. 1 Summer, Highland Falls


*Encore* Hey, every concert has an encore and this one needs a closing number!

This makes me feel old!

For fun I'm doing a little 'before and after' thing here. This song was No. 1 my senior year of HS. The first video is shot 'then' and the last one is from the current tour. (Note how cool David Lee Roth looked in 1984 as opposed to how nerdy he looks now, also that is Eddie Van Halen's kid playing bass. He was born SEVEN years after the music video was shot)

My Hometown

Some footage shot Saturday of Olympic gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh competing in the early rounds of the Manhattan Beach Open (the MOST prestigious beach volleyball tournament).
NOTE: this is not some cheap attempt by me to get women in bikini's onto my blog!

Congrats to Joe Maddon and the Rays

Former Angels coach Joe Maddon led the Tampa Bay Rays to their first playoff appearance Saturday. The team still is fighting to hold off the Boston Red Sox in the A.L. East, but their first playoff appearance is quite an achievement.
The Rays remind me a bit of the 1969 Miracle Mets, who had never finished in the top half of the standings before winning a World Series.
How bad have the Rays been? Here's their year-by-year records since they started in 1998:
63-99, 69-93, 69-92, 62-100, 55-106, 63-99, 70-91, 67-95, 61-101, 66-96 and so far this year: 91-61.
As you can see, Maddon has done quite a good job turning this franchise around!

Quite the Interior Decorating Job!

Um...I'm not sure this is the look I'd go for in an office, myself, but you have to admit it's rather intimidating to a guest. BTW, if McCain/Palin ticket wins she'd have the best legs of any VP since maybe Spiro Agnew!

Billy Joel Dream Concert, Part 2

(part 2 of 3)
No. 8 Root Beer Rag


No. 7 Angry Young Man (this song actually used to open all his concerts, but I'm listing them by my favorites so it's in the middle)


No. 6 Movin' Out (not to be confused with the Broadway musical by same name ;p )


No. 5 The Stranger


**concert concludes tomorrow with my four favorite songs..try to guess them**

Where I went to HS

Stumbled on this nearly year-old footage today (NOTE: those who went here will see this school is still full of dorks)

Billy Joel Dream Concert, Part 1

Getting off the sports theme...Those who know me know Billy Joel's my favorite singer. Through the magic of you tube I'll present my own BJ dream concert, i.e. my 12 favorite songs of his (all live versions) in three parts. (I would have picked a top 10 but that's so cliche). Here's 12-9 in reverse order. This I'll post one day at a time.

No. 12 Say Goodbye to Hollywood (I listened to this in my car as I started my drive back east when I moved away from home in 1993)


No. 11 All for Leyna (this is a music video, but shot like a live version, couldn't find a concert video of this)


No. 10 Everybody Loves You Now


No. 9 Pressure

Nine days left

Baseball season has just a little more than one week to go and one of 11 teams will wind up being World Champions in a little more than a month.
Here's a brief update on how things stand with about 9 games left to play.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
West - So far the Los Angeles Angels are the only AL team to clinch a playoff spot. The Angels are 94-59 and need to go 6-3 in their last nine games to win 100 games as a franchise for the first time.
East - Tampa Bay, which never had a winning season before, is 91-61 and leads the Boston Red Sox by 1 1/2 games. They also are just 2 1/2 behind the Angels for best record. That is important because if they face each other in the playoffs the team with best record gets home-field advantage.
Central - The White Sox are 85-68 and have a 2 1/2 game lead on Minnesota, which is 83-71.

MY AL PREDICTIONS
Angels finish with best record, Tampa Bay holds off Boston for the division title but Red Sox are the wild card and the White Sox win the Central. That would leave opening-round playoff matchups of Angels vs. Red Sox and Devil Rays vs. White Sox .

NL
West - The Dodgers are 80-74 and lead the Diamondbacks (76-77) by 3 1/2 games.
Central - The Cubs are 92-60 and have clinched the division. Milwaukee is 84-70 and in the wild card race.
East - Mets are 86-67 and have a half-game lead on the Phillies at 86-68. One of these two teams will likely be the wild card.

MY NL PREDICTIONS
Dodgers hold off Arizona and win the west, Mets hold off the Phillies to win the East but Phillies are wild card. Playoff matchups would be Cubs vs Phillies, Mets vs. Dodgers.

Postseason predictions will come once I know who actually makes the playoffs and what the matchups are. However, I should note I am VERY bad at picking baseball playoff series winners for some reason.

One last trip down memory lane

Got into the vintage baseball kick with this being the last week, starting Monday.
Here's some actual TV broadcast footage from game seven of the 1952 World Series in Ebbets Field!

Vintage Baseball

Found this on youtube tonight, pretty cool. It's home movies of the Chicago Cubs. First 3 mins is opening day, 1930, at Wrigley Field and unveiling the NL champions banner. The last 3 mins is footage from first game of the 1929 World Series against the Philadelphia A's. (Wrigley Field looks exactly the same around the infield, but you'll notice there are no ivy-covered walls yet and no real outfield bleachers.

Stop-him-now

This is a pretty amusing website I stumbled on that is anti-Obama. Has a daily cartoon news cast as well.

Here's today's news update:

Trojan Rewind

Well, Fox Sports Net in LA cancelled one of my FAVORITE TV shows, Trojan Rewind, which used to show highlights of USC football games. Fortunately someone on You Tube is doing his own version of condensing the games. It's not quite the same but for any USC fan out of the country who wants to see last Saturday's game against Ohio State here it is condensed (BTW this team is just awesome to watch)! This is pretty much a web version of what was my favorite show. It's long but check it out!

Seeing how well Emily can teach