NL's chances? Not Likely

Thankfully for Chicago fans, baseball’s regular season has reached its final week and now we can shit 100% of our attention to the Bears (At least for a month until the Bulls begin.) It was a disappointing season in the City of Wind, both on the North and South side, but this column isn’t going to be discussing that. I’m not going to bring up the psychiatric troubles of Alex Rodriguez or the impending termination of Joe Girardi either. Instead I want to look at the World Series, and how there is no point in anyone even paying attention to it.

Just look at the stats. Two years, two World Series winners. In 2004 it was the Boston Red Sox who won the title, and last season it was the White Sox who were baseball’s kings. But take a closer look the final series’ they played. The Red Sox swept St. Louis, outscoring them in the four games by 24-12. A year later, the sock changed color but it was still the same result. White Sox four games, Astros none. In that series, Houston at least kept the games close, but still couldn’t come away with any wins.

So why is it that American League teams completely dominate the Fall Classic these days? Wasn’t it only a few years back that young, upstart teams like the Diamondbacks and Marlins were getting fitted for rings? Isn’t the games next great player, Albert Puljos, in the NL? Aren’t some of baseball’s top hurlers, like Roy Oswalt, Pedro Martinez, and Chris Carpenter, in the NL? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Still, the National League has no chance of topping the mighty AL in the Series this October. Just look at the top contenders in the National League and it’s obvious none of them stand a chance versus whoever survives the American League battle ground known as the playoffs.

New York Mets: A quick history lesson for everyone: The Mets cannot win a title unless they are playing a team that has riddled with a long stretch of failure. In 1969, they needed a horrible collapse by the Cubs (Like there would be another team that could be 84-53 on September 3 and end up with a 92-70 record.) in order to win the Series. 17 years later, there was the Boston Red Sox and of course, Bill Buckner. There doesn’t appear to be a cursed team available this season, meaning that the outstanding lineup, solid pitching and terrific managing of the Metropolitans doesn’t mean a thing.

St. Louis Cardinals: Anyone who has watched the Cardinals for any length of time this season knows this team has no chance in winning the World Series. Other then Puljos, they have no consistent hitting. Other then Carpenter, there starting pitching is average at best. And with Jason Isringhausen hurt, they have no one to go to in the bullpen. Tony LaRussa may be a great skipper, but if you manage a team that lost the season series to the Cubs, you can cross yourselves off the World Series candidate’s ballot.

Los Angles Dodgers: I like the Dodgers team, but there is one big thing that will prevent the boys in blue to take home the trophy. And that is the city they play in. Just look at the sporting events that took place in 2006 with LA teams involved. In the Rose Bowl, USC lost to Texas in one of the greatest games ever played. In the title game of the Men’s NCAA Tournament, UCLA got waxed off the floor by the Florida Gators. And in June, after both the Lakers and Clippers blew series leads, the Miami Heat came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. (Wait, I know what your thinking. What does the Heat winning have to do with Los Angles? Well you might remember that the center for Miami once played in LA. And a few summers ago, he decided he thought he’d have a better chance of winning a ring in South Beach then in the City of Angels. Looks like he was right.)

Philadelphia Phillies: They have my choice for NL Most Valuable Player in Ryan Howard. They have a great middle infield with Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins. But they have something that can’t be defeated, which is called the Ex-Cub factor. Popularized by legendary Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko, the factor states that only twice since 1945 (The 1960 Pirates and 2001 Diamondbacks) has a team with more then thee ex-Cubs won the World Series. And wouldn’t you know it, but the Phillies have exactly four ex-Cubs. There’s starting pitcher Jon Liber, who threw for the North-Siders from 1999 through 2002. Backup shortstop Jose Hernandez also played for the Cubbies, from 1994-99 and then again for about a month in 2003. Closer Tom Gordon spent 2001 and 02 in the Cubs bullpen. And last but not least, rounding out this deadly quartet is starting pitcher Jamie Moyer, whom the Phillies acquired in August from Seattle. Moyer, an always reliable lefthander, is a good pitcher who is probably a great guy off the field. But he has one skeleton in his closet. He pitched for the Chicago Cubs from 1986 through 88. Yes, he has rid himself from Wrigley Field for almost two full decades, but the Factor doesn’t care. No World Series for Philly this season.

San Diego Padres: The Fathers are an interesting team, but there chances of winning it all are worse then the Oakland Raiders offense. San Diego is too old, not powerful enough and has too many holes in their lineup to compete against whomever the American League sends out. There pitching is solid and having Trevor Hoffman in the bullpen is nice, but it won’t be enough to get the Padres there first ever title.

So who will the World Series? I have no clue. But it definitely won’t be a team from the No Luck NL, so I’ll pick the A’s, just like I did in March.


Random Thoughts

-That Monday Night game was awesome display of how emotion plays such a huge impact on a football game. It was obvious all night that the Falcons didn’t really want to be there, while the Saints couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. The Superdome was rockin’ and New Orleans is 3-0 because of it.

-I was scared watching the end of the Bears game, because I couldn’t remember anytime since the Auburn game of Rex Grossman’s junior year at Florida that the QB led a fourth quarter comeback. But sure enough, the defense stepped up as they always do, and then Grossman threw that bullet to Rashied Davis for the winning score. Three and oh, easy as that.

-In other news around the NFL, that Mark Brunell record for the most consecutive completions was maybe the most over-hyped record in the history of the league. Of his 22 strait completions, I think only one or two were thrown over ten yards. And plus it was against the Houston Texans. That’s like setting the NBA single game scoring record against Toronto or something (Sorry, another LA bashing.)

-I want to go on a long rant about the Cubs, but I will save your time for now. Just think about this. Aramis Ramirez, who is supposed to be our teams best hitter, is going to finish the season with a batting average close to .300, 40 or so home runs, nearly 120 RBI and maybe, if he has some big days, 100 runs scored. Pretty impressive numbers. But in the season’s first three and a half months, when the Cubs needed him most, A-Ram was almost non-existent. He went into the All-Star break, with 85 games under his belt, hitting .259 with 16 homers and 52 RBI. Those are Kevin Orie-esque numbers. Sure Ramirez exploded with a Shrek-sized second half, hitting over .320, slamming 21 bombs and driving in 62. But is he really worth $12 million a year? I say let him go, spend the money on pitching and a player who will produce solid numbers for six months, not amazing ones for three.