Baseball Playoffs are Happening

If the title of this post seems as if I really don't give a hell about the MLB playoffs...that's because I really don't give a hell about the MLB playoffs. At least not yet. But that doesn't mean that I won't watch every pitch of every game (not played on Saturday or Sunday), it just means that said games will be boring as sin. Just like every other goddamn baseball match, posteseason or otherwise. My life is terrible

But, since you're here for hard-hitting information, I might as well offer up a (not so) bold prediction:

The Arizona Diamondbacks won't win more than one game in the NLDS vs. Chicago. This is mostly because they are a pretty lousy baseball team. Really, check out their roster.

Besides days when Brandon Webb starts, do they have one REALLY GOOD (not star, but really good) player in their starting nine? The answer is NO. Eric Byrnes is their top hitter, and he hit .286 with 83 RBI. Those are decent numbers, but nothing that will carry a team in October. To put Byrnes' numbers in context, consider JD Drew: he's hitting .270 with 60 RBI--in twenty less games than Byrnes--and Boston fans are trying to run him out of town.

Want some more numbers that point to Arizona's shittiness?

Take a look at something called the pythagorean winning percentage. If you didn't bother clicking that link, I'll just tell you that it's a nerdy way for baseball diehards to determine, based on runs scored and runs allowed, an estimated W/L record. Well, since the Diamondbacks scored 712 runs in 2007, and allowed 732 (TWENTY MORE!), the nerdy stat says they should have had a record of 79-83.

And yeah, I know a lights-out bullpen (admittedly, Jose Valverde is a monster) can skew the numbers, but those numbers speak quite loudly.

Unless the current version of Justin Upton became the 2010 Justin Upton overnight, and if the Diamondbacks are luckier than (lack of pop culture reference), they have no chance to win more than one game in the NLDS.

This was a stupid post. Which is why I'll post a picture of more animal sex.



Nice focus by this Australian creature, wouldn't you say?

-Brad Spieser
10/3/07