“Pardon the Interruption,” a popular show on ESPN, spent its entire first segment focusing on game seven of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankee series. That’s an example of how much attention was paid to the American League Championship Series as opposed the National League Championship Series.
Does the ALCS deserve the bulk of the attention? It probably doesn’t, but it will get the attention considering the two teams playing, and I completely understand.
The Yankees and Red Sox may be the biggest rivalry in American sports and quite possibly around the globe. A game seven scenario, obviously, multiplies the luster of the series.
As Peter Gammons put it, “This is the most anticipated game in the history of baseball.”
Even though the series was getting all the attention, does anyone realize that no matter who took the series, they still haven’t won the title?
Remember the World Series? It’s that little event where the champion of the MLB is crowned.
Last season, the Yankees took the ALCS and it seemed as if they had won the World Series after Aaron Boone’s homerun. But they didn’t.
In fact, the Florida Marlins took care of business and ruined the Yankee season. I doubt New York was very happy about the game seven victory over Boston then.
The funny thing is that the same will happen this year.
After all the game seven heroics, the Red Sox will lose in the World Series.
Why? Because the Houston Astros or the St. Louis Cardinals can and will beat the Boston Red Sox.
I haven’t followed baseball this season as much as I have in the past, but even I can see that this year’s World Series is not a forgone conclusion. In fact, I would give the edge to either NLCS candidate.
The Houston Astros are the hottest team in baseball and have the league’s best player.
Carlos Beltran is absolutely amazing and when the Astros pulled the trigger to land Beltran, I doubt they thought he could do this well in the postseason.
Beltran, far and away, leads the league in the postseason with eight homeruns and is a stud on defense.
The rest of the lineup is not too shabby, either. Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell were the staples of the team, but Beltran and Lance Berkman are on fire. Berkman has three homers and eight RBIs in the NLCS.
Jeff Kent proved his worth with a walk-off homerun in game five of the series. The pitching is just as solid, if not better.
Roger Clemens may be having his best year and will win another Cy Young and Roy Oswalt is another 20-game winner.
Houston was left for dead in the middle of the season, but a late-season push has them on the cusp of a World Series berth.
The Cardinals aren’t that bad, either. I hope nobody has forgotten that they had the most wins in all of baseball and have an even deadlier lineup than the Astros.
Albert Pujols is one of the lead candidates for the NL MVP and Scott Rolen is not too far behind. Jim Edmonds has a killer home-run swing and proved it in game six with his walk-off home run.
This was not supposed to be a preview of either team, but necessary for all the people who disregarded the NLCS.
It doesn’t matter who wins the NLCS, the winner will win the World Series. Sorry Sox, it’s still not your year.