2014 Post-Season Baseball

Now that the 2014 regular season is complete, it's time to make some predictions.  I promise not to spend too much time talking about a certain retiring player.  (After all, no one really wants to hear my thoughts on Paul Konerko.)

We will start with listing the ten teams in order of how much I would want them to win the World Series:
1. Pirates: broke their long postseason drought last year, but haven't been to the Series since 1979
2. Royals: this year's version of the Pirates; broke a long streak - they haven't been to the postseason since they won it all in 1985
3. Nationals: one of only two franchises (along with the Mariners) that has never reached the World Series.  I generally prefer strong pitching over offensive slugfests, and the Nats have some great arms
4. Orioles:  even though they are divisional rivals of the Yankees, they haven't had much success recently, and they play in a great ballpark
5. Tigers: they have come close a couple of times in the past decade, but haven't won it all since 1984
6. Dodgers: would be great to see Clayton Kershaw work on the biggest stage
7. Athletics: their last championship was in 1989
8. Angels: some great players, especially Mike Trout
9. Giants: Have won two of the last four World Series.
10. Cardinals: have won a couple of titles in recent years.  I admit to not liking this team, ever since Tony LaRussa was their manager.

Now, for my actual predictions:

Wild Card Games:
Royals over Athletics
Pirates over Giants

Division Series:
Orioles over Tigers, 3-1
Angels over Royals, 3-2
Dodgers over Cardinals, 3-1
Nationals over Pirates, 3-1

League Championship Series:
Angels over Orioles, 4-3
Nationals over Dodgers, 4-2

World Series:
Nationals over Angels, 4-2

Play ball!

2014 NFL Predictions

Once again, we have reached the start of a new football season.  Even though I'm a couple of days late (the Seahawks beat the Packers on Thursday night), I will now reveal my predictions:

AFC East
New England
Miami
New York
Buffalo

AFC North
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati (wild card)
Baltimore
Cleveland

AFC South
Indianapolis
Houston
Jacksonville
Tennessee

AFC West
San Diego
Denver (wild card)
Kansas City
Oakland

NFC East
Philadelphia
New York
Washington
Dallas

NFC North
Green Bay
Chicago (wild card)
Detroit
Minnesota

NFC South
New Orleans
Tampa Bay
Carolina
Atlanta

NFC West
Seattle
San Francisco (wild card)
Arizona
St. Louis

Wild Card Games
San Diego 24, Denver 21
Cincinnati 26, Indianapolis 13
Philadelphia 31, San Francisco 30
New Orleans 16, Chicago 7

Divisional Games
Pittsburgh 23, Cincinnati 19
San Diego 30, New England 10
Seattle 28, Philadelphia 3
New Orleans 14, Green Bay 10

Conference Championships
Pittsburgh 21, San Diego 14
Seattle 24, New Orleans 14

Super Bowl
Pittsburgh 17, Seattle 13

MVP: Jamaal Charles
Best overall record: Seattle
Worst overall record: Oakland

Hall of Fame

Now that the new year is upon us, it is almost time for the results of the Baseball Hall of Fame voting to be revealed.  I wrote extensively about the process about a year ago, so feel free to check out that post if you want some background information.  Last year, no one received the minimum 75 percent of the votes needed for induction, so over a dozen deserving candidates are back, along with a few very deserving newcomers (a player must be retired at least five years in order to be eligible).

I believe that there are at least 15 players on this ballot who are worthy Hall of Famers, but each voter can only vote for a maximum on ten.  Therefore, if I had a vote, my ballot would be as follows (in alphabetical order):

Jeff Bagwell - feared hitter with a career cut short by injuries
Craig Biggio - Bagwell's long-time teammate; has 3,000 career hits and just missed induction last year
Barry Bonds - all-time leader in home runs for career and single season;
Roger Clemens - one of the best pitchers of all time
Tom Glavine - 300-game winner
Greg Maddux - won over 350 games
Mike Mussina - great pitcher; won 20 games in his last season
Mike Piazza - best offensive catcher of all time; didn't throw well, but was fine in other aspects of defense
Tim Raines - excellent leadoff hitter and base stealer
Frank Thomas - one of the most  feared hitters of his generation

Note: Glavine, Maddux and Thomas are all eligible for the first time this year.

Others who I feel are deserving include Edgar Martinez, Mark McGwire, Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa and Alan Trammell.

Based on what I'm reading, it looks like Maddux, Glavine, Thomas and Biggio will all get enough votes to be inducted this summer.

NFL Playoffs - 2014

Another NFL season is in the books.  My Steelers were a disappointment this year, starting the season with four straight losses.  They were 2-6 at the midpoint of the season, but rallied to finish 8-8.  They even entered the last week of the season with a chance at making the playoffs, and would have been successful if not for a missed field goal in the Chiefs-Chargers game.  Without further ado, here are my predictions:

Wild Card Round
Colts 31, Chiefs 17
Bengals 27, Chargers 10
Packers 17, 49ers 14
Eagles 21, Saints 20

Division Round
Bengals 24, Patriots 20
Broncos 35, Colts 16
Seahawks 20, Packers 10
Panthers 28, Eagles 14

Conference Championships
Bengals 20, Broncos 10
Panthers 24, Seahawks 23

Super Bowl
Panthers 24, Bengals 21 in overtime in the snow