Baseball

The postseason is the time of year when true fans endure ninth-inning heart palpitations and fair-weather fans pay closer attention and invest in playoff merchandise. More importantly, it’s when MLB teams’ reveal their true grit. It’s the season when the players either flourish or flounder.

Tonight, as the Philadelphia Phillies take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first game of the NLCS, the Phillies send Cole Hamels to the mound.

Last year, some of us got all googly-eyed at the potential of seeing a World Series where Manny Ramirez would go against the very same team that traded him just a few months prior. It had all the makings of the perfect media circus.

But then it never even happened.

By Ryan of The Sportmeisters

About Los Angeles

The Angels are in uncharted territory, as they usually see themselves on the losing end to the Boston Red Sox. That changed this year with a 3-0 sweep, and now a showdown with the other AL East competitor, the New York Yankees.

The huge NL showdown is coming up as the Phillies and the Dodgers will meet on Thursday night in Dodger stadium. Over the course of the regular season, the Dodgers had the Phillies' number, as they earned the home field advantage.

However, things have changed since then, as both teams have made key additions and in the postseason, anything can happen.

Pitching

I am so tired of anyone who uses the "the Yankees spent 60 bazillion and bought the best record in baseball" comment. They even used it last year when they were not even in the postseason. These people I refer to are either Mets or Sawxs fan in my experience, and they always forget that they are the number two and three highest payroll teams in MLB and are sitting home on the couch. Just like their fans.

When I think back to the 20 years I lived just across the Delaware River in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, I always felt like a big fish out of water trying desperately to catch my breath.

It's not easy being a Mets fan in South Jersey when every living soul north to Trenton, east to the Jersey Shore, and south to the twin bridges into Delaware eats, breathes, and sleeps with never-ending Philadelphia sports talk.

Whether it is the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, or Sixers, these are some of the most passionate fans in the world.

If you missed part one of this installment, check it out here.  Now, for part two:

Eddie Cicotte

This is the man that inspired this little project.  Cicotte won 208 big league games before receiving a lifetime ban for his roll in conspiring to throw the 1919 World Series as a member of the Chicago White Sox. Cicotte threw 18 innings and won one game as a member of the Detroit Tigers. He was born and passed away in the state of Michigan.

At the end of a season, it's easy to point fingers. Win or lose, there are always multiple factors that go into a team's success or failure. But some factors weigh more than others, and in 2009, Chipper Jones' dismal performance was the heaviest factor in Atlanta's failure to make the playoffs.

It's hard to blame Chipper Jones, of course. He's been the face of the Braves organization for years. But in 2009, Chipper had the worst season of his career. He batted .264, a full .100 points lower than in 2008. It was the worst batting average in his entire career.

I wouldn't want to be a Los Angeles Dodger fan for a variety of reasons, mainly because I've lived in San Francisco or its suburbs for most of the last 22 years. As such, I'm a die-hard fan of the Giants and I loathe the Bums.

At this particular moment, however, I wouldn't want to follow the beautiful Dodger blue for one, specific reason: the national media is setting them up for a fall. They're being sacrificed at the altar of commerce and wishful thinking is taking the place of objective analysis to do the job.

Mat Gamel or Matt LaPorta? That was the question facing Milwaukee Brewers' GM Doug Melvin last season when it became clear that the Brewers were the front runner to obtain pitcher CC Sabathia.

Melvin and the Indians agreed to send Matt LaPorta to Cleveland and the Brewers made the playoffs for the first time in 26 years. Mat Gamel, along with Alcides Escobar, became 1A and 1B in the farm system's top prospect ratings.