Playoff Preview, Phillies vs. Reds Part II: gRavE odDs my aSs…

Continuing our Playoff Preview guest series, here is Steve-O's Part II on the Reds and Phillies series.  I'm hoping the Reds can squeak one out so we get more posts from him in the future!


Happy Playoff’s Day!!  By the time this post reaches all of you it will be the first day of the MLB playoffs, AKA, my second favorite time of the year with the first being the beginning of March Madness.  What about the Super Bowl?  Don’t get me wrong I love the NFL as well as the Super Bowl, but it does not get any better than a tournament or a playoff system that lasts a month.  Feel free to disagree, but let’s not forget that you’re reading MY opinion on BEN’s blog. 

Nothing like an unrelated tangent to set up a baseball post, am I right?

On with the baseball talk:

Earlier today, I had a friend ask me if I really thought the Red’s had a chance against the Phillies, which I might add, is more of a ridiculous question than asking if you would eat the moon if it were made out of barbecue spare ribs.  Baseball is a beautiful sport, in that more so than in any other sport, any team can beat any other team on any given night (even the worst team won 57 times this year).  And when you have a young and inexperienced team such as the Reds, who kept winning all season despite doubters from all over the country, anything is possible (see 2008 Tampa Bay Rays).  Let’s also not forget the ‘Big 3’ lost a combined 34 times this season, not including no decisions in which the Phillies ended up losing.  It has been done, it has been done several times, and the Reds have a lineup that is capable of doing it.

Which brings me to my next point…. Would you eat the mo – er, I mean the true strength of the Red’s: Perseverance.  Take a look at this laundry list of statistics for the Red’s this season:

•          44 come from behind wins – MLB Rank: 2
•          22 wins in final at bat – MLB Rank: 2
•          790 runs – NL Rank: 1
•          761 RBI – NL Rank: 1 (the next closest team was 20 behind)
•          .272 team batting average – NL Rank: 1
•          184 HR – NL Rank: 1

I give you all of these stats for one reason.  I will be the first to admit that our pitching is suspect and inconsistent at best, but if there was ever a team that could overcome that obstacle it would be the undisputed #1 offensive team in the National League who does not give up until the last out is recorded.  This team doesn’t care what analysts or anybody says about their chances, all they do is go out and play baseball the only way they know how -- HARD.  They’re the epitome of the term ‘TEAM’ and on any given night any one in the lineup can be a hero (4 different players recorded walk-off hits/home runs this season).  So to go back to the question that was posed to me today as to whether or not the Red’s have a chance against the Phillies, the answer is undoubtedly…  Ab-so-lutley.

Predictions

According to most sports books, the Reds are a +250 underdog to win the series against the Phillies and are at 12/1 odds to win the World Series, which neither are exactly the Kevin Malone long-shot gimme bets that you’re required to put money.  Although this will be tough series for the Reds, I think their veteran pitching shows up enough to slow down the Phillies and allow their offense to wear down the “Big 3”.  Expect every game to be decided in the 7^th inning or later and because of that I am choosing my Reds to beat the Phillies in 5.  And if you pick the Reds to win this series you might as well pick them to win the World Series because the match-ups only get easier from here.

I will be providing periodic updates and my take on the series as it happens and hope to doing that several times in the weeks to come.  So until next time baseball fans, keep it clean and pristine!