6 for 6? Want to go to Vegas with me sometime? That's impressive.... I'm two for six.

I picked Boston all the way. I'm sticking with it. Boston in six. Although I'm hoping for a seven game series.

Great work, Jon. I was 0-4 in the first round, though I did write at the beginning of the season that the Red Sox were the best team in baseball and would win the world series. I'm trying to hold on to that fact, considering so many of my other baseball picks were off in 2007.

Completely off topic but brief DT favorite Mitch Jones should have stuck with Vegas. He hit .160/.277/.208 in 102 PA for the Ham Fighters.

Jon, I think your Rockies in six games is a solid prediction. I have the series as pretty much a tossup, slight edge to the Rockies. But if it goes to a 7th game and it's Fogg vs Dice-K, I think the Red Sox wins, thus the Rockies better take care of business in 6 games or less. I wonder if the Red Sox will dare pitch Beckett in Game #4 instead of Lester if they are behind in the series. Lester is the weak link in all of the starting pitching matchups. Vegas has the Red Sox as nearly 2/3rds favorites to win this series. I just don't see the logic in that. I suppose part of it could be that they had to put the odds so high, in order to split the betting money evenly between the two teams (that's how Vegas makes their profit). Before the season started, my simulator had the Red Sox beating the Cubs in the W.S., and now it has the Rockies as very slight favorites to beat the Red Sox in the W.S. vr, Xei

Will all due respect to Cinderella, the Red Sox are the hotter team right now. After all, they've won more games in the last week than Colorado. Those last three games against Cleveland were all blowout wins in elimination games. Both teams can thump the ball, but Boston's got the better pitching. And the law of averages has to whack the Rockies at some point.

I'm tempted to say Sox in six just for the alliteration. But I don't think this series is even getting back to Boston. The Fenway fellas in five.

3 (in Christopher Lloyd voice) Nippon Ham FIGHTERS! FIGHTERS! FIGHTERS! ;)

I'm 100% with you Jon, Colorado Rockies in 6.

3
He's dead to me.

8 I assume you're not talking Mitch Jones.

Colorado in 5. Beckett beats them only once.

9
Mitch Jones's family got upset at me on a Japanese baseball website when I downplayed his chances to succeed in Japan.

But it's regairfield who is on my list now.

It's getting long. I may need to develop an annex or buy more storage space.

In the True Blue LA contest, I aced the DS and whiffed the CS; I expected more from Sabathia and Carmona and was just guessing when the Rockies might suffer a serious regression to the mean.

Beats me who wins the WS, but a key may be which offense does enough to get to the opposing bullpen more often and/or build a big enough lead to avoid overworking/overexposing the good part of their own bullpen. The Red Sox wins against Cleveland were all built upon good starts and at least once they were able to use the "bad" part of their pen in a blowout. Meanwhile Cleveland had to go to the good part of their relief staff a little too often and the Bosox eventually figured out how to get to both Perez and Betancourt.

I think that Hurdle has more relievers that he trusts (just about all of them) than Francona has, and perhaps that makes the difference.

The Rockies, meanwhile, are suddenly gaining pitching with the return of Aaron Cook to back Jeff Francis (who proved against Arizona's Brandon Webb in the NLCS that he's up for any challenge).

Sure, provided he's facing the soft-hitting Arizona lineup. Arizona was 14th in the league in runs scored.

Dave Jauss,
Not a Pirate coach
http://tinyurl.com/ysxtuh

12 - I picked the Phillies to win it all. I don't think anyone will ever take me to Vegas.

Looks like the weather in Denver will cooperate [ http://tinyurl.com/yw7gju ]

14

Eric Enders should be pretty happy with that. Does that happened often? it sounds like a major screw up.

9 I don't really follow that logic.

So, is it Nippon Ham.....Fighters

or Nippon.....Ham Fighters?

That should have been in reference to Bob.

I loved this comment from Jared on that SI Predictions article, classic.
"Every member of Red Sox Nation laps it up, and heartily agrees that, in their iron-clad, hermetically-sealed analysis, these Rockies - from the inherently horrid and talentless National League, no less - probably shouldn't even show up, because it's quite obvious that the past 21 games haven't meant squat (because, again, reflexively, the NL simply sucks eggs. All of it. Every player. Every pitcher.). So, to recap, we've got East Coast writers (who hadn't seen a single Rocks game before this run), and East Coast fans (who probably couldn't pick out Troy Tulowitzki from a lineup if their lives depended on it, and likely assume that Denver is, you know...actually IN the mountains, and riddled by Indian raids and bear attacks) assuring the rest of us that the Series is already in hand for the Sox, and the poor widdle Wockies should probably just concede ahead of time to save everybody the hassle of getting in and out of Fenway"

I'll root for the Rockies this series, and I will pick them in 6. I hope J.D. Drew's 13 hits in a losing effort earns him the MVP.

I forgot to set my DVR to record Game 1, but I should be home in time for the start of the game. I actually like watching the pregame lineup introductions though, at least for Game 1, so I might miss those.

http://www.fighters.co.jp/

It was easy to root for the Rockies in the NLCS, as Arizona has Eric Byrnes, easily my most hated player in that series.

I don't think Boston has anyone close to "Byrnsie" on my hate radar, although Julio Lugo is probably close.

My rooting interests are fickle, however, and subject to change. If the Rockies are a little too God Squady after an early series game win, I'll jump ship to the Sox in a heartbeat.

I'm rooting for the weather. I want a snowplow series.

24
How do they display their God Squadyness?

24
No hate for Curt Schilling?

26 It would probably come out the most in a postgame interview or something. I'd be more annoyed at the cliche of it than anything else.

27 You are right. I stand corrected. Schilling is my least liked (more positive to say it that way) player in the series.

22 : It bothers me that people who hate the broad-brush-painting of East Coast bias broad-brush-paint the fans of East Coast teams. It certainly is NOT true that all Red Sox fans are overconfidently looking past the Rockies. I for one am quite wary of them and their deep lineup, strong second-half pitching, and great defense (not to mention their--24 --divine mandate).

If Jon had the time to join the True Blue contest he'd be able to give Wiffleball a run for his money.

Rockies Win(Wiffleball Legend)

Boston Wins
4 games - Joseph
5 games - Joseph & Braun / Bill Crain & Tulo
6 games - Joseph
7 games - Tie Joseph / Squats
Joseph has picked Beckett and Squats has picked ManRam for WS MVP.

Since Squats is my brother, if Boston wins I'm hoping it goes 7 and ManRam does alot of deordorant moves.

29
We're very sensitive out here because Gary Cohen, Michael Kay, Don Orsillo, Joe Buck, Gary Thorne, the Family Caray, and Bob Carpenter always make fun of Southern California fans for leaving games early.

Especially Gary Cohen.

He's on my list.

28
Dang, I forgot about the God Squadyness factor. For now the Coolbaugh factor outweighs the God Squadyness factor, but your right that could be what nudges me back where I belong.

29 The one thing that would push me toward rooting for the Sox is that Manny Ramirez is one of my favorite humans ever.

I'm looking forward to a great series.

29
Your just saying that so you don't appear to be cocky. Deep down you know you are going to kick Rockie butt.

32 The Red Sox could karmically negate the Rockies' Coolbaugh factor advantage by also voting him a full playoff share. That would be expert oneupsmanship!

Or two full shares. The RedSox players could afford it alot more then the Rockie players. Drew himself should just donate his share.

31 : "He's on my list."

I have begun to be terrified of somehow finding myself on this list. Any general tips on avoiding it?

34 : Ha! No, I wish this were true, but I honestly can't see either team with a pronounced advantage, and like Jon I see the thinness of the Red Sox pitching as a potential problem for them.

33
As much as Manny drives me crazy, I would be giddy if he was our LF. Independent goofballs have always gotten my love.
We should make a team of free thinking baseball players who were actually good.
My LHP is Bill Lee, My RHP is Jim Bouton.

37
It is more of an honor to make the list then to be ignored. I live for the day I matter enough to make Bob's list.

37 - Just look for patterns:

https://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/317999.html

For example, pitted fruits were recently replaced by Joe Buck. The connection is obvious.

37
As opposed to a team that has Josh Fogg in the rotation?

40
If you look for patterns in my lists, you're going to end up like John Nash.

Why did Odalis Perez replace Brett Tomko?

31 Am I on the list for perpetuating that stereotype on Saturday, Verner hadn't even gotten back to the bench before I was heading out of the Rose Bowl.

Plus, I had gotten a parking pass that day so my car was just a few minutes away.

And it still took me an hour to get home (but only minutes to leave the Rose Bowl area) I was held up because someone decided to put his tailgating table in the middle of the parking lot aisle.

45
How dare you have a life and hate traffic.

Rockies in 4 to complete the miracle.

Either that, or Boston blows a 3-0 lead and Colorado wins in 7.

43 Win the Nobel Prize for Economics and marry Jennifer Connelly?

48
I think I'm putting El Lay Dave AND Paul Bettany on my list now.

Looking at Bob's list, I agree with his stance on gray road uniforms, but I think an exception can be made for 1980s style powder blue roadies.

Looking at that thread, I am just amazed that Brock had Karl Dorrell on his "On Notice" list, even if it was just a short time.

43 Yet, Tim McCarver is unscathed.

Bob, no Pete Arbogast and Chris Roberts, both of whom are never shy about a little self-promotion.

Performing the National Anthem tonight, John Williams will conduct the Boston Pops and there will be no encores of Darth Vader's theme though the game is on Fox.

Tomorrow night, he's seen fire and he's seen rain, he's seen sunny days that he thought would never end but he never saw a baseball game last until 1:00 in the morning until this World Series. That's right Mr. James Taylor will belt out Oh say can you see at Fenway.

Performing God Bless America in Game 1 will be Ashanti (at about 11:30 p.m.) and for Game 2, Boyz (are they really boys) to Men.

49 I understand the reckoning for Bettany, but are you allowed to put smug Prius-driving, Mac-using, UCLA-rooters on your list?

54 Y'know, "allowed" is not quite the right word there....

Boyz II Men still exist?

I still hate the signing of God Bless America instead of Take Me Out to the Ballgame.

The last time I saw Boyz II Men was during halftime of the Thanksgiving Game in Detroit, about 4 years ago.

They're still pretty good.

56 Maybe they can change their name to just "Men" now, kind of like the evolutionary progression of Jefferson Airplane to Jefferson Starship.

Actually, I'd like to see Boyz II Men sing "We Built This City."

ps: They still sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame, but it's done afterward.

50 Those unis made more sense in the mid-to-late 70s when they matched the players' powder-blue disco suits:
http://static.zoovy.com/img/bonnies/-/dx14s

53 I think more African-American men will sing at Game 2 than play in it.

I think Boyz II Men should sing "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday," while a montage of players that will be named in the Mitchell investigation is shown.

62 Boyz II Men aren't there to sing about the past.

56

man, I haven't seen those guys perform in years.

I'm off to the pub at lunchtime to catch the first few innings. What time is this 8pm game actually likely to start after sundry intros, anthems, flypasts and ad breaks? 10 past?

65 8:35 is the scheduled time for the first pitch.

I get to enjoy this series as I picked Colorado and Boston from the beginning. As I said earlier, this is the matchup that holds the most excitement for me. I don't care which team wins as long as it's an exciting series. But I'd love to see a Colorado sweep. Just because a 25 of 26 run resulting in a World Series win has never happened (the Giants didn't even win the pennant during their 26-game streak).

66 Oh, cool thanks. Rather use the time watching the game, much as I enjoy the peripherals.

Not that anyone is holding a benefit for former Dodger executive Bob Daly but this is how his week is going.

http://tinyurl.com/3dcc7q

Next year, when the Dodgers are in the World Series, maybe our youngsters will get a chance to sing the praises of Jeff Kent. :-)

>> ``We are all enjoying this, but it is more special because of Todd,'' right fielder Brad Hawpe said. ``A few years ago when the organization decided to go with (the young players from the farm system), he stood by us, and endorsed the plan, saying he felt we had a good future. Every one of us appreciated that.'' <<

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7367956

"We are all enjoying this, in spite of Jeff," right fielder Matt Kemp said. "A few years ago when the organization decided to go with (the young players from the farm system), he called us out, and complained about the plan, saying he didn't know what the organization was doing. Every one of us resented that."

Weather in Boston tonight:

http://tinyurl.com/2ujgas

71

Matt Kemp also added:

"Derek Lowe saying we were replaceable prospects also stung a bit, but it feels so gratifying proving the naysayers wrong"

I am so glad pitted fruits are off Bob's list. Because you know, if you peel them, and then cut them into slices, you have no chance of your teeth coming into contact with either a pit or fuzz. I would like to think I played a small part in this momentous event.

Rox.
Sox.
Box.
Knocks.
Knocks in box.
Knocks for Rox.
Rox over Sox.

72 AccuWeather. Feh. I bring you the National Weather Service:

http://tinyurl.com/2d6cua

74 Perhaps they only make seasonal appearances on Bob's list.

71 , 73 Kemp also praised the work of outstanding 20-year-old rookie pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who provided a much needed spark for the surging Dodgers down the streatch of the 2008 season.

When asked how it felt to be praised by one of the team leaders, Kershaw responded, "who said he's a leader?"

72

I thought the game was in Colorado. I totally forgot about all-star factor.

I realized that I just hate peaches, but I do like cherries.

I was channeling my inner Snoop Dogg in 78 with my spelling of "stretch".

78. "who said he's a leader?"

ROTFL

53 Hmm. I love me some "Fire and Rain," but if JT is a Sox fan, and I'm pretty sure he is, maybe "Steamroller" would be a more optimistic song.

"Well, I'm a steamroller, baby
I'm bound to roll all over you
Yes, I'm a steamroller now, baby
I'm bound to roll all over you"

51 Heck yeah, man. There was a time when he was on my happy list. The first two years of his stewardship. Remember, I very much liked the hiring.

Now...Not so much.

I like cherry flavor, but I don't like cherries so much.

85
I always knew Marty's favorite flavor was cherry red.

My favorite flavor is purple.

Too bad my name isn't Mr. Jimmy.

Cherries are good. Peaches are good. Apricots are good. Even certain kinds of plums are good. I'm OK with pits in fruits, since it is a good idea to have a way to propagate the species. I just don't like neighborhood kids taking my pitted fruits off my trees and throwing them at each other. That is something for which I will not stand.

Not a cherry fan.

Growing up, we used to take the occasional orange from the grove across the street from Collier Street Elementary, where I went. I think that grove is still there. About 60-75 years ago, the area was full of those groves.

When we lived on Kelton Ave in Westwood (two houses off Olympic) we had an apricot and a fig tree in the back yard.

Dirtiest trees I've ever seen. Cleaning up after them was horrible, and as the only male child 10 years older than my sister, it was my job.

90 Come to Los Angeles! The sun shines bright, the beaches are wide and inviting, and the orange groves stretch as far as the eye can see. There are jobs aplenty, and land is cheap. Every working man can have his own house, and inside every house, a happy, all-American family.

56 - Personally, I think they should have signed "This Land Is My Land". First-round player who dropped to the second, and all that.

92 - Rollo Tomasi says hi.

I remember what seemed like miles of orange groves in Monrovia. Plus there were two dairy farms in my neighborhood.

Link, I love my fig tree. Unfortunately, so does my Lab.

90 You remind me of the big, full-wall picture that used to hang in the First Interstate Bank down the street from where I grew up. Huge black-and-white photo of the area, with orange groves stretching for miles, and a few houses dotted here and there. It wasn't named Orange County for nothing.

91 Apricot trees are very clean, provided you dutifully pick the apricots and eat them. Or you can do what we do, since we have hundreds of apricots we can't use -- have your kids pick them and sell them door-to-door, 10 for a buck. I can't believe you wasted your childhood picking ruined fruit off the ground instead of harvesting and selling it. :-)

Jason Repko update:

http://tinyurl.com/yq6uaw

96 - I have pictures taken from the house I grew up in (before we owned it) that show the groves.

Houston Chronicle versifies about the Series:
http://tinyurl.com/2wl2oo

Sox
Rox
Fox

Sox on Fox
Rox on Fox

Sox in three, sir
Rox in three, sir *

Rox are rested
Sox are tested

Manny hits
Coco mitts
Daisuke splits
Tito spits

etc., etc.

An avocado tree. That's the gold standard.

97 - Jason Repko was disabled for the fifteenth time this year as a violent collision with an oxygen molecule caused him to rupture his brain.

96 I spent my afternoons bashing a tennis ball against a garage door from 15 feet away, trying to improve my infielder's defense. ;)

I didn't (excuse me) give a fig.

A friend in my neighborhood had a plum tree that we used for plum fights. Nothing ruins a shirt as fast as a well-thrown ripe plum.

This is what the San Fernando Valley looked like when I was a wee lad:

http://tinyurl.com/yrevck

99 Done.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56759872@N00/232229882/

It's actually across the hedge in my neighbor's yard, but he hates the things and we love 'em, so they're all ours.

Link, you're living the dream :)

98 : 75 was an independent, parallel and inferior development.

85. I get it. I like peanuts but hate peanut butter.

105 So are the mongoose that wander through our yard once in a while. Funniest animal trick I've seen in a while was a mongoose holding an avocado on its chest as though it were a sea otter, with its head almost entirely inside the fruit. I went running for a camera but scared him off when I got back.

For a while I kept the camera on the kitchen counter in hopes, but it hasn't happened again.

106 The Chronicle pays writers to do that. Yours was presumably amateur competition, thus Olympics-worthy.

Bob Daly as Noah...

http://tinyurl.com/2duycf

They're interviewing Todd Helton on KOA, and he sounds absolutely thunderstruck.

d4p- did you get my e-mail?

108 Mongeese in Hawaii? That's so cool.

111

man, I'd be shaking in my cleats also.

I'm having a hard time coming up with a pitted fruit I don't like. I rarely get to eat my peaches/plums/apricots before the well fed Squirrels get them, even though we feed them peanuts everyday.

78
That was awesome

93
Sign me up.

97-Ah, Repko. My second-least-favorite Dodger outfielder. I no more want to see him attend spring training than to hear Matt Kemp's new hobby is juggling knives. Thanks, but no thanks.

I'd be happy enough to non-tender him, but of course, some team in the division would pick him up and he'd have any number of key hits against us. The guy's a Dodger-killer even as it stands. Craig Counsell, with a beard.

My, what a martial God Save The Queen, er, Star Spangled Banner that is.

117 Yes. It made me want to head down to the local recruiting office.

The strikeout pitch to the leadoff hitter was outside.

d4p- did you get my e-mail?

Yes, thanks. I've been busy today.

113 Yup.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56759872@N00/83604005/

Boston delenda est.

David Ortiz just tried to bunt.

The world will cease to exist in 5...4...3...2........

Ahh--the poor Rockies find automatic salvation in Lugo.

Its tough, Bostons my second team, but I've come to appreciate the Rocks

124

What happened to your affection for the Nationals?

Yeah Repko would be a Dodger killer with any other team. But anywhere in the clubhouse or on the field he's already a D's killer. He's tried to kill himself, then Furcal, and who knows who's next. And I like the Guy.

125 It's still there, but like with our D's, its irrelevant at this time of year.

bash rockies! bash!

That's a good memory Nate. By the way where is Sam DC lately. I should probably check over at bad altitude before I ask. I've sort of been on vacation, but not so much for pleasant reasons.

13 - That's the Jeff Francis that the Phillies couldn't hit either, right?

I don't think I can take three straight World Series sweeps in a row.

Repko to CF, Pierre to the bench. That's my preference.

132 - In case you need an arm.

Also, Dodgers.com notes DeJon Watson has been promoted to assistant GM. Can we feel safe now with 3 assistant GMs?

131
So you're not counting Game 2 of the World Series last year as a win for the Tigers?

You have to work on your Kenny Rogers denial issues.

129 I'm floating around, actually just checking in so fine timing.

On fruit trees, I lived in Portland for a year and we had a 35 foot pear tree in our front yard. Must've borne 5,000 pears. What an ungodly mess. I tried and tried to get someone who knew what they heck were doing to pick at least some of the tree when it was ripe, but mostly it was just collect the fallen rotted fruit from the ground.

On the Serious, I let my son stay up and watch the first inning (late for a school night), which he enjoyed. Then he went to bed, and I could hear him having trouble settling down to sleep. Finally, I went in to check on him, and he was all flushed and I asked what was up and he explained he was practicing holding his breath. "34 seconds!" he said. Sigh.

131 - true that.

134 - er, yeah.

24 it's easy to root for the rockies in the world series because... boston is annoying.

The Red Sox players are really ugly.

i believe ken rosenthal just said that the rockies played the cubs in the nlds. didn't they play philadelphia?

this game is dumb.

141 Seconded.

Ryan Speier has only played for Colorado in the majors.

Justin Speier has the guy who has been around the block, down the street, and up the chute.

Wrong thread.

There's something very dirty about the second half of comment 143.

145 - thats good

I'm sure everyone's asleep, but to clarify, a Plaschkeite is a member of the media, particularly one who jumps on bandwagons and then loudly proclaims he was right all along. I sense a trend of that nature in the media b/c the Sox won the last three in a row. That's what I'm defying.

Those of you who have carefully analyzed the relative strengths of the teams and concluded the Sox are stronger and will win, I have nothing but praise for you.

I pick the Rockies in five b/c I knew they would lose tonight's game -- this result is perfect for a comeback, it's a walking bulletin board article -- and expect to see a comeback starting tomorrow. Beckett can contain the Rox offense under any circumstances, but I don't think the same can be said for Schilling, Dice-K or Wakefield. They're all capable pitchers, but they're beatable by a good offensive team.

The Red Sox players are really ugly.

Oh man, uh!! That chuckle will make me sleep better tonight. LOL!!

147

Wakefield is off the WS roster, but yeah, I hear you DzzrtRatt.

Congratulations to Alex Rodriguez on his prestigious award.

133 3 Assistant GMs, 4 Assistants to the GM, and an Advisor to the GM. I wouldn't be surprised if Ned had the largest contingency of assistants in the league, and as far as I know, all 8 of them were employed by the team when Pierre was signed.

It's early but I think Jon is about to get his one missed pick of the postseason.

If the Rockies can't turn it around tomorrow; say goodnight everybody.

147
No doubt the Rockies will hit the rest of the rotation much more then what they could muster tonight, but I also think the Sox will continue to tear it up offensively against Josh Fogg and the like. By picking the Rox in 5 and saying you expected them to lose game one, your essentially saying you expect Josh Fogg to win a world series game. That would be like expecting Brett Tomko to win a WS game. This ain't Kansas, this here is the best of the best.

And it's all because of Julio Lugo.

The famous Antelope Island bison roundup. Yes, there are still cowboys around in the west:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBFBUK3QkJI

Maybe Matt Kemp can come and help out some year.

What a disappointment last night's game was. My friends who are Red Sox fans are so smug now. I yearn for the days when Dodger fans can be smug.

Who will the Sox sit in Denver?

I wouldn't be surprised if Ned had the largest contingency of assistants in the league, and as far as I know, all 8 of them were employed by the team when Pierre was signed.

And not 1 of them is a whistleblower....

One fans disappointment is my brothers giddiness.

Hard to sit Youk, but I think they have to. I want to see Ortiz get at bats in Denver.

I regard the Red Sox right now exactly the same way I regarded the Yankees in the late '90s. They're the exact same team. They can buy the best FA talent on the market, they have homegrown stars that their fans deify and everyone else will eventually loathe, and they seem to get the best deals when raiding other teams during fire sales.

If the Red Sox sign A-Rod, the circle will be complete. It perfectly parallels when the Yankees first acquired Roger Clemens.

And let's not even talk about the bandwagon

Too bad Ortiz can't play SS!

Mike Maroth was released by the Cards. Amazing that a guy who was pretty much an average pitcher (ERA+ of 109 in 2006 and ERA+ of 90 in Detroit in 2007) could completely collapse after the trade (45 ER's in 38 IP plus 11 unearned runs). He is 30 years old. I expect somebody will give him a look this spring.

I looked at his page at BR and the 1st comparable player listed was Hendy.

161

uh oh... Time to add Mike Maroth to the "Stuff I don't want to happen to the Dodgers" list.

Unless, of course, he is a cheap pickup, then it's worth a good look.

He is 30 years old. Does that make him a seasoned veteran?

NPUT

161-164 A foreshadowing of the torment we will all be a part of in the off-season.

166 Foreshadowing? I already check the web every morning in dread of some boneheaded move from the front office.