ALCS: Game 1 CC vs Buckett

[B Mac]

I seriously hate the Red Sox. What a bunch of overrated ass clowns.

Manny has been horrible in the playoffs throughout his career, but youd never know by listening to the national media continue to slob his knob.

Beckett is good, but looks like a complete tool. I dont know why these multi-million dollar athletes make themselves look so ridiculously idiotic.

Dice K is an overrated *bleep*. I cant wait until Haf shoots one back up the middle on him and gives him a mushroom tattoo to boot.

Coco has no arm, and a weak stick.

Papi cant speak English.

Lowell looks like he just walked in from the hills of West Virginia while hunting for bears.

Schilling will need more than a fake bloody sock to hold off Indian hitters.

Papelbon reminds me of Pap Smear.

Varitek sounds like some floundering technology corporation.

Oh and Matt Damon has a hot girl, but he can suck a fat one this series.

Red Sox nation can go eat some clam chowda and have a tea pawty in their caws, because the Indians are locking this one down all over their New England asses.

Rant over.

Go Tribe! :chuckles:

 

[James]

Way to break down the game....

and had it not been for that "tea pawty" you would be having more fun spending your "pounds" then "dollars."

 

[chiefwahoo]

This should be a great series and a great Game 1 matchup. CC and Beckett both will be plenty rested and ready to go.

The 5-2 advantage the Red Sox had in the season series is very misleading IMO. They only faced CC (7.0 IP, 1 ER, 7K, 0BB) and Carmona (8.0 IP, 0 ER, 6K, 2BB) once each. And they faced Cliff Lee twice and Jeremy Sowers once, of course all losses by the Tribe.

Here are all the numbers for Tribe pitching vs. Boston this year:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/Statistics/Team/playerstats?team=cle&seasonYear=2007&split=2&seasonType=2&type=reg&pagetype=pitching

 

[B Mac]

Way to break down the game....

and had it not been for that "tea pawty" you would be having more fun spending your "pounds" then "dollars."

Wahhhh...

Welcome to a Cleveland based message board, this is what you'll get.

Oh and on behalf of all Indians fans allow me to thank you on behalf of all Red Sox fan for your part in throwing the tea into the water. LOL It was a great part of our countries history, but to really believe it was that event that led us into becoming our own country is foolish. There were a large number of events that happened that started the revolution besides the overrated Tea Party. If it wasnt the Tea Party it would have been something else. England was screwing us over and the people were fed up, I highly doubt that if the Tea Party hadnt happened that we would still be using the Pound.

Anyway this is about baseball not about history lessons.


I'll take not having the home field advantage in this series. The 2-3-2 format almost favors the away team anyway. If we take one of the first two, which seems pretty reasonable considering we have both CC and Carmona going, and then win two out of three at home, which also seems reasonable knowing our home record this year, it puts us in the drivers seat. Going back to Boston up 3-2 puts all the pressure on Boston to perform, especially with Carmona pitching game 6. Of course we all know that reason goes out the window in the playoffs, but I love our chances.

 

[chiefwahoo]

^ Yep, I was pissed at first about the 2-3-2 format with Boston having Games 6 and 7 at home. But the more I think about it I love it for us. Obviously either way we'd have CC and Fausto on the road for Games 1 and 2. Our two most reliable pitchers in a hostile environment. You hope for a split but if we can somehow come back 2-0 we are in amazing shape.

Then Westbrook and Byrd at home. You really don't know what you're going to get from either of them but I feel much better when they are at home instead of Fenway (if we would have gotten homefield). The key for me is Game 5. Instead of having CC pitch on the road (in the old 2-2-1-1-1 format), this game is now at home. That leaves Fausto for Game 6, who at this point is our most dominant pitcher. He doesn't seem to get rattled and I love that it's him getting the call in Game 6 on the road.

Finally, Westbrook in Game 7... well, let's just say I hope we win this thing in 6. But you would have Byrd available too and basically anyone who's arm hasn't fallen off. Should be a great series.

 

[PIP]

Diz iz gonna be wicked awesome....

 

[Wes]

Let the ALCS begin!!

Both teams are very similar, which should make for a compelling series. Heck, they won the same amount of games! Here is a quick breakdown how I see it:

Starting Pitchers:
-CLE: Sabathia, Carmona, Westbrook, Byrd
-BOS: Beckett, Schilling, Dice-K, Wakefield
Advantage - Even. Pretty much a toss-up for me. I like Carmona a little better than Schilling, but Westbrook and Byrd still scare me. Dice-K has the chance to toss out some really good stuff (I think he beat us 1-0 during the reg. season). Of course, having Sabathia and Carmona twice each is a good thing for Cleveland.

Bullpen:
Advantage: Slight to Cleveland. I like our set-up men better than Boston's but wow, does Borowski scare me.

Catcher:
Advantage - Cleveland. Victor Martinez is our best offensive player, and I think he is better as a left handed hitter (don't quote me on that), which he will be doing mostly this series. Varitek has had some big moments for the Sox, and is their capitan, but is not in the same class as Victor.

First Base:
Advantage - Slight to Boston. Youk has had a very consistent season, and while I like the offensive pop that Garko provides, I think Youkillis' better defense gives him the slight edge.

Second Base:
Advantage - Even. Both Cabrera and Pedroia are rookies that don't play like it. Pedroia has played at the major league level for a little longer, but I think Cabrera plays a little better defense.

Shortstop:
Advantage - Cleveland. Peralta has played very solid this season, and had a really nice series versus NY. Lugo hasn't performed quite to the level that Boston has expected, and his offensive shortcomings (compared to Peralta) don't quite make up for his better defense.

Third Base:
Advantage - Boston. Lowell has had a very productive season, with 120 RBI. He also plays gold-glove defense. Blake is very serviceable for Cleveland, but tends to strike out a little too much. Love the beard though...

Left Field:
Advantage - Boston. Manny vs. Lofton. Not much to say here. I like Kenny, and what he does for the Indians, but he is not on the same level as Manny.

Center Field:
Advantage - Cleveland. Sizemore vs. Crisp. Once again, not much to say here. Crisp has turned it around some, but Grady is one of Cleveland's most dynamic players.

Right Field:
Advantage - Cleveland. I'm a fan of Gutierrez. I also think he has played better than J.D. Drew. J.D. makes a lot more money though, so at least he's got that going for him.

DH:
Advantage - Boston. Although Hafner has been playing much better lately, and had a nice series against the Yankees, it's hard to go against Ortiz.

Managers:
Advantage - Even. Meh, this more of a cop-out response by me, because I don't know anything about Francona's coaching style. I like how Wedge stuck to his guns, and pitched Byrd in Game 4 of the New York series, but maybe he just got lucky. As far as Francona, he probably could have spent the entire LA series in the locker room playing Madden 08, and Boston still wouldn't have had any problem.

So, that gives 5 Advantages for Cleveland, and 4 for Boston. Prediction? I hate making these, especially, for such evenly matched teams, but I just like the way Cleveland is handling being the underdog. Pair that with their top two starters perhaps being a little better than Boston's top two, along with a slightly better bullpen, and that spells Cleveland in 6.

Feel free to agree or disagree. I don't pretend to have any vast knowledge on the subject.

Let's enjoy the games!!

 

[Maximus]

PRONK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Maximus]

(((SIGH))) Manny ties it up.

 

[bob2the2nd]

unless CC finds his stuff this game is over. CC cant find the plate, and the indians defenders are having huge mental breakdowns.

 

[Smooth]

They just said Beckett is 48-2 when the Red Sox score 5 or more runs for him; well right now that is the likely route as C.C. doesn't have control, we can't hit Beckett and we aren't play defense...

 

[James]

Its the playoffs, so i wouldnt count anyone who has gotten this far out of the game.

Cleveland can get hot and get hot fast, they have plenty of come back from behind wins this year.

 

[Smooth]

With the way C.C is pitching I seriously have to question re-signing him to a fat new contract...

7-1 Red Sox, game over.

 

[B Mac]

Ugly ugly game.

But its just one game. All we need is a split in Beantown and then we are in the drivers seat. Lets go get em tomorrow.

 

[bob2the2nd]

Ugly ugly game.

But its just one game. All we need is a split in Beantown and then we are in the drivers seat. Lets go get em tomorrow.

exactly. a loss tomorrow and this series is almost over. but i think carmona pitches his game and indians win