World Series Preview, 2 games in

Well, the series is tied, so just consider it a new start


breakdown by positions

1B
Phillies - Ryan Howard -- Most powerful hitter in either lineup. His hits and rbis also come at very valuable times. He's slimmed down and gotten more fit, his defense is no longer in question

Yankees - Mark Texeira -- Power hitter, but not super powerful. Very good defensive first baseman.

advantage - Phillies

2B
Phillies - Chase Utley -- One of the strongest 2B's in all of MLB. Good defensively. Has a ridiculously good stealing percentage.

Yankees - Robinson Cano -- Good with the bat. Not a very good defensive 2B

advantage - Phillies

SS
Phillies - Jimmy Rollins -- Streaky hitter, but has good power for a leadoff hitter. Doesn't get on base consistently. Overall good defense and range. Can steal a base when he needs to.

Yankees - Derek Jeter -- Doesn't have the defensive range he once had. Defense was never really his strong suit. Reliable leadoff hitter and comes up with hits in clutch situations.

advantage - push

3B
Phillies - Pedro Feliz -- Good defensively. Came up with clutch hits in last year's world series. Hasn't done much this post-season.

Yankees - Alex Rodriguez -- Former short stop, so good defensively. Power hitter. Has 2 paintings of himself as a centaur hanging over his bed. Has had a strong post-season so far, after a history of poor post-seasons. (cheating -- has struck out like a demon in the world series so far)

advantage - yankees

Corner infield - advantage - yankees
Middle infield - advantage - phillies

Outfield
Phillies
Shane Victorino -- has been silent offensively most of the season, but may be the fastest baserunner on either side and has decent power too. Can take bad routes to the ball in the air, but has explosive speed and a cannon for an arm.
Raul Ibanez -- Started off season on fire at the plate. Cooled down, but still good with the bat. Better than he seems on defense, but still a likely candidate when looking for a DH.
Jayson Werth -- One of baseball's best kept secrets. Made his first all-star game this year. Powerful righty has made his way into the heart of the lineup. Solid on defense, strong arm.
Ben Francisco -- Ibanez's defensive replacement. Has picked up offensively since going to Phillies. Good right handed bat off the bench for replacement or pinch hitting.

Yankees
Melke Cabrera -- The lesser of the Cabreras. Decent bat. Mediocre defensive abilities for a center fielder.
Johnny Damon -- Former center fielder, so knows which route to take to the ball. Lost leadoff hitting spot to Jeter soon after joining the Yankees. Jeter was never a natural leadoff hitter. Lost a step or two in age. Has a weak throwing arm.
Nick Swisher -- Average defensive abilities for an outfielder. Doesn't have to cover much ground at Yankee Stadium. Not bad throwing arm. Decent hitter, except when it counts.
Jerry Hairston jr -- Is he really in the majors? Not very good defense. Mediocre offense.

Advantage -- Phillies, both CF and corner

Starting Pitching
Phillies
Cliff Lee -- Been Lights out entire post-season. I really dont see any flaws here. Only thing I count against him is he's pitching game one, at Yankee stadium, where he won't be able to take advantage of his hitting.
Pedro Martinez -- Pitches well in big situations better than anyone. Stuff isn't as fast as it once was, and he probably won't be able to throw as many pitches either.
Joe Blanton -- Most consistent pitcher for the Phillies all season. Also one of the few righty's that starts, oddly.
Cole Hamels -- Was lights out last post-season. a bit of an enigma this post season. had a dissappointing season by his standards.
JA Happ -- likely NL rookie of the year. Had a good year, but inexperience could catch up to him.

Yankees
CC Sabbathia -- needs to lose weight. seriously, the dude is huge. Can lose his head quickly, but has good stuff overall.
AJ Burnett -- Breaking ball pitcher. When his stuff breaks right, he's unhittable. When it doesn't it's batting practice.

advantage -- Phillies. to be honest i just don't know a ton about yankees pitching

Bullpen
Phillies -- good setup men, if Lidge can keep his head on, he's unhittable, has an ungodly slider that breaks more than most pitcher's curveballs.
Yankees -- shaky in the set up. If they can get to mariano rivera though, the game is over. He's virtually unhittable or unshakable.

advantage -- push


So there's my 2 games in preview of the world series.
yeah, i know i forgot Catcher, manager, and bench/dh, but to be honest, the penn state game is on, and i have to catch it.

-- Knuttel

now for some helmet

yeah, it's been like a month since i last got to post. guess i was busy or something...

in any case, not enough time to do it now, but tomorrow there will probably be a preview of the world series (which begins tonight, i know), but im not gonna let the game influence what i was gonna write about it.

and there will probably something about the shame and mockery that is pearl jam closing out the spectrum. more like getting a pearl necklace ... the one not made of actual pearls ... forget it.

piz

Puck the System volume 1: season preview

After a month long hiatus, the Knuttel returns, with a new installment titled "Puck the System". Why the hiatus? Well, Knuttel thought he was going to OCS today, but he got delayed until January, so posting should again be semi-regular, besides, it's not like shit happens in the summer anyway.


WAR. PUCK THE SYSTEM. WAR. PUCK THE SYSTEM PUCK THE SYSTEM.
I NEED TO PUCK THE SYS I NEED TO PUCK THE SYS

Despite Gary Bettman's best intentions, the NHL still remains an active league that regularly plays games and has a fair method of selecting its yearly champion (the president's trophy, obviously).

- The Flyers have decided to dump both of their goaltenders from last year (Biron and Nittymaki) despite usually good play from both. I suppose the hot and cold streaks were too much, so they just decided to save Emery from the KHL, whose hot and cold streaks are so severe, I'm actually looking forward to see if he'll stab anybody who scores on him (bonus points if its Crysby).

- The Flyers have also signed Chris Pronger ... to a ten year contract. Here's to looking forward to the Flyers having a legitimate first line defender locked up until the age of 50 -- whatevs, Chelios is still playing I think.

- Crysby still has not shaken the hands of the Detroit Red Wings after defeating them in the Stanley Cup finals. Look for him to be a marked man and the subject of many a dirty hit. Also look for him to flop on many times more a clean hit.

- Not even The Great One could save hockey (or establish it?) in the desert (I know, I expected more of Rich Tocchet too). Despite all of this, Gary Bettman is insisting on keeping the Coyotes in Pheonix. Common sense would say the team would fare better in its previous home of Winnipeg, or even Hamilton, Ontario, but this is also the league that thinks salary caps, and salary caps alone create parity (the NFL has nothing to do with salary caps, and theyre gonna be gone anyway, it's all revenue sharing and ginormous TV contracts).

- Direct TV subscribers were almost left without hockey for the year, in yet another move where someone actually called Gary Bettman's bluff, and he had shit. Sadly VS. and NBC cover hockey a million times better than ESPN ever did, or even how ESPN covers anything now. It's just the exposure. I mean, ESPN's lead hockey analyst's credentials are coaching Wayne Gretzky for a year or two in LA (and not winning a single game later on in Tampa Bay) and having a mullet.

- Crazy predictions time
-- Ovechkin will average more than one goal a game, and challenge for Gretzky's, if not Hull's, scoring record.
-- Someone else will come close.
-- Malkin will end the season with 50 more points than Crysby, but everyone will still insist Crysby is the better player. They will both still refuse to play defense.
-- PHEONIX WILL MAKE THE PLAYOFFS
-- hah, no they won't
-- Chicago will not compete for a playoff spot at all after making a decent playoff run for the first time in like 15 years last season.
-- Tampa Bay will have 2 40 goal scorers, but they will not win 25 games.
-- The Toronto Maple Leafs will correct their grammar and go as the "Toronto Maple Leaves".
-- Shit, these predictions are too mild. whatevs. wait for the season to actually start.

-- I refuse to make any predictions or write about the Canucks, Oilers, and Flames, due to their proximity to where nickelback is from. If the teams were to take it upon their own hands to eliminate this band, physically, I'll reconsider.

-- Knuttel