2012 MLB Playoff Picks

Let's hear it for the boys!  This one's for my friends in the D.  Let's break down our often frustrating, but-hey-they-made-it Tigers.  Playoff predictions are below if you want to skip the Detroit homer stuff.

I still remember...

Let's face it, Tigers fans, it's been an excruciatingly frustrating, maddening, and... well, let's just say it's been a pain in the ASS to root for our Tigers this year.  Here's one man's journey, in a nutshell:

- Got MLB Extra Innings for Christmas (thanks, Mom and Santa!)  Watched the awesomest start we could have imagined.  All is well in the world.

You're welcome!

- May-August:  F**k me...

- Went to two home games in July.  Lost one, won one.  All good, I guess.  Made fun of my cousin's wife/Twins fan at the game we won.  This guy and his enormous testicles nearly caught a Fielder home run ball, and we saw the video online that night.

- Tried to get my August trip planned around a home game.  Didn't work.  Did get to see Verlander blow a 4 run 1st inning lead against KC and share my angst among beers and friends.

- Issued self moratorium on watching games on the weekend.  It was, and I kid you not, effecting my relationship with my kid.  I would get so pissed after losses I would be cranky for hours. 

- Removed said moratorium during hot streak in August.

- Put it back on about 4 days later.

- Never watch games when we're ahead and Valverde comes in.  Honestly, when have you enjoyed watching him end games this year?  Remember when you were a kid, and you went to get a shot at the doctor?  You knew it was gonna hurt, it's just a matter of how much... does it go away a couple minutes later (win).  Does it hurt all day, but Mom takes you for ice cream (tie, extra innings).  Does it hurt for a week, and Mom drags your ass right back to school (loss).  Unfortunately, this doesn't work in the playoffs... ugh.

- Watched us smoke some foo's again in September.  Done and done.  We can stop slow down our drinking for a few hours days. 

Hmmm...

So the big question... can we win it?

We get Oakland, the only team in the AL hotter than we are, in the Divisional Round.  Fact - Oakland set a record for most strikeouts by their hitters this year.  Fact - The Tigers are a power pitching team.  Fact - series go 2-3 this year, meaning the first two are in Detroit.  If we get them both, it's over.  Even if we split, this is a veteran team not afraid of elimination games on the road (suck it, Y*****s). 

Do you Michigan fans out there remember our good, not great teams from the late 90s/early 00s?  Notorious for playing to the level of our opponent.  They'd go 10-2, losing to Northwestern and Purdue.  The worst was you could tell the day the schedule came out when those upsets were coming.  The 2012 Tigers are just like that.  Win 3 of 4 from Chicago, get swept by Cleveland.

This series is gonna be close, but I like them in this one.  Then you get the Y*****s vs. Texas/Baltimore winner (see my pick below).  I gotta give the a-holes credit... they do what the Tigers don't.  Take care of business against bad teams all year.  The kicker is they just aren't as good as their record.  Witness 2011.  Lucky for them, Texas/Baltimore is a perfect matchup for them.  Texas is a worse version of them.  Baltimore could be scary... nothing to lose, not intimidated, good lineup... but how many 1 run games can you win in a year?  I like the Ys.

If we can get by Oakland, I love us against the d-bags even more.  The Ys are a year older, and their starters are a year worse.  The only thing that scares me is they have a disciplined lineup, and the way you beat us is to make our guys pitch.  Could eliminate the huge pitching advantage.  Otherwise, I'm not scared of anyone but Cano.  Quite frankly, that series last year wouldn't have been that close if not for Posada channeling his inner 1999.

The NL matchups scare the shit out of me.  We match up best against San Francisco, but I don't think they make it.  We need to cheer REAL hard for St. Louis to beat Atlanta, cause I think Atlanta, Washington, and Cincy all pose big matchup problems for us.  Good lineups, deep pitching (probably better than ours... bullpens definitely better).  At least we'd have home field!  This time it counts!

The big questions for us... can we stay hot?  Do Avila, Peralta, and Young find their lost bats (save Young's August)?  Can our consistently inconsistent bullpen find it's groove?  Do the Tigers finally get inspired and play with some urgency, ala the last few weeks?  Does Cabrera stay the hottest hitter in the game?  Will Major Mojo and I get to watch an Will the wife let me go back to Detroit for a World Series game 2 weeks before the baby is born?

Urgent!  I think...

American League
Wild Card - Texas over Baltimore
Divisional - Detroit over Oakland, Y*****s over Texas
ALCS - Detroit over Y*****s

National League

Wild Card - Atlanta over St. Louis (dammit)
Divisional - Cincy over San Francisco, Washington over Atlanta
NLCS - Cincy over Washington

God, I hate that matchup.  Cincy's park is a bandbox, that's not good for us.  We need San Francisco to get out of the NL for us to win it, I just can't see that happening.  I said at the beginning of the year I think we're a year away, and I still think it's the case.  Add Victor Martinez, a bullpen arm, a full year of Dirks/Garcia, a better year for Avila, and maybe a new manager (Francona???).  This is my early prediction of me going to Detroit, ARG in tow, for a couple World Series wins.

Cincinnatti over Detroit in 6. 

I LOVE YOU!!!

Contact Logical Betting at logicalbetting@gmail.com and twitter.com/logicalbetting.  I plan to tweet a lot during these games (though will be out for Game 1 v. Oakland), fueled by Michigan-made Founders and Bells tasty brews, and what's remaining of my Tigers commemorative LaBatt's cans.  With any luck, Mojo and I will be tweeting from the same location for an ALCS and/or World Series game.  Is parening a sport?  Find out next week!  Hasta.