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It’s the middle of October, and there are four teams left. Two of them are underdogs that surprised us in late September, one is an underdog that surprised us the entire year and one is a defending World Series Champion.
In the presence of all of these underdogs, I believe there is a better chance the sun will be setting on a World Series celebration in Boston than anywhere else.
That’s not to say they’ll be given a run for their money by the Tampa Bay Rays and whoever makes it from the National League. The Rays are an excellent team that has proven itself both in the regular season and in October, something the mighty Cubs and Sabathia-fueled Brewers couldn’t pull off.
The Rays can hit, they can pitch and they can field. After all, there were 22 teams that committed more errors than they did this season. However, the one thing the Rays do not have is depth.
They do not have nearly the same quality of starting pitching the Red Sox have, and this is going to end their October early.
Scott Kazmir is usually lights out. However, this is the worst year he’s had since 2005, plus the guy has never been a part of October baseball before.
This is true of all five Rays starters and almost the entire team. That’s not to say a team of players who haven’t seen October before can’t go all the way, but it certainly
doesn’t help.
The Red Sox have one of the best pitchers of 2008: Jon Lester, as well as October veteran Josh Beckett, 18-game winner Daisuke Matsuzaka and a bullpen full of proven arms that can handle close games that matter. None of the Rays’ starters have numbers even close to what Lester and Matsuzaka posted, and their closer isn’t one of the top five in the Majors like Jonathan Papelbon is.
The Rays also don’t have Dustin Pedroia or Kevin Youkilis, both of whom were AL MVP candidates this year. They also don’t have David Ortiz and his .302 postseason average. While they do have a core group of hitters that have performed so far, those hitters simply aren’t as good or reliable as Bostons. Tampa Bay’s offense has the better numbers so far this October, but Boston has the better team.
It’s pretty obvious to me the Red Sox and the Rays are the two best teams who are still left. Philadelphia has a really solid offense, but its pitching isn’t anything to get excited about beyond Cole Hamels and Brad Lidge, and chances are Lidge will blow at least one save before this is
all over.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, have better pitching than Philadelphia does, but the only guy hitting above .300 for them in October is Manny Ramirez.
We all know it’s a safe bet to put your money on Ramirez since he understands hitting in October like The Beatles understand music, but the rest of the team, with the exception of James Loney and Rafael Furcal, haven’t looked alive out there.
Either way, the Red Sox have their work cut out for them against either of those two National League teams. They’re still the best team in the league, even if their regular season record doesn’t show it. After all, look at what they did to the mighty Angels who won 100 games.
Boston’s outstanding farm system has produced several talented young arms that will bridge the gap between its starters and its homegrown closer, Papelbon. They’ve replaced the injured Julio Lugo with another talented product of their farm system, Jed Lowrie.
The combination of a wonderful farm system and seasoned veterans from good trades in the past won the 2007 World Series for the Boston Red Sox and set them up to win many more in the future. As a Yankees fan, I shudder to think about the potential dynasty the Red Sox are becoming.
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