#6 Honolulu Rainbow Warriors (92-70) vs. #1 Baltimore Revolution (114-48)
HONOLULU- Well if there is anything that the Rainbow Warriors showed us, its that the editors of the Satchel Paige News have no idea what they're talking about. "As for Honolulu, their season so far has far surpassed expectations. Their pitching staff will be hard pressed to keep the Camels' lineup in check," is what we said in our ALDS Prediction of the Honolulu/Scottsdale series. In response, the Warriors allowed the Camels to score only 6 runs in the entire four game series on their way to winning three straight games and the series. SP Alfonso Espinosa is making quite a name for himself as a big game pitcher. His 21 innings of work this postseason, to the tune of a 1.71 ERA, will give him plenty of ammo for his first career arbitration hearing this coming offseason. But that's far from his mind at the moment. He's currently busy spending his all of his time in the film room trying to figure out how to contain the AL's most potent combination of speed and power in the ALCS. While Espinosa has been leading the way, the entire staff has been on fire with a postseason team ERA of 1.82. SS Kelvim Bong has had a bizarrely historic postseason run. In the nine games, he has 5 hits, 6 strikeouts and 10 RBI. His hitting has either been really clutch, or he's just been in the right place at the right time. This will be Honolulu's third ALCS appearance in franchise history, but the first since their move to Hawaii. The Warriors offense has been solid up and down the order with no single player taking the spotlight. RF Felipe Mota played in 1909 career big league games before getting his first taste of the postseason with Honolulu. The former All Star has made the best of his chance by getting a hit in every game of the postseason so far, and is riding a 9 game playoff hitting streak and a 22 game hitting streak going back into the regular season. Fans are very excited about this team, and the three home games sold out almost instantly. Aloha Stadium is also hosting the away games by showing the games on the stadium's recently renovated HD Jumbo-tron. Those tickets are nearly sold out as well. The fever seems to be catching on everywhere, and LF Gerald Martin and SP Alfonso Espinosa jerseys are sold out throughout the islands. The atmosphere in Hawaii should be electric for the upcoming series.
BALTIMORE- Its all about the even seasons for Baltimore. Since Season 8, they have made it to at least the ALCS every other year. This season the trend continues. While nobody is surprised that the Revolution beat the Hitmen in the ALDS, the manner in which they dispatched their rivals was shocking: a three game sweep in which the Revolution averaged over 8 runs per game. A very good, very proud Anaheim pitching staff was thoroughly embarrassed. Their defense didn't help at times either though, especially in the deciding third game when they committed three errors. While the Baltimore offense looked downright intimidating, fans and coaches may have concerns about the pitching. While it wasn't bad in the series, it certainly wasn't good. The team ERA was 4.82. Some will tell you that the ERA stat is misleading and cite the teams solid 1.25 WHIP and K/BB ratio of over 4/1. While that may be true, the fact remains that the pitchers allowed 15 runs in three games. For a team with championship aspirations, that number needs to go down. The team had seven home runs in the series. DH Delvi Borges' 3 hits and .231 AVG may not seem impressive, but all three of his hits went yard. He led the team in RBI with 7. Borges also had the biggest hit of the series. It was a go-ahead 3-run home run in the top of the tenth inning of Game 3. 1B Bruce Donovan continues his hot hitting, with his .400/.538/.900 numbers for the series. He had at least one hit in every game, including one home run. If you listen to the radio in Baltimore, its clear that the Revolution fans don't think much of the Warriors chance at another upset. The prevailing topic seems to be the NLCS and who the Revolution will face in the Fall Classic after they sweep the upstart Rainbow Warriors. As well as the Warriors have been playing, many Baltimore faithful may be in for a rude awakening.
Projected Pitching Matchups:
Game 1: Camden Yards, HON: Alfonso Espinosa (16-10) vs. BAL: Tony Espinosa (17-4)
Game 2: Camden Yards, HON: Harry Gray (12-11) vs. BAL: Damaso Solano (22-3)
Game 3: Aloha Stadium, BAL: Jared White (16-1) vs. HON: Jose Mondesi (8-9)
Editor's Pick:
Honolulu's Espinosa and Gray have proven that the moment is never too big for them. They should be able to at least keep up with Baltimore. The Warriors' starters after those two leave much to be desired. In the other dugout, the Revolution possess the league's best offense and, arguably, the best pitcher in the history of the SPL just coming off of his the best season of his HOF career. That's a pretty tall order for Honolulu to overcome. Although, the Warriors did win the season series 6-4, so take that for what its worth. This will sound familiar, but Honolulu just lacks the depth of pitching to keep up with the fast and powerful Revolution offense. But, then again, what do we know? We were wrong about them before....... Baltimore wins in five.
National League
#6 Cleveland Lake Shores (90-72) vs. #5 Chicago Gray Stockings (97-65)
CLEVELAND- If there is one thing that the Lake Shores postseason run has shown us, its that the editors of the Satchel Paige News are geniuses. Their analysis is always insightful and on the money. In the NL Wild Card Round Preview, we said that "The Lake Shores were quietly one of the best teams in the NL. They were 3rd in the NL in runs scored and 3rd in fewest runs allowed. They also led the NL in most '+' plays and fewest '-' plays. Here at SPN, we consider Cleveland to be the dark horse in the NL." Dark horse indeed. Their win over Richmond didn't come as a shock, but their 3-1 NLDS victory over the Milwaukee Titans was just as surprising as Honolulu's upset of Scottsdale. The Milwaukee Titans had made it to at least the NLCS for the last three seasons. In a city that has been starved for playoff success (in any sport) for a long time, the Lake Shore fanatics have gone berserk for this team. They seem to almost be rabid and frothing at the mouth, but maybe that's just beer foam. 'The Jake' is like a party atmosphere. In the upper decks, directly behind home plate, you'll commonly find the 'Wolf Pack.' A group of rowdy (and often drunk) fans in C Matt Wolf jerseys who howl every time he steps to the plate or guns down a would be base stealer. The PR department in the Lake Shores organization seems to have caught on, and now Matt has his own custom intro music. Walking to the plate to the tune of Metallica's 'Of Wolf and Man', with the loudspeakers blaring, "Now, stepping to the plate, catcher, Matt Woooooooolf." The whole crowd gets in on the howl. The Metallica clashes with Glen Dawkin's 'Super Mario Theme' intro music, but the Lake Shores make it work. Their success on the field though, is in large part to their three veteran starting pitchers: Arlie Kingland, Sammy Dali and Clinton Charles. Those three started six of Cleveland's eight postseason games this season. They are a combined 2-1 with 33.1 IP and a 2.61 ERA. If they can keep up that level of dominance, there isn't any reason this team can't go to the WS. The offense has struggled so far though. Matching up with a Gray Stockings team loaded with pitching certainly won't help. If the lineup doesn't start to get more production, it will leave alot of pressure on the pitching and defense. 3B Glen 'Super Mario' Dawkins has done some damage, with a 6 game hitting streak and an OPS of 1.145. Matt Wolf has been doing what he does best, getting on base. He has a playoff OBP of .394. But he has only scored 2 runs, has 0 RBI and 0 extra base hits. They will need to get more production out of their star player against Chicago.
CHICAGO- This postseason has been one of surprises and firsts. For the first time in SPL history, the #5 and #6 seeds are meeting in the LCS. For the first time in the last three seasons, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh aren't playing each other in the NLCS. Since Season 6, Pittsburgh has made it to at least the NLCS every season except one; until this season. This is also Chicago's first trip to the NLCS in franchise history. Its easy to forget the early history of this franchise due to the run of success they have had since the move to Chicago. Before then, this franchise was one of the worst in the league. In its first eight seasons of existence, it had a winning record only twice and was perennially mired in the bottom of the standings. It never had made the playoffs. The franchise was plagued by poor management, chronic instability and certainly didn't have much of a fan base. They had played in six different cities in eight seasons. Everywhere from Washington DC, Norfolk, Indianapolis, Huntington, Rochester and New Britain. By the time Season 9 rolled around, the team was a laughing stock. Chicago was also desperate for baseball. Despite having a couple of fly-by-night teams early in SPL history (the Chicago Storm in Season 1, the Chicago Cubbies in Season 2 and the Chicago Chumps in Season 3), it had been a long time since baseball was in Chicago and the Windy City was desperate for a team. Needless to say, when new ownership announced that the former New Britain Padres would move to the South Side, fans weren't very excited. However, it didn't take long to realize that newly minted Gray Stockings weren't going to be a joke any longer. The team has now made it to the playoffs every season its been in Chicago and the fans were quick to embrace their new team. This season is a culmination for the Chicago franchise that has been desperate to escape its embarrassing past. By defeating hated division rival Pittsburgh and earning their way to the NLCS, fans now feel that mission is accomplished. Needless to say though, players weren't quite as concerned about the legacy of the franchise. They were more concerned with the legacy of one of their own, SP Julio Telemaco. Telemaco, now 36 years old, is probably a lock for the HOF, and the only thing missing from his resume is a coveted championship ring. His team mates have dedicated this season to him. SP Carter Maybin, who will tell you that his success is due in large part to Telemaco's tutelage. Maybin and Telemaco both seem to be pitching like men possessed this postseason. In their 5 starts, they are a combined 4-0, with 36 innings and a 1.50 ERA. If they continue to dominate like that, this team will be very hard to beat. CF Butch Ramirez is riding a 7 game hitting streak and is leading the team in RBI with 10 and tied for the team lead in HR with 3. He has also played flawlessly in the field with 0 errors, 1 A and 1 '+' play. C Alex Molina certainly seems to be playing with his possible offseason LT contract in mind. He is hitting .417/.517/.667 with 2 home runs. The real star of this playoffs so far for Chicago though, is 3B Yusmeiro Martin. Despite his team high 10 strikeouts, he has had a flare for the dramatic. He hit a Grand Slam in the 8th inning of Game 3 of the Wild Card Round versus Los Angeles. More dramatically, he hit a go-ahead 3-run shot in the 10th inning of Game 2 in the NLDS versus Pittsburgh. He is hitting .294 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI.
Projected Pitching Matchups:
Game 1: US Cellular Field, CLE: Clinton Charles (12-5) vs. CHI: Carter Maybin (20-4)
Game 2: US Cellular Field, CLE: Sammy Dali (12-9) vs. CHI: Julio Telemaco (13-7)
Game 3: Jacobs Field, CHI: Wayne Spence (11-8) vs. CLE: Arlie Kingland (12-10)
Editor's Pick:
Its an all NL East NLCS. As a result, these teams know each other very well. Cleveland won the regular season series 6-4. These teams have lineups that are pretty evenly matched and both have very good fielding teams. If you look at the hardware in the pitching staff, it would look like no contest. Chicago's starters have a combined 3 Cy Youngs and 13 All Star appearances. Cleveland's starters have a combined 3 All Star appearances. That is very misleading though. The Lakes Shores starters are all well established, savvy veterans who have been solid all season. They also seem to be pitching their best when it counts: right now in the playoffs. Still, we do give the Gray Socks a slight edge in pitching, and the support of home field advantage. Expect a close series, with plenty of drama. Chicago wins in seven.
