It kicks off tonight with Houston traveling to New York to face the Yankees.  Tomorrow night is the other wild card play-in when the Cubs travel to Pittsburgh. 

 

The winner of the Astros/Yankees will play the Royals while the winner of the Cubs/Pirates will face off with St. Louis.

 

The other two series are Texas v Toronto and NY Mets v LA Dodgers.

 

Who do you like? I'm predicting a Toronto-LA Dodgers World Series with the Blue Jays taking the crown.

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I predict a Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals World Series. The Cardinals have been Dodger killers for the past 3 years. They seem to hit Kershaw better than any team. Kershaw has a 1-7 record against the Cards in the playoffs and a 5.69 ERA.

 

Zack Greinke also has had troubles against them but I think he's like 2-2 in post season with an ERA over 4.0.

 

I'm really excited to watch the Cubs/Pirates game on Wednesday. That will be a great matchup of pitchers.

 

I'm taking two weeks off work to hang out at my vacation condo to watch the playoffs and Series. Coming home for two days to go to the Jags game then back to the condo.

 

Regards....................the Chiefjag

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Let's go Buccos.

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“It is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners.”
― Albert Camus

Anybody but the Cards...

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Thank you Houston

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Tonight's the night, let's go Bucs!

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TravC59, aka JacksJags. @TravC59 on Twitter
;
; "This is really good, you want a bite, Honey?"

Go BUCS!!

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Remember the movie, Back to the Future II.  Marty McFly travels the year 2015 and sees that the Cubs finally win the World Series.  On the surface, it's against Miami, a team that also plays in the NL so impossible for it to be the Marlins.

 

Here's what's interesting.  Pay attention to Miami's mascot.  It's an alligator also in the shape of a J, wearing a blue hat.

 

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_q...ure+2+cubs

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Lets go Pirates

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What's with all the Buc fans?  Cubs should win with Arrieta on the mound.  Cole's good too though so I'm thinking we're gonna see a 1-0 or 2-1 game tonight.

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Go Cubs Go! 


Watching Arrieta pitch is a thing of beauty.

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Cubs blank Pirates. As I figured, Pittsburgh had no chance with Arrieta on the bump. I'd hate to handicap the playoffs the rest of the way. Between the Cubs, Cards, Dodgers, Blue Jays and Royals, there are a lot of great teams battling it out.


I'm hoping my Cubs go all the way so I can rub it in Hurricane's face.

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Cubs blank Pirates. As I figured, Pittsburgh had no chance with Arrieta on the bump. I'd hate to handicap the playoffs the rest of the way. Between the Cubs, Cards, Dodgers, Blue Jays and Royals, there are a lot of great teams battling it out.


I'm hoping my Cubs go all the way so I can rub it in Hurricane's face.

 

His first 4 or so innings were brilliant.  What a special year he's had and I'm happy to have witnessed it as a Cubs fan.  You could tell he wasn't quite his dominant self for a few innings there but he still got through it and pitched a gem against a damn good Pirates team.  

 

I agree there are some great teams in the playoffs this year and it will be fun to watch the other series besides the Cubs.  What a better team to face in the NLDS, though, in the Cardinals.  We have to beat the best to be the best.  I love it.  

 

I was only 12 or 13, I believe, the last time I saw the Cubs advance in the postseason.  Tonight was a great night for Chicago.

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His first 4 or so innings were brilliant.  What a special year he's had and I'm happy to have witnessed it as a Cubs fan.  You could tell he wasn't quite his dominant self for a few innings there but he still got through it and pitched a gem against a damn good Pirates team.  

 

I agree there are some great teams in the playoffs this year and it will be fun to watch the other series besides the Cubs.  What a better team to face in the NLDS, though, in the Cardinals.  We have to beat the best to be the best.  I love it.  

 

I was only 12 or 13, I believe, the last time I saw the Cubs advance in the postseason.  Tonight was a great night for Chicago.

 

  Getting a couple of Double plays,  with the aid of good Defense,  was huge for the Cubs.   Kris Bryant's abilities and versatility jump out in terms of the Cubs non pitchers.   

 

  On paper,  a solid case can be made that the Cubs are currently better than the Cardinals because of the Cardinals injuries.   Yet,  the Cardinals intangibles are terrific.  St. Louis gets a major break that they won't have to face Jake Arrieta twice as a starter in their series.   

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So who's the next Steve Bartman? I guess we'll find out..


Go Steve!!!

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Arrieta.  Damn he is lights out. 

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  Getting a couple of Double plays,  with the aid of good Defense,  was huge for the Cubs.   Kris Bryant's abilities and versatility jump out in terms of the Cubs non pitchers.   

 

  On paper,  a solid case can be made that the Cubs are currently better than the Cardinals because of the Cardinals injuries.   Yet,  the Cardinals intangibles are terrific.  St. Louis gets a major break that they won't have to face Jake Arrieta twice as a starter in their series.   

 

Those double plays were huge.  Even when Arrieta isn't quite on his game right now, he still seems to be able to pitch smart and work his way out of a jam.  Kris Bryant's defense last night cannot be understated.  Going from LF, in to 3B and make those plays is pretty awesome.  Especially given his young age and inexperience at the MLB level of play.  Add it to being his first playoff game, he's a special kid.

 

Credit to Maddon for valuing versatility and moving guys like Kris Bryant around throughout the year.  The same credit goes to Kris, he's willing to play whatever position Joe puts him at.  Whether it be LF, RF, 3B or 1B (when Rizzo had the night off) he has been moved all over the place.

 

It would be hard to argue that the Cubs aren't the best team in baseball at the present moment but that means nothing, as we know, come playoffs.  The best team does not always win the series.  The Cardinals' experience cannot be undervalued here and as you mentioned, not having to face Arrieta twice is a pretty big win for them.

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Cubs blank Pirates. As I figured, Pittsburgh had no chance with Arrieta on the bump. I'd hate to handicap the playoffs the rest of the way. Between the Cubs, Cards, Dodgers, Blue Jays and Royals, there are a lot of great teams battling it out.


I'm hoping my Cubs go all the way so I can rub it in Hurricane's face.

  "Cubs should win with Arrieta on the mound"

 

Quite a difference in attitude between the two.

 

But yea, Arrieta has had a phenomenal year that only continued last night.

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TravC59, aka JacksJags. @TravC59 on Twitter
;
; "This is really good, you want a bite, Honey?"

Those double plays were huge.  Even when Arrieta isn't quite on his game right now, he still seems to be able to pitch smart and work his way out of a jam.  Kris Bryant's defense last night cannot be understated.  Going from LF, in to 3B and make those plays is pretty awesome.  Especially given his young age and inexperience at the MLB level of play.  Add it to being his first playoff game, he's a special kid.

 

Credit to Maddon for valuing versatility and moving guys like Kris Bryant around throughout the year.  The same credit goes to Kris, he's willing to play whatever position Joe puts him at.  Whether it be LF, RF, 3B or 1B (when Rizzo had the night off) he has been moved all over the place.

 

It would be hard to argue that the Cubs aren't the best team in baseball at the present moment but that means nothing, as we know, come playoffs.  The best team does not always win the series.  The Cardinals' experience cannot be undervalued here and as you mentioned, not having to face Arrieta twice is a pretty big win for them.

 

  One thing that could help the Cubs in their upcoming playoff series against the Cardinals is they have confidence they can beat the Cardinals.   The Cubs won multiple one sided games against St. Louis this season and more than held their own against the Cardinals overall.  The Cubs are already playing with house money,  which by itself makes them dangerous.


    A key that's hard to predict is which of the other starting pitchers in the series will perform well and which ones won't? 

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Arrietta was fantastic for the first half of the game then he became vulnerable. Two hard hit balls with bases loaded right at an infielder could have tipped the game to the Pirates. I don't know whether to credit or criticize Maddon for not bringing in some relief.

 

Cubs are 8-11 against the Cards this year with 4 of those wins coming mid-late September when the Cards were resting players. The Cubs batting average is 29th in the league this year and I don't think they have enough fire power to win a long series. However, Lackey, Garcia, and Lance Lynn are all pitching well but Michael Wacha has be horrible his last few starts.

 

I was debating earlier this season with someone on this board (don't remember who) who claimed of all the sports baseball was the one of which the manager had the least impact on the team's success. He claimed you could manage purely by Sabermetrics alone.

 

Hmmmfff..........................look at the Cubs from last year without Maddon and this year with him.

 

Regards........................the Chiefjag

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