Calling it/Bragging Rights thread

by Doug on Sep 27, 2006 7:56 AM PDT

With the second season upon us, I thought it would be fun to provide a clearinghouse for predictions, guarantees, and other bold statements. For example, here's mine:

The A's will make it past the division series for the first time in the Beane era.
Thomas will be good, but Chavez is going to have a monster postseason and will be our MVP.
Harden will win the clinching game in each series that we play
Saarloos will be the bullpen MVP
Kendall will hit a home run in the ALCS
Feel free to add your own, or argue with mine :).

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harden winning the clinching game?

i disagree with all but the first prediction (a's making it out of the first round).
chavez has so many injury issues that it's hard to see him outperforming thomas, bradley, and swisher in the playoffs.
harden winning the clinching game (i think he's scheduled to pitch game three) would mean the a's sweep the tigers? i hope you're right, but i doubt that will happen.
saarloos has been somewhat mediocre this year, and probably won't pitch enough to be the bullpen MVP, no matter how well he does.
kendall doesn't even try to hit home runs, so it's extremely unlikely he will hit one over a 3-5 game span against some good pitchers.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Sep 27, 2006 8:32 AM PDT reply actions

Game 4

I'm thinking Harden will be pitching Game 4 in the ALDS, but Game 3 is possible. We'll see what happens beyond that, but you cannot go out on a limb and only pick the likely ones. I think Saarloos is going to prove valuable as a long man, either if someone doesn't have it or in extras. As for Chavvy, his OPS is almost 900 for the month, he's due, and he's going to get enough rest to be effective. Kendall was just a hunch, we'll see (Podsednik had 2 homers for the Sox in last year's playoffs, anything is possible)

by Doug on Sep 27, 2006 9:00 AM PDT up reply actions

The Willie Randolph effect

Randolph didn't hit homers in the regular season, but got more than his share over the fence in the playoffs. I wouldn't be surprised if a little extra adrenaline in his bat got one over the fence.

"The first night, we were right there," Bradley said. "All we needed was a couple of touchdowns, and we would have had them."

by jeepers on Sep 27, 2006 9:57 AM PDT up reply actions