So Sports Illustrated has gone where even many Met fans wouldn't go - picking the Mets to win the World Series. But what about the infamous SI cover jinx? No problem - the main cover shot is of the YANKEES, namely, CC Sabathia.
Before I start looking forward to October, I must acknowledge that SI's 2008 predictions had the Tigers beating the Cubs in the World Series. The Mets were picked to win the NL East by five games, only to fall to the Rockies in the first round of the playoffs.
But if any of SI's predictions this year come true, there will be some headline-grabbing series. The Mets are picked to beat Manny's Dodgers in the NLDS and break the hearts of Cubs fans yet again in the NLCS. If that holds, it will mean Jerry Manuel will have bested Yankee legends Joe Torre and Lou Piniella to get to the World Series.
A Met-Cub NLCS would also mean a showdown with old friend Aaron Heilman. Could this mean that the Mets will get to the Fall Classic on a home run by Brian Schneider?
Meanwhile, the Angels, who always lose to the Red Sox in the playoffs, will now beat Boston in the Battle of Teams That Didn't Get Mark Teixeira. Then, in the ALCS, the Angels, the team that lost Teixeira in the first place, will defeat the team that landed Teixeira, the Yankees.
So losing Teixeira vaults you over the team that got Teixeira? Does SI think Teixeira is the new A-Rod?
But in the World Series, SI foresees the Angels, the team that also lost K-Rod, losing to the team that signed K-Rod, the Mets. We can only hope!
Tell us what you think of Sports Illustrated's predictions.
I mean, a Mets/Angels World Series isn't a complete impossibility, but I have to think either the Yankees or Red Sox will represent the American League in the Fall Classic.
ReplyDeleteThe National League is anybody's game, but I still think the Phillies are the team to beat -- IF Cole Hamels can remain healthy and effective.
Red Sox, Yankees, Angels, White Sox in the AL; Phillies, Cubs, Dodgers, Mets in the NL.
Red Sox over Phillies in the World Series. But watch out for those Dodgers...
Sports Illustrated? In 1987, they put Joe Carter and Cory Snyder on the cover, with the words: "INDIAN UPRISING -- Believe it! Cleveland is the best team in the American League!" They'd won 86 games the year before. In June, just before being fired, manager Pat Corrales told reporters, "Sports Illustrated isn't getting my hitters out. Sports Illustrated isn't hitting my pitchers." The Indians lost 101 games.
ReplyDeleteIn 2000, SI picked the Red Sox to win the Series, and put Pedro Martinez on the cover. They also printed Leigh Montville's hilarious version of what would happen if the Sox ever did win the Series: People would stop caring. He's a terrific writer, but boy was he off!
The last few years, SI has been copping out, putting each team in a major-league sport's final on "regional covers," thus "covering" their rear ends. Nice try.
Let SI pick whoever they want. Just remember, baseball games aren't played on paper, they're played on grass. (Or on plastic, if you're a philistine.)