Prompted by my pals over on The Shore Sports Report asking me the same question yesterday, today I sent out an inquiry to some phriends of PhoulBallz, asking what everyone's predictions for the National League Championship Series were. The results lie ahead, and they are heavily in favor of the good guys.Starting with my own prediction about the National League, I am going with the Phillies in 6 games. The Dodgers are an improved squad since 2008, and last year it took the Phils just 5 games to take out LA...this year, it should take an additional game to knock out those boys in blue. I'll take Jayson Werth as my Most Valuable Player for this series. Werth batted just .190 in the LCS last year, but then hit .444 in the World Series. I predict no LCS slump for Jay-Dubya this time around.
Some of the people I surveyed agreed with my choices. Former Phillies beat reporter Mike Olshin also chose the Phillies in 6, and Jayson Werth for MVP, making the Dodgers regret letting him go. Carson, of popular baseball blog We Should Be GM's, picked the Phillies in 6 games also with Jayson Werth as the stand out star that would be named MVP of the series.
Tyrone A. Johnson, the multi-talented on-air and behind the scenes guy of various Millennium Radio outlets, picked the Phillies in 6 games too, but with Cliff Lee, making a claim on that MVP award. Tyrone expressed concerns about Cole Hamels in this series, as Hamels struggles to match his 2008 post season excellence.
Also choosing the Phillies in 6 was co-host of the aforementioned Shore Sports Report, Joe Giglio. Joe feels that a different former Dodger, Shane Victorino will shine in this series and be named NLCS most valuable player. Shane is a .325 hitter in 11 career post season games. Joe gave props to Cliff Lee as weighing on his decision, saying, "Cliff Lee swung the pendulum in Philly's favor. Had he gone to L.A. in July, I'd be backing them."
Joe's partner Mike Krenek was the only reply I got that picked the Dodgers to win. Mike admits it will be close and that it could go either way, but thinks that LA will advance to the World Series after a grueling 7 game series with the Phils, and that Andre Ethier will be the key offensive player for the Dodgers and win the MVP award. Mike said, "I think this one will be ultimately decided by the bullpens. We're going to see tie scores, lead changes, blown saves...the whole 9."
Phillies pitching prospect Justin De Fratus, a California native who is rooting for his favorite team from childhood, the Angels, picks the Phillies in 6 games also. Justin thinks that Chase Utley will perform great in this series, but he also picked Jayson Werth as his choice for MVP. Werth batted .357 in the NLDS this year.
Since I just touched on that American League series as well, here is where some of the above guys stand on the Yankees/Angels match up.
Mike Krenek- Yankees in 6, with Mariano Rivera as MVP. According to Mike, "These two teams have had some legendary battles...but it's not much of a rivalry when one team is winning all the time."
Joe Giglio- Yankees in 6, with Nick Swisher as MVP. Joe says, "I'll take the Yankees because A-rod is locked in (hits L.A. better than any team, especially out in L.A.) and because of the Yankees advantage in bullpen. Brian Fuentes comes from the same ilk as Huston Street...and we all saw how that worked out last week."
Carson- Yankees in 5, Mariano Rivera as MVP. No further comment.
And lastly, back in August, on the now stagnant Shore Sports Report message board I picked a Phillies/Angels World Series, and I will stick by that. Phillies do it for Harry Kalas, Angels do it for Nick Adenhart. It'll be remarkable and unforgettable in so many ways.
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