I haven’t done one of these in a while. Time to turn the electrons over to you; here’s what y’all have been saying at Knuckle Curve over the past couple months or so:

Welcome to the moment network execs have been dreading. The Cleveland Indians need to win one of the next three games to face the Colorado Rockies in the World Series.
A nation yawns. Or it would, if it could summon the enthusiasm.
Thursday’s contest at Jacobs Field (first pitch, 5 p.m. PT) features a rematch of Game 1 starters and leading Cy Young candidates C.C. Sabathia and Josh Beckett. For Boston, the equation is simple: win or go home for the winter.
For the Indians, it’s more like win or go to Boston’s home for two more games. I’m thinking they’d prefer Door …read more

And folks said that Diamondbacks fans don’t care. Certainly they do, but as Rodney Dangerfield would say, “about what I have no idea.” Apparently not about dehydration. Oh, the water bottles were empty? My bad.
Either way, Arizona lost the game Brandon Webb started, which creates serious problems for the rest of the series. Friday night’s game (first pitch 7 p.m. PT) features slop-balling left-hander Doug Davis and young flamethrower Ubaldo Jimenez. If Jimenez is on his game (anyone’s guess given his lack of experience), he should have little trouble with Arizona’s hitters. Davis, as is his custom, will be perfectly …read more

Okay, I promise this is the last I’ll say on the subject. In case you somehow missed it, we’ve been running polls on all of MLB’s major postseason awards. Here is a list of links to all of our polls and who is leading as of this writing.

Award
Current Leader

AL MVP
Alex Rodriguez

NL MVP
Jimmy Rollins Matt Holliday

AL Cy Young
Josh Beckett

NL Cy Young
Jake Peavy

AL Rookie
Dustin Pedroia

NL Rookie
Troy Tulowitzki

AL Manager of the Year
Eric Wedge

NL Manager of the Year
Clint Hurdle

I’m not going to tell you which ones I think are wrong, but I will say that their names rhyme with Mimmy Mollins Ratt Rolliday and …read more

{democracy:25}

Happy Monday, and welcome to our latest poll. Manager of the Year is always a tricky one for me. What criteria should we use to determine the winner? If we look only at total victories, we ignore factors such as improvement from one season to the next. If we consider improvement from one season to the next, but overlook the fact that management spent an obscene amount of money to put itself in that position, we still miss a big part of the picture.

More Polls
Talk to me…

AL MVP
NL MVP
AL Cy Young
NL Cy Young
AL Rookie
NL Rookie

I usually try to balance overall …read more

Only American League games on Friday. If you just can’t get enough of the designated hitter experiment (or big-market teams), this is your lucky day!

Yankees at Indians, 2:00 p.m. PT — Andy Pettitte has the postseason experience (18-6, 4.08 ERA over 34 starts), but Fausto Carmona has been a monster in ‘07. One relative weakness of Carmona is his record against left-handed batters. Granted, most pitchers would kill for a .275/.333/.377 line against anyone, but if you’re looking for something that the Yankees might be able to exploit, this is as good a bet as any. Pettitte, meanwhile, stumbled down …read more

I said the openers would feature great pitching matchups, but I’m not sure I expected a grand total of 14 runs between the three games. Wow.
Let’s see what in store for Thursday, shall we?

Rockies at Phillies, 12 noon PT — Dropping Game 1 at home with Cole Hamels puts Philadelphia in a very uncomfortable position. Rookie Kyle Kendrick put up a nice ERA and win totals, but his complete inability to throw the ball past hitters could present a serious problem against the Rockies, who tend to hit the ball hard when they make contact. Another rookie, the even younger …read more

Hello, playoffs! Should be some good games on Wednesday:

Rockies at Phillies, 12 noon PT — I’ve rambled at length about this series over at Hardball Times. Cole Hamels starts the opener against Jeff Francis. It’s hard to call Game 1 of any series a must-win, but the Phillies need to win behind Hamels to have any shot; the rest of their pitching staff is very suspect, and even their high-octane offense might not be able to overcome a loss today.
Angels at Red Sox, 3:30 p.m. PT — John Lackey goes up against Josh Beckett in this one. Two legitimate Cy …read more

{democracy:22}

We’re getting crazy with the postseason awards polls (NL MVP, AL MVP, AL Cy Young so far). Did I say crazy? Okay, would you believe mildly enthusiastic?
My preseason pick was Houston’s Roy Oswalt. He had a nice season, but by my estimation he’s a borderline top 5 guy and has no chance whatsoever at winning the award. Still, I think he’s a good guess most years, even if San Diego’s Jake Peavy gets my vote for ‘07.
But enough about me. Who would you choose, and why?

{democracy:21}

We’ve talked about the AL Cy Young here and here, but I’m thinking maybe it’s time for a poll? After all, we are having so much fun with the NL (write-in candidate Jimmy Rollins has overtaken Matt Holliday and David Wright) and AL MVP award polls.
My preseason pick? I went with the pack and chose Johan Santana. Right now, I’d say that if one of the guys from Cleveland (C.C. Sabathia, Fausto Carmona) doesn’t win it, there’s a problem. But I could be wrong.
What do you think? Feel free to leave comments supporting your choice if you’re so …read more