Everything I had to say about last night’s check-swing ending was on Twitter last night, so instead I’m updating my bare-bones postseason predictions to reflect who has made the LCS round.
ALCS: Astros over Red Sox in 7
NLCS: Dodgers over Braves in 5
World Series: Dodgers over Astros in 6
World Series MVP: Mookie Betts
No explanations, only predictions. Do I have reasons? Am I just going by my gut. Too bad, I’m not telling you!
AL Wild Card: Red Sox over Yankees
NL Wild Card: Dodgers over Cardinals
ALDS: Rays over Red Sox in 5, Astros over White Sox in 4.
NLDS: Dodgers over Giants in 4. Braves over Brewers in 5.
ALCS: Rays over Astros in 6.
NLCS: Dodgers over Braves in 5.
World Series: Dodgers over Rays in 6.
World Series MVP: Justin Turner.
The Patriots and Panthers will win.
As I said on Twitter, I predict that the Chiefs, Cardinals, Seahawks and Broncos will win this weekend.
Some short predictions for this week’s NFL playoff games:
The Chiefs are hot, and have been hot ever since they got out of a very poor start to the season. So much of the NFL playoffs is who is hot at the right time, so I think the Chiefs will beat the Texans.
The Bengals would have been my pick to win against the Steelers… but then Andy Dalton got hurt a few weeks ago. So, I’m picking the Steelers.
Seattle beat up on the Vikings earlier in the year, and even with Marshawn Lynch not available (again) I think they will win again in the freezing cold of Minnesota.
The Packers have been stumbling a ton the later part of the season, but I feel like Aaron Rodgers is ultimately going to wake up (and hopefully be protected long enough) to beat Washington.
So… I picked…. all road teams.
Weird.
A sampling of baseball-related headlines from the Newseum, elsewhere, and occasionally some websites, with the occasional note from me on what they are talking about:
Headline: Royals win first World Series title since 1985, outlasting Harvey and Mets in Game 5
(Note: So that I don’t have a thousand papers from around the country that just say something along the lines of “Royals win World Series”, I focused on the hometown papers and papers that went a different route in their headlines.)
Kansas City Star: ROYALTY
Daily News (front): THE DARKEST KNIGHT (“Mets Amazin’ season comes crashing down in 9th, Royals take crown in 12”)
Daily News (back): CRUEL HAND LUC (on Lucas Duda’s bad throw)
NY Post (front): AMAZIN’ DISGRACE
NY Post (back): NIGHTY KNIGHT!
Newsday (front): YA GOTTA BEREAVE
Newsday (back): A ROYAL SHAME
El Diario- La Prensa (Brooklyn): Los pecados de Collins (“The sins of Collins”)
News-Leader (Springfield, MO): TOOK THE CROWN
St. Joseph (MO) News-Press: WORLD RENOWNED ROYALTY
Joplin (MO) Globe: WORLD CHAMPIONS
Hutchinson (KS) News: THEY DIDN’T QUIT
Lawrence (KS) Journal-World: NEVER-SAY-DIE ROYALS WIN WORLD SERIES
Salina (KS) Journal: CHAMPIONS!
Wichita Eagle: ROYALS RALLY FOR WORLD SERIES TITLE
The Record (Bergen County, NJ): Mets’ magic runs out
Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ): It’s all over
The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa): Royals are champs
Alaska Dispatch News (Anchorage): Royals crowned champions after another late meltdown by Mets
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock): Kings of 2015
Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, CA): BASEBALL CROWNS ITS ROYALTY
Ventura County Star (CA): ROYAL THRONE
Denver Post: ROYALS REIGN
Idaho Press-Tribune (Nampa): CROWNED ROYALS
Decatur (Ill.) Herald & Review: Royals flush
Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press: ROYALS GET THEIR CROWN
The Sun (Lowell, Mass.): ROYALS!
St. Paul Pioneer Press: K.C. MASTERPIECE
Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star: CROWN ‘EM
Omaha World-Herald: K.C. BRINGS BACK THE CROWN
Morning Call (Allentown, PA): BASEBALL ROYALTY (This headline was also used at the Edmonton Journal in Canada)
Times-Tribune (Scranton, PA): MIGHTY K.C.
Daily Herald (Provo, Utah): ROYAL CORONATION
USA Today: ROYALS RALLY, WIN WORLD SERIES
Winnipeg Free Press: ROYALS ARE WORLD SERIES KINGS
El Heraldo (Baranquilla, Colombia): Reales de Kansas City, campeones de la Serie Mundial (“Kansas City Royals, World Series Champions”)
Novedades de Quintana Roo (Mexico): Reales se corona 30 años después (“Royal crown 30 years later”)
Milenio (Guadalajara, Mexico): REALES, CAMPEÓN (“ROYALS, CHAMPION”)
Reforma (Mexico City): Se coronan Reales (“They are crowned Royals”)
Vanguardia (Saltillo, Mexico): VUELVAN A LA GLORIA LUEGO DE 30 ANOS (“TO GLORY AGAIN AFTER 30 YEARS”)
El Nuevo Diario (Managua, Nicaragua): !REALES CAMPEONES, EN CASA DE LOS METS! (“Royals champions, in the home of the Mets!”)
El Universal (Caracas, Venezuela): Kansas City campeón (“Kansas City champion”)
Virgin Islands Daily News (Charlotte Amalie): WORLD CHAMPIONS- Baseball royalty
Mets over Royals (in six).
(The explanation I didn’t include: The Mets have better starting pitching, more power hitters, and Terry Collins is way less likely than Ned Yost to do something crazy like leaving a pitcher in too long.)
A sampling of baseball-related headlines from the Newseum, elsewhere, and occasionally some websites, with the occasional note from me on what they are talking about:
Headline: Royals beat Blue Jays in Game 6, head to World Series vs. Mets
Kansas City Star: Ready for the world
Globe and Mail: IT’S OVER FOR THE JAYS
Toronto Star: HELL OF A GAME, HELL OF A SEASON
St. Joseph (MO) News-Press: BACK TO THE SERIES
Calgary Sun: DREAM RUN OVER
Joplin (MO) Globe: AL CHAMPIONS: K.C. back in Series
Guelph Mercury: It’s over
Lawrence (KS) Journal-World: AND WE’RE BACK!
Prince George Citizen: Heartbreak for Jays
Columbia (MO) Daily Tribune: WORLD SERIES BOUND
Salina (KS) Journal: BBQ or bagels? A tasty World Series set- Royals meet Mets
Wichita Eagle: AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPS
Bradenton (FL) Herald: ROYALS RUN INTO WORLD SERIES
NY Daily News (back): K.C. BEATS JAYS TO PUNCH SERIES TICKET
New York Post (back): K.C. YA TUESDAY
Newsday (back): GOING TO KANSAS CITY
New York Times: A Mets-Royals World Series
El Vigia (Ensenada, Mexico): Van por la revancha (“They go for revenge/rematch/another chance.”)
Vanguardia (Saltillo, Mexico): La hacen cardiaca pero vuelven a Serie Mundial (I think this means basically “The heart makes it to the World Series”, perhaps saying that the Royals have a lot of heart, or something like that.)
El Nuevo Diario (Managua, Nicaragua): KANSAS CITY A LA SERIES MUNDIAL (“Kansas City to the World Series”)
El Nacional (Caracas, Venezuela): Kansas campeón de la Liga Americana (“Kansas champion of the American League.”)
A sampling of baseball-related headlines from the Newseum, elsewhere, and occasionally some websites, with the occasional note from me on what they are talking about:
Headline: Mets head to first World Series since 2000, sweep Cubbies
New York Times: Suddenly Invincible, Mets Are in World Series
Daily News (Back): ALL WORLD
NY Post (Front): WORLD CLASS!
NY Post (Back): DANIEL BROOM
Newsday (Front): YA GOTTA BELIEVE!
Newsday (Back): HOW SWEEP IT IS!
AM NEW YORK: BELIEVE IT!
Metro- New York: SWEEP
Staten Island Advance: The new Mr. October? (Murphy)
Chicago Tribune: MAGIC RUNS OUT
Chicago Sun-Times (Cubs Extra e-paper): BACK TO THE FUTURE (here meant to mean “Back to the drawing board”)
Daily Herald (Suburban Chicago): TIP YOUR HAT TO THEM
Hartford (Conn.) Courant: NEXT STOP, WORLD SERIES
The Record (Bergen County, NJ): UNSTOPPABLE
News-Gazette (Champaign, Ill.): They’re gone
Jersey Journal (Jersey City): METS HEAD TO WORLD SERIES!
Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ): HOW SWEEP IT IS! (This was used by other papers as well)
Panama City (FL) News Herald: MVP Murphy leads Mets to World Series
Times Union (Albany, NY): Mets move on
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, Ill.): CLEAN SWEEP
Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY): METS MANIA
Augusta (GA) Chronicle: MOVING ON
Times-Tribune (Scranton, PA): SWEEPING SUCCESS
USA TODAY: CUBS SWEPT BY METS IN 4 (A ironic echo of how the Back To The Future 2 USA TODAY said “CUBS SWEEP SERIES IN 5”)
Journal-Star (Peoria, Ill.): CHICAGO HOPE VANISHES
Naples (FL) Daily News: FOR CUBS, IT’S DO OR…. NEVER MIND
Daily Southern (Tinley Park, Ill.): Met their match
Quad-City Times (Davenport, Iowa): Wait until next year
Omaha World-Herald: Cubs’ dream swept away
El Vigia (Ensenada, Mexico): No se cumplió la profecía (“The prophecy is not fulfilled.”- not doubt referring to the Back To The Future Cubs joke)
El Nuevo Diario (Managua, Nicaragua): Los Mets en la Serie Mundial (“The Mets in the World Series”)
Primera Hora (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico): Los Mets en la Serie Mundial (“The Mets advance to the World Series”)
Headline: Blue Jays send ALCS back to Kansas City for Game 6
Globe and Mail: ESTRADA GEM KEEPS BLUE JAY HOPES ALIVE
National Post: JAYS NOT DONE YET
Toronto Star: EXTRAORDINARY ESTRADA
Kansas City Star: Coming home
St. Joseph (MO) News-Press: BLUE JAYS FORCE GAME 6 AT KAUFFMAN
Calgary Herald: JAYS WIN TO FORCE GAME 6
Junction City (KS) Daily Union: Volquez struggles as Blue Jays force Game 6 in ALCS
Calgary Sun: Going back to K.C.
Lawrence (KS) Journal World: 3-2
Canada’s Metro Papers: 1 DOWN, 2 TO GO
Wichita (KS) Eagle: Royals’ bats silent as Blue Jays win Game 5
Edmonton Journal: JAYS FORCE GAME 6
Guelph Mercury: Jays still alive after 7-1 win over Royals
Chronicle-Herald (Halifax): Kansas City, Here We Come
Hamilton Spectator: Blue Jays win keeps World Series hopes alive
Waterloo Region Record: Still in the game
La Presse (Montreal): Les Blue Jays S’accrochent (“The Blue Jays hang on” or “The Blue Jays cling”)
Ottawa Citizen: JAYS FANS A LITTLE LESS BLUE
Prince George Citizen: Estrada gets it done for Blue Jays
El Nacional (Caracas, Venezuela): Los Azulejos no se entregan (“The Blue Jays do not surrender”)
A sampling of baseball-related headlines from the Newseum, elsewhere, and occasionally some websites, with the occasional note from me on what they are talking about:
Headline: Mets beat Dodgers, will face Cubs in NLCS
New York Times: Joy in Metsville
Daily News (Front): UT YOURS!
Daily News (Back): DAN-TASTIC
NY Post (Front): YOU METCHA!
NY Post (Back): DANTASTIC!
Newsday (Front): BRING ON THE CUBS!
Newsday (Back): YES!
METRO- NEW YORK: MIGHTY METS
LA Daily News: METS GIVE DODGERS THE BLUES… AGAIN (This was also used with affiliated papers.)
La Opinion (Los Angeles): Corazón roto (“Broken heart”)
Orange County Register: DODGERS’ BLUNDERS ADD UP
Bakersfield Californian: LIGHTS OUT ON DODGERS’ POSTSEASON
The Record (Bergen County, NJ): Mets’ faith pays off
Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Ca.): FIZZLING AT FINISH
Times Herald-Record (Middletown, NY): JUST AMAZIN’
Monterey (Ca.) Herald): Mets reach NLCS, send Dodgers packing
Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY): HOW ‘BOUT THE BIG APPLE?
Santa Maria (Ca.) Times: Dodgers done
Ventura County (Ca.) Star: Season at an end
Chicago Sun-Times: NLCS SET: CUBS VS. METS
Daytona Beach (FL) News-Journal: Volusia County’s Jacob deGrom pitches Mets to NLCS
Gainesville (FL) Sun: METS EDGE DODGERS, ADVANCE TO NLCS
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