2008 Baseball Postview

Besides one more Tigers - White Sox game to determine who wins the AL Central (the Twins currently hold a one game lead on Chicago with one makeup game remaining), the 2008 baseball season is in the books. After the Brewers beat the Cubs 3-1 and the Mets lost to the Marlins 4-2 (in their final game at Shea Stadium), Milwaukee clinched the NL wild-card and the Mets clinched their second straight heartbreaking elimination on the last day of the season.

The Mets should outfit their new stadium with a retractable roof that collapses every September (ba-dump-bump...rimshot!).  

Here are the first round playoff matchups

AL: Angels vs. Red Sox, Rays vs. White Sox or Twins
NL: Cubs vs. Dodgers, Phillies vs. Brewers

For the World Series, I like either a LA freeway series or a 1906 Chicagoland derby rematch, and the AL looks to be a lot stronger than the NL, so whoever wins that league will win the series.

Here are the 2008 winners in each individual category.

Offensive Leaders:

BA: AL-Joe Mauer, MIN (.330) NL-Chipper Jones, ATL (.364)
HR: AL-Miguel Cabrera, DET (37) NL-Ryan Howard, PHI (48)
RBI: AL-Josh Hamilton, TEX (130) NL-Ryan Howard, PHI (146)
SB: AL-Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS (50) NL-Willy Taveras, COL (68)
OPS: AL-Milton Bradley, TEX (1.006) NL-Albert Pujols, STL (1.012)

Pitching Leaders:

Wins: AL-Cliff Lee, CLE (22) NL-Brandon Webb, ARI (22)
Strikeouts: AL-A.J. Burnett, TOR (231) NL-Tim Lincecum, SF (252)
ERA: AL-Cliff Lee, CLE (2.54) NL-Johan Santana, NYM (2.53)
Saves: AL-Francisco Rodriguez, LAA (62) NL-Jose Valverde, HOU (43)
WHIP: AL-Roy Halladay, TOR (1.05) NL-Cole Hamels, PHI (1.08)

Here in the Bay Area, the A's won 75 games (one less than they won in 2007 with one less game played) and the Giants won 70 games (one less than they won in 2007). There were some high points for both teams, like pitchers Joey Devine and Brad Ziegler for the A's and Tim Lincecum for the Giants (who led the NL in strikeouts and should by a Cy Young contender), but on the whole, 2008 was a fairly forgetful season that I've even forgotten about in the time it took to write this blog entry.