October 1, 2008

Dead ballplayers, playoff predictions & Cheerwine

I went to bed early tonight and felt refreshed this morning—and it's been a while, with a busy weekend and then feeling exhausted on Monday. I was a little better yesterday, but today I felt great. And, it was an awesome day at work. I started off doing some data entry, but the day got better as it went on. Yesterday I got to write a little piece that will end up in the next issue, so that was cool, and today I got to write some obituaries (no, I didn't write one for the Mariners!). I did, however, write one for a guy that went to CWU, which was a strange little coincidence. In the afternoon, we all crowded into the conference room to watch some playoff baseball. Not the whole game, but the final few innings. It's such an awesome change—from sneaking peeks at box scores at my old job, to watching the game with everyone in the office. I definitely can't complain!

At work, we all put playoff predictions up on a white board, so I thought I'd share mine here, so everyone can see how I'm thinking...

ALCS: Red Sox & Rays
NLCS: Dodgers & Phillies
World Series: Dodgers & Rays
Winner: Tampa Bay Rays

There's a lot of talk about the Angels being the best team in baseball, but I think they're a bit overrated. Sure, they won 100 games—the most in the majors—but, remember, the AL West was pretty pathetic this year. For me, winning 97 or 95 in the AL East (as the Rays and Sox did) is more impressive. The fourth-place Blue Jays won 86 games, which would have put them second in the AL West. As for the Rays, I was one of only two guys in the office that believes they can take it all. I love this team—they just have "it," they have that swagger. They've been underdogs all year, but I actually think that's in their favor. A lot of these guys came up through the system together and they have something to prove. But it goes beyond that—they obviously have the talent too. They can pitch, they can hit, they can run, they play good defense. They can do it all. Joe Maddon is a great manager—he's tactically sound, he's gutsy and he knows how to get the most of his players. But, if they don't win it all this year, they'll have plenty of other chances, as this is a great young team with an excellent front office and a lot more help coming through the system. The best is yet to come in Tampa.

In the National League, I think it comes down to pitching. The Cubs will be the favorites, but I think the Dodgers have one of the best rotations in baseball, and they'll be tough to beat in a five-game series. Add in a red-hot Manny Ramirez and I like them over the Cubs. A sick part of me would take pleasure in seeing the Cubbies lose in the World Series—especially to Lou Piniella's old team—but I don't think they'll get that far. As much as I'd love to see my boy Mike Cameron in the World Series, the Phillies over the Brewers was the easiest pick of the playoffs. They have solid starting pitching and a thunderous lineup. With Ben Sheets out for the Brew Crew, I don't see this one going past four games.

After work I went grocery shopping. Mostly the usual stuff, although I'm trying out whole wheat spaghetti and I got three different kinds of mac n' cheese (whole wheat, thick n' creamy and organic cheddar), so I'll let you know which one is best. I also got a soda called Cheerwine, which is a local product. It's tagline is "A Cherry Different Soda," but it's not a cola. But it's not like pure cherry soda either—it's a little like Dr. Pepper, and my initial reaction is that it's pretty good. I also got some more of those salsa cups, because those were a huge hit the last time around and I'm going to take another crack at cooking collard greens. Hopefully they turn out better than last time's disaster...

Now I'm just chillin', watching the playoff games and doing some baseball research. Good times!