Labor Day is here, and that means SFB playoffs! Paul takes a look at the two first-round matchups between Jon’s WonTons/Los Gomos Extranos and Jack’s Survivors/Parizona Carollas.
by Paul Gammons
After a wait that was nearly as epic as Playboy’s wait for Linsday Lohan, the 2009 SearchFantasyBaseball playoffs are finally here. It was a wild ride though, with no playoff spots clinched early this year. Just a handful of points separated the top six competitors heading into the final week of the regular season, meaning those precious first-round byes were very much up for grabs.
Congratulations to Mimosox and Chamiqua for earning the week off; we’ll get to them next week. And condolences to Cavemen (122-115-27) and Woman Juice (126-117-21), as this was the first time in memory that SFB had two above-.500 teams fail to make the playoffs (that’s what happens when the really, really bad teams stink as much as they did this year).
But now we’ve got a pair of tremendous matchups, so let’s get right to ‘em.
(4) Jon’s WonTons (135-111-18)
(5) Los Gomos Extranos (128-109-27)
Chad Pennington must’ve learned the art of the comeback from Jon’s WonTons. Each year, the squad seems to flounder until August, then suddenly pulls an Artie Lange (minus the freebasing and DUIs) on the league and barrels its way into the playoffs. This year was no different, going 24-12 to finish off the year before a 7-4 loss to Chamiqua in the season’s final week.
Like the Swine Flu, Los Gomos Extranos just won’t stop unleashing its tirade of Mexican fury on the league. As I noted in my last column, Gomes has been the hottest team heading into the playoffs, winning eight of its last nine matchups, despite the season-ending injury to ace Johan Santana.
The season series between the two foes was a split (5-4 Tons in week 3; 7-5 Gomes in week 14), pointing to a Gosselin-like battle for the ages in this first-round duel. I give Gomes a fighting chance, as Ryan Zimmermann is displaying why he’s a franchise cornerstone, and Carlos Pena is once again going on a post-break tear looks to be the 2009 AL home run king. But the Tons have an offense that makes opponents feel like Tila Tequila at Shawne Merriman’s house, and starters like C.C. Sabathia, Clayton Kershaw and Feliz Hernandez have been lights-out since the break.
Prediction: 7-4 Jon’s WonTons
Here’s our other matchup:
(3) Jack’s Survivors (135-107-22)
(6) Parizona Carollas (128-112-24)
The defending champs look strong heading into the post-season. Jack’s Survivors have won four of its last five, and are undefeated in its last seven.
The Parizona Carollas have a lot in common with Adam Carolla: it can never seem to get anything going. The team has only had one winning streak of more than two weeks all season, and when it finally started getting momentum heading into the playoffs, it tripped on the hairy feet of the Cavemen.
Parizona took the week eight matchup 7-4, but the Vivors came back with a 10-1 bitch slap in week 19, Parizona’s worst loss of the season.
On paper, this one looks pretty lopsided. Parizona’s best hitter in the past month has been rookie Garrett Jones, while veterans like Alex Rodriguez and Jimmy Rollins have struggled to find consistency all season. Upstart rookie starters Mat Latos and Chris Tillman were providing the team with a big lift, but Latos was shut down Saturday night and Tillman clearly looks fatigued. Meanwhile, the Survivors’ Joe Mauer and Evan Longoria are both in the MVP discussion, while the rest of the lineup has been scoring and driving in runs almost as quickly as the Van Jones era came and went. However, among its starters, only Tommy Hanson has truly been excellent as of late, and the Carollas have a superior slate of closers, meaning a brilliant pitching performance by Parizona could be enough to end the champs’ reign.
Prediction: 6-5 Parizona
Paul Gammons, a columnist for PaulGammons.com, says Curt Schilling for senate is a change he can believe in.
No comments:
Post a Comment