Playoffs Disappointing for Top Teams

Jason Budden: Un-Common Sense?

The Cubs and Angels came into the playoffs as the consensus favorites for both leagues, but will have to wait until next year for another shot at the title. As the divisional round of the playoffs come to a close, let’s take a look at each series:

Cubs vs. Dodgers
What happened? The Cubs were the best team in the National League for most of, if not all of the regular season, yet they looked more like the Seattle Mariners during their series against the Dodgers. As a team, they struggled on offense, especially their top players. Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez and Geovany Soto were 5-36 combined in the series. It didn’t help that they committed six errors during the three game sweep, including four errors during Game Two.

On the other hand, the Dodgers are looking more and more like the team to beat. Led by Manny Ramirez, the series never looked in doubt. With arguably the best bullpen left in the playoffs, the Dodgers can see a title getting closer and closer.

Phils vs. Brewers
Not quite as lopsided, the Phils were able to take advantage of a Brewers team that seemed to run out of steam. This time, C.C. Sabathia wasn’t able to deliver on three days rest. He has been a machine during the last month of the season, basically putting the Brewers on his back and carrying them into the playoffs. In the end, pitching performances by Cole Hamels, Brett Myers and Joe Blanton led the Phils into the NLCS. The starting pitchers for the Phils gave up only five runs in 25 innings. Mix in key two out home runs by Shane Victorino and Pat Burrell and the Brewers were overmatched.

Rays vs. White Sox
Similar to the Phils/Brewers series, this one never truly seemed in doubt. The Rays looked very strong in taking games one and two in Tampa. Good performances by the starting pitchers and especially by the bullpen, plus timely hitting from Evan Longoria, Akinori Iwamura and B.J. Upton. The White Sox seemed a bit worn down after battling the Twins for the AL Central crown. They even admitted after the series that they lost to a better team in the Rays.

“They played better than us. There’s no doubt. They pitched better. They execute better. They got big hits,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “They really did a tremendous job.”

Whether right or wrong, Guillen is never shy to voice his opinion. This time he got it spot on.

Angels vs. Red Sox
What a great series, especially if you are a Red Sox fan. Each game was close and exciting. Game One was dominated by two aces, Jon Lester for the Red Sox and John Lackey for the Angels. Lackey made one mistake, giving up a two-out home run to Jason Bay. Lester didn’t make a mistake, striking out seven while walking only one. In game two, J.D. Drew returned from injury to hit a two-run game winning home run in the top of the ninth. The home run came off of Francisco Rodriguez, the Angels closer who in 2008 set the single season record for saves in a season with 62.

The Angels pulled out a 12th inning victory over the Red Sox as the series returned to Boston for Game Three, setting up even more suspense for Game Four. Lester and Lackey returned to duel again and once more, Lester got the better of the matchup. Lester went another strong seven innings giving up no runs while striking out four. Lackey again gave up two runs to the Red Sox and left the game behind. The Angels rallied and got two runs off the Red Sox bullpen, but in the bottom of the 9th inning, the Jed Lowrie came through with an RBI single, driving in Bay who had doubled.

Both League Championship Series should provide us with some suspense and fireworks. The Red Sox and Rays are very familiar with each other and there is no love lost. The Dodgers are arguably the hottest team in baseball, but are going up against a team and a city that are anxious for a championship.



Jason Budden is the Vice President of Operations and Marketing at Baseball Factory. Jason joined the Baseball Factory in 1997 while still a junior in high school. After going through the Baseball Factory's college recruiting program he was placed at Johns Hopkins University where he played two years of college baseball before graduating with a degree in Economics. After working part-time at the Factory throughout college, Jason joined the team as a full-time employee in January 2002 when he was promoted to Director of Marketing. He currently oversees all marketing projects and sponsorship opportunities at Baseball Factory. He is also in charge of development and marketing for Baseball University, the leader in online baseball education and a division of Baseball Factory.

Major League Baseball’s Amateur Draft

Steve Bernhardt: Building the Better Ballplayer

Major League Baseball’s Amateur Draft is set to take place next Thursday and Friday. This is an extremely exciting time for many young baseball players, as having their name called by a team next week gives them a chance to continue furthering their dream of playing in the Big Leagues.

For most people outside of the professional baseball community, the draft is a mystery. I field thousands of draft questions each year from players and parents at our Baseball Factory events. I won’t take this time to go through all of the rules and processes of the draft, but I do want to clear up one thing. You do not have to live in Florida, Texas or California or play in the College World Series to get drafted. Do a lot of players in those three states get selected? Yes. Do players from major DI schools get drafted? Yes, but along the lines of last week’s blog on different college levels – there are schools everywhere that are producing players selected in the draft.

Let’s take a quick look at the Boston Red Sox drafted players in 2007. In last year’s draft the Red Sox selected forty-seven players – twenty-five high school players and twenty-two college players. They drafted high school players from Long Beach, CA, Flower Mound, TX and Parkland, FL, but they also took players from high schools like St. Mary’s in Paducah, KY, Kalani in Honolulu, HI, Northwest Catholic in West Hartford, CT, Don Bosco Prep in Teaneck, NJ, Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, CO and Blue Springs in Blue Springs, MO among others. On the college side, they took players from well known schools like Rice, Oklahoma, Washington and Duke, but they also drafted quality players at LSU-Eunice, High Point, Northeastern, Edmonds CC in Washington, Trinidad State in Colorado, Dixie State College in Utah and Dominican College in New York.

I know – the Red Sox have the money to scout in all these places, but what about other teams? To compare, let’s look at an extremely low budget team, the Florida Marlins. Last year, the Marlins selected fifty players in the June draft. Eighteen of the fifty were high school players and the other thirty-two came from the collegiate ranks. The Marlins did select several high school players from California including their top two picks, but they also found talent in some interesting places. Their sixth rounder came from Oak Grove HS in Hattiesburg, MS while their seventh rounder played at Tremper High in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Add in some players from Louisiana, Oklahoma, Missouri and Georgia and it looks like the Marlins’ scouts see a good bit of the country as well. Of their college selections, they drafted players from schools like the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, Carson-Newman College, Kaskaskia JC in Illinois, Delta State and Itawamba CC both in Mississippi, Norfolk State in Virginia and Compton CC and JC of the Canyons in California.

As you can see, both teams scour the country to find the best talent. It is true that, with very few exceptions, if you can play – they will find you. One thing these players do have in common is that they PLAYED. You don’t see many teams draft players who sit on the bench. Go to a place – no matter where it is - where you can play, and if you have the talent your name will be called during a future ML Draft.