SULLY BASEBALL OFFICIAL 2015 POST SEASON PICKS

Here we go… another year of picking the World Series winner. This is of course an act of mass lunacy. Remember all the people picking the Nationals last year? NOBODY was picking Giants and Royals in 2014.

My preseason picks were pretty dreadful. However my World Series winner pick, the Cardinals, are still alive and well.

Last year I picked the Orioles to beat St. Louis. The year before, I picked the Cardinals over Oakland.

Cardinals fans must hate me because I keep picking their team and they keep falling short. (In 2011, I picked the Phillies and the Cardinals won it.)

So these are not necessarily the results I WANT! I would love to see the Mets and the Pirates meet in the NLCS. And I really don’t want to see the Royals in the World Series again.

These are the picks that I think WILL happen. And naturally they won’t.

So before the games get started in a few hours, here are my official post season picks:

AL WILD CARD:
HOUSTON ASTROS def. NEW YORK YANKEES

NL WILD CARD:
CHICAGO CUBS def. PITTSBURGH PIRATES

AL DIVISION SERIES
KANSAS CITY ROYALS def. HOUSTON ASTROS, 3 games to 1
TORONTO BLUE JAYS def. TEXAS RANGERS, 3 games to 2

NL DIVISION SERIES
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS def. CHICAGO CUBS, 3 games to 2
NEW YORK METS def. LOS ANGELES DODGERS, 3 games to 1

AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
TORONTO BLUE JAYS def. KANSAS CITY ROYALS, 4 games to 0

NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
NEW YORK METS def. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS, 4 games to 3

WORLD SERIES
TORONTO BLUE JAYS def. NEW YORK METS, 4 games to 1

So there you have it. I am picking the Mets to win a game in LA and to have Don Mattingly blow another playoff series. I think a Cubs and Cardinals series will bring more heartbreak to Wrigleyville. I think the Cardinals and the Mets will have a showdown that will go down to the wire. This time, a Mets player might swing at a Wainwright pitch.

I think the Rangers will give the Blue Jays the hardest time while Kansas City makes it back to back ALCS appearances but won’t be able to hold off the Toronto attack.

And while the Mets will play it tough and give New York their first pennant of the decade, the Blue Jays are just too strong.

So if you like to bet, fly to Vegas and put all your money down for a Yankees and Pirates World Series. It is how my picks usually go!

Sully Baseball Daily – October 6, 2015

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

The Playoffs Start Today! The AL Wild Card Game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees will kick off October.

Today I brought on Astros superfan and podcaster Richard Perez to talk about his beloved Stros.

And podcast regular and co creator of Subway Squawkers Lisa Swan also joins the show to give her Yankees thoughts.

One of them will be disappointed after the Wild Card Game but NOT after Episode 1,079 of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.

Follow Richard Perez on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Follow The Warning Track Podcast by clicking HERE.

Follow Subway Squawkers by clicking HERE.

NIPPY JONES – Sully Baseball Unsung Post Season Hero of October 6

AP Photo

OCTOBER 6, 1957 – World Series Game 4

The New York Yankees were on the verge of adding another victim to their list of vanquished teams in the World Series. Since 1950, the Yankees had beaten the Phillies, Giants and Dodgers and looked poised to take their 7 World Series title in the 9 seasons that Casey Stengel managed the team.

With the Yankees on the verge of a devastating victory that would give them a 3-1 lead over the Milwaukee Braves, a pinch hitter who began the season playing for an independent team in Sacramento would change the momentum of the series. He did not use his bat, glove, speed nor batters eye. Pinch hitter Nippy Jones used his foot.

After the 1952 season, the Braves left Boston and set up in Milwaukee where they played to record sized crowds. In 1957, with the former powerhouses Dodgers and Giants playing their final games in New York, the Braves coasted into the World Series.

They would face the Yankees, who built up a 2 game to 1 lead going into Game 4. The Braves sent 21 game winner and future Hall of Famer Warren Spahn to the hill to tie the series at 2.

Spahn took a 4-1 lead into the 9th inning with 2 outs and nobody on. Then Yogi Berra and Gil McDougald both singled. Then Elston Howard hit a dramatic 3 run homer to tie the game.

In the 10th, again the Yankees rallied with 2 outs and nobody on and took a 5-4 lead. Now 3 outs from a 3-1 series lead, New York manager Casey Stengel let Tommy Byrne pitch to pinch hitter Nippy Jones.

A decade earlier, the California native was a reserve player on the Cardinals, getting an at bat in the 1946 World Series. Over the next bunch of years, Jones would bounce between the Cardinals, the Phillies and the Sacramento Solons of the Pacific Coast League.

During the 1957 season, he was acquired by Milwaukee from Sacramento to give them some depth at first for the injured Joe Adcock.

Now as a pinch hitter leading off in the 10th, Jones needed to spark a rally.

Byrne threw low at Jones and umpire Augie Donatelli called it a ball. But Jones insisted he was hit by a pitch and needed to be awarded first base. After pleading his case, Jones showed Donatelli that the ball had a little black smudge on it, claiming it was his shoe polish.

Donatelli relented and Jones was the lead off man on base.

Yankees manager Casey Stengel could not believe the call and counter argued. But the call on the field stood.

Jones was pinch run for. Felix Mantilla moved to second on a Red Schoendienst bunt and score on Johnny Logam’s double.

Eddie Mathews was the next batter and he clubbed a 2 run walk off shot to tie the series and 2 games a piece. The Braves, behind starting pitcher Lew Burdette, would capture the World Series in 7.

But the momentum of the game and in a way the series, started when Jones reached base to start the bottom of the 10th. It would be Jones’ final appearance in a big league game. It is safe to say his last game left a mark in Braves history.

That is why Nippy Jones is the Unsung Post Season hero for October 6.