Saturday, August 2, 2008

Mac's Mailbag: 2008 Playoffs Week One

Rumors are swirling around the SBL that Queen captain Bryan Frankovich almost quit the league last week. Do you think the Frankovich hating will rear its head again in the playoffs?

No, in most instances the playoffs are run strictly on the up and up. I mean, we’ll still make snide remarks about him…but if he loses in the playoffs it will be because he got beat, not because he was put in the penalty box for not shooting a homer.

Should Oatcake have sent Shelley Goodpastor to the Kamikazies instead of Katie Kelly?

Man…that is a really tough one. I’m going to say that I’m biased. Shelley has always been one of my favorite sbl superstars. That said, there is no question that Shelley isn’t as lights out from triple and beyond as she has been in the past. But, I also think you have to consider best and worse case. Katie is more of a given. She is going to make 4 of every 5 from the double stripe without thinking about it. Shelley meanwhile might only make 7 of 10 at the same range….but Shelley has way more exploding potential, and I have to think she’s more than capable of putting up one of her ungodly 13 of 14, 3 homer, 10 RBI games. Of course, she has to show up for this to come true.

Do you still agree with your statement a few weeks ago that Oatcake and the Queens are the only teams with a realistic shot to beat the Cats in a three game series?

If anything, I’d change my prediction to include only the Queens and not expand the list. I do however think that the blockbuster trade between Oatcake and Jukebox gave both of them a punchers chance. But the Queens have far and away the best shot.

Are you a fan of the current playoff format that has the first place team going all the way to finals?

No, but I honestly can’t think of better one. I didn’t like the idea of not playing for a week in 2004…and I think it does take the possibility of a crazy upset out of the mix. But, the only way to do it would be to leave a team out of the playoffs…and I’m not betting that team would show up if they weren’t in the playoffs.

Which of the four teams without a first round bye is the most likely to make a deep playoff run?

Without a doubt that is Jukebox Hero. The addition of Katie Kelly was a piece that they desperately needed, and if Mike can get Pasci’s ass out of bed I would actually consider them favorites over the Democracy. I also think they have the firepower to surprise Oatcake.

How will any team defeat the mighty laser cats? Maybe by pulling a tonya harding on Terry and Nate? Or is there no hope?

There’s not much hope, but the Cats have looked beatable in the latter stage of the year. The more people who show up for their team, the less at bats that Tomko and Shernisky get. If you can keep persuading Billy “Mini Ted” Deforest to jack up homers and can throw off Spohn, things could get interesting.

Lame duck President Nate Tomko has admitted that things didn’t really work out this year as far as parity in the league is concerned…how do we get back to 2006 and 2007 when any team could pretty much beat any other?

I’m giving him a Presidential mulligan on this season. He couldn’t have known that so many vets would hang it up, or that Bob Spohn would play like one of the super heroes tattooed on his arms. The following people have more to do with the lack of parity than Viceroy Tomko: George Kovac, Jamie Moroco, John Olsavsky, all three Lackeys, Lenny Crist, Ben Smith, Chuck Music, Dank Elly, Jamie Fabian and Mike Frankovich’s parole officer.

Which court would you like to see host the second week of the playoffs?

I’m a big fan of Hoffa Centre…but I didn’t get to play at Buttsex Ballpark this year.

Ben Smith has pretty much made a career out of his legendary performance during the playoffs a couple years ago. Who could be the player this year that could surprise us by having a career playoffs?

One player that comes to mind is Terry Hall. He’s been inconsistent, has never really been an integral part of a deep playoff run, and is not really mentioned among the best players in the league. A Ben Smithian playoff run and an Oatcake finals berth would make a lot of people forget that he had a lower batting average than his girlfriend and John Offutt this regular season.

Do you think the offensive friendly low hoop at the Nespor house will help or hurt the lower seeds this Sunday?

Not really either. I think everybody wins when we play at the Superdrome. While it certainly makes it easier for Mike and Pasci to drain homers, I know for a fact that Kip Corbett loves that middle homer at the Nespor house.