The National League playoff picture is set. Time to look back on how my predicitions held up that I made back on September 8 th .
With 19 games left in the season I laid out how I thought the rest of the season would play out for the Cardinals, who still had a shot at post-season but I said would probably finish a distant fourth in the National League Central and that’s exactly what happened as the Cardinals finished off their season with an 11-4 win over Cincinnati.
I also looked at the Phillies and Mets race in the East, along with Chicago, Milwaukee and Houston.
NL EAST Bill’s pick actual record
Philadelphia 90-72 92-70
New York 90-72 89-73
Florida 80-82 84-77
NL Central
Chicago 95-67 97-64
Milwaukee 93-69 90-72
Houston 90-72 86-75
St. Louis 89-73 86-76
I figured that the Mets and Phillies would be playing an extra day to determine the NL East title. Little did I realize that the Marlins would play spoiler and for the second year in a row the Mets would collapse down the stretch.
As far as my predictions, I would say I was spot on. I did pick the Phillies beating out the Mets to win the division and I chose Milwaukee as the Wild Card winner, but never thought it would come down to the last game of the year and without manager Ned Yost.
The Cardinals slipped to fourth place and I may have given the Astros a little more credit than deserved by thinking they would go 14-5 down the stretch, but Hurricane Ike forced them to move two of their home games against the Cubs to Miller Park in Milwaukee otherwise known as "Wrigley Field North," which I think had an emotional and physical drain on their team.
The playoff matchups are set in the National League with the Cubs hosting the Dodgers (who I also mentioned would hold off the D-Backs) and the Phillies host Milwaukee. Check back for my playoff predictions for the American and National League before Wednesday.
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