FINAL FOUR

Blog does acknowledge that there is a Consolation Tourney, and a 5th place match, and Blog may mention them at some point, but Blog will only PREVIEW the 2 Semi-Final matchups, and they should be doozies...

#1 Snot on the Ball VS. #5 L.L. Longball

Snot was dealt a significant blow as AL MVP Candidate and Snot's best player... wait, Snot's 2nd best... no... 3rd best? no... best OF? still no... ok, ok... They lost Carlos Quentin because he couldn't keep from slapping his own bat, but Blog doesn't think the loss will be too painful as the white hot Andre Ethier should step in and keep the ball rolling. Longball will be kicking himself for keeping Marcus No Fantasy Value Whatsoever Thames on his team instead of grabbing Ethier last week. Juan Bench Lump Pierre? Pedro Feliz? Oh well. Blog sees the Longball playoff run ending pretty abruptly this week. They should take steals, but will need HUGE weeks from Burrell, DLee, Uggla and Vernon Wells to compete in the other 4 offensive categories. Blog doesn't see that happening. Here is a position by position comparison.

C Mauer VERSUS I-Rod - Edge: Big Snot
1B Morneau VERSUS Howard - Edge: Even (Howard has a big edge in HR, but Morneau has a big edge in avg.
2B Utley VERSUS Uggla - Edge: Big Snot
3B Wright VERSUS Cabrera - Edge: Even (but Wright can steal 3 bases)
SS Reyes VERSUS Young - Edge: Big Snot
CI Gonzalez VERSUS Lee - Edge: Even
OF Hamilton VERSUS Burrell - Edge: BIG Snot
OF Granderson VERSUS Victorino - Edge: Little Snot
OF Ethier VERSUS Wells - Edge: Even

You get the picture. There is not one offensive advantage that Longball has over Snot besides Willy Taveras's legs and Ryan Howard's power. Pitching could be closer, but Snot will have saves clinched today, and K/9 by Wednesday. Blog says that'll be enough.

The Pick (get it?) Snot DEF Longball 7-2


#2 Legends VS. #3 Regulators

These two franchises are very evenly matched up. The only category that should be an easy win is SB for Regs. Legends has had some closer issues creep up, but their starters, though not quite as dominant lately, can certainly put up a 5 win, 2era, 1whip, 9 K/9 week. Regs is going to need a big week from Matt Holliday, who has struggled recently, as well as continued support from Rios, Abreu and Soriano. Legends will expect Carlos Delgado to continue his resurgence, and it's $$ in the bank that A-rod will put up videogame numbers now that the Yankees are toast. The X factors for each team offensively will be JJ Hardy for Regs and Jason Bay for Legends. Legends has lost ERA and WHIP for 6 weeks in a row. If they are going to advance, that streak will have to stop now. Justin Verlander needs to come up BIG for Legends, and so does Javier Vazquez for Regs.

The Pick: Well, Blog never promised to be un-biased: Regulators DEF Legends 5-4