ALCS Preview: Tigers v. Red Sox

Pitching Matchups and TV Times
Game 1: Saturday October 12th - Anibel Sanchez v. Jon Lester 7:00 pm FOX
Game 2: Sunday October 13th - Max Scherzer v. Clay Buchholz 7:00 pm FOX
Game 3: Tuesday October 15th - John Lackey v. Justin Verlander 3:00 pm FOX
Game 4: Wednesday October 16th - Pitchers Unknown 7:00 pm FOX
Game 5: Thursday October 17th - Pitchers unknown 7:00 pm FOX (If Necessary)
Game 6: Saturday October 18th - Pitchers unknown 3:30 pm FOX (If Necessary)
Game 7: Sunday October 19th - Pitchers unknown 7:00 pm TBS (If Necessary)

Five reasons for Brewers fans to watch - Switching it up because why not tie in some local stuff to it because that makes it more awesome, at least I think so, whatever.

1.) Prince Fielder - Pretty much the same thing for Greinke goes for Fielder. I want to see him have success because he, more so than Greinke, is one of the Brewers' own. He will always be considered a Brewer even if he does not enter the Hall of Fame with them. If you still hold animosity over Fielder for leaving Milwaukee for Detroit, you are a Grade-A idiot. Ask yourself this question if you feel that way, I can have 100 million dollars when my contract is done or I can have 214 million, you are really taking 114 less?  No one is taking it. Fielder improved as the series went on, but improvement is needed. He could  do some big things with the short porch in right field at Fenway. 

2.) BEARDS - I feel like I am the only one behind this outside of the New England area, but I love the beard the beards. I also take pride in the beards as a man who has not fully shaved his beard since April 1st. I have been with some sort of stubble since then and let me tell you, the beard grows a hell of a lot better when you rock it more than just 'I am lazy and I am not shaving.'  Playoff bears are always great and it might as well go into another sport.
movement by the Red Sox. Grantland's Wesley Morris wrote a great article about the fashion in baseball right now with

3.) Pitching Porn the Brewers will never have - There are so many great pitchers in this series. Jon Lester, Clay Buccholz are both dynamite to watch plus John Lackey and Jake Peavy can give you the occasional brilliant start in the postseason. The Tigers counter with Max Schrezer, the possible American League Cy Young and Justin Verlander, the best pitcher in the game right now as I pointed out earlier this morning. The bullpen for the Red Sox is awesome too with Craig Breslow and Koji Uehara. Detroit on the other hand does not have the same luxury in the pen.  

4.) Which Manager is going to f--- up - This happens in baseball all the time where we have one manager who has all sorts of experience (Jim Leyland) and another one who has no idea what he is doing here yet (John Farrell). There will come games that rely on the managerial decisions. Leyland has made some shaky ones that have yet to come back to bite him. Farrell is yet to receive the criticism of Baseball Twitter which must mean he is doing the right things.

5.) Cold weather baseball Miller Park will never know about - It is not supposed to be freezing in the next 10 days when these two square off, but there is a chance for some brisk conditions where we are seeing the breath of most of the players. I am just happy to know whenever the Brewers make it back, probably 2018, the roof will be closed in October.

Prediction
Red Sox in 6 - It comes down to who is the more complete team? The answer is Boston, no questions asked. The Red Sox have better pitching, more hitting than just the middle of the order and a solid bullpen. The Tigers will win a couple games due to their strong pitching, but in the end, Boston heads back to the World Series for the first time since 2007.

Charlie