2011 MLB Pick Analysis

Earlier this summer, I picked the remaining baseball schedule with some 50 games to go for each team. I looked closely at who teams in pennant races would be playing, and used that schedule to formulate what I believed their final record would be.

            Now that the season is over, it’s only fair to go back and see how I did. So check out how smart and stupid I was at the same exact time…

·         Here were my picks:

Division	Team	Record
NL
West
1 .	San Francisco Giants	97-65
2 .	Arizona Diamondbacks	89-73
Central
1 .	St. Louis Cardinals	90-72
2 .	Milwaukie Brewers	89-73
3 .	Pittsburg Pirates	88-74
4 .	Cincinnati Reds	84-78
East
1 .	Philadelphia Phillies	99-63
2 .	Atlanta Braves	93-69
Wild
1 .	Atlanta Braves	93-69
2 .	Milwaukie Brewers	89-73
AL
West
1 .	LA Angles	94-68
2 .	Texas Rangers	93-69
Central
1 .	Detroit Tigers	90-72
2 .	Chicago White Sox	85-77
3 .	Cleveland Indians	82-80
East
1 .	Boston Red Sox	102-60
2 .	New York Yankees	101-61
3 .	Tampa Bay Rays	90-72
Wild
1 .	New York Yankees	101-61
2 .	Texas Rangers	93-69
3 .	Tampa Bay Rays	90-72

·         Compared to how they actually finished:

Division	Team	Record
NL
West
1 .	Arizona Diamondbacks	94-68
2 .	San Francisco Giants	86-76
Central
1 .	Milwaukie Brewers	96-66
2 .	St. Louis Cardinals	90-72
3 .	Cincinnati Reds	79-83
4 .	Pittsburg Pirates	72-90
East
1 .	Philadelphia Phillies	102-60
2 .	Atlanta Braves	89-73
Wild
1 .	St. Louis Cardinals	90-72
2 .	Atlanta Braves	89-73
AL
West
1 .	Texas Rangers	96-66
2 .	LA Angles	86-76
Central
1 .	Detroit Tigers	95-67
2 .	Cleveland Indians	80-82
3 .	Chicago White Sox	79-83
East
1 .	New York Yankees	97-65
2 .	Tampa Bay Rays	91-71
3 .	Boston Red Sox	90-72
Wild
1 .	Tampa Bay Rays	91-71
2 .	Boston Red Sox	90-72
3 .	LA Angles	86-76

            So as you can see, I had some successes and some struggles. I correctly picked the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees to make the playoffs; but the San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves, LA Angles and Boston Red Sox let me down and didn’t reach the finish line. And kudos to the Milwaukie Brewers, Texas Rangers, Arizona Diamonbacks and Tampa Bay Rays for making it to the postseason.

            Getting 50% right isn’t too shabby; heck, if I were batting .500 I think they’d keep me around in the majors….. Until next time

Dirt Poll - Week Six

Before the season started, I previewed the first ever Dirt Preseason Poll. So I figured, why not continue it throughout the season. After each weeks slate of games, I’ll update my rankings – add teams who are deserving, and drop teams out who lost. So sit back; and check back every Monday to see the movers and shakers in the Dirt Top 25 poll.

            I’ll include their rank, where they were ranked in my poll the week before, their AP ranking and their record. Enjoy:

Rank	The Dirt Poll	Record	LW	AP
1	LSU	5-0 (2-0)	1	1
2	Alabama	5-0 (2-0)	2	2
3	Wisconsin	5-0 (1-0)	4	4
4	Oklahoma	4-0 (1-0)	3	3
5	Stanford	4-0 (2-0)	5	7
6	Oklahoma State	4-0 (1-0)	6	6
7	Clemson	5-0 (2-0)	16	8
8	Oregon	3-1 (1-0)	7	9
9	Michigan	5-0 (1-0)	12	12
10	Arkansas	4-1 (0-1)	17	10
11	Texas	4-0 (1-0)	18	11
12	Boise State	4-0 (1-0)	10	5
13	Georgia Tech	5-0 (2-0)	19	13
14	Arizona State	4-1 (2-0)	22	22
15	USC	4-1 (2-1)	24	NA
16	Auburn	4-1 (2-0)	NA	15
17	South Carolina	4-1 (2-1)	8	18
18	West Virginia	4-1 (0-0)	21	16
19	Nebraska	4-1 (0-1)	11	14
20	Florida	4-1 (1-1)	9	17
21	Illinois	5-0 (1-0)	23	19
22	Kansas State	4-0 (1-0)	NA	20
23	Baylor	3-1 (0-1)	14	25
24	Florida State	2-2 (0-1)	NA	23
25	Washington	4-1 (2-0)	NA	NA

·         Notes:

o   Dropped out: #15 Virginia Tech – lost to #16 Clemson; #13 Texas A+M – lost to #17 Arkansas; #20 South Florida – lost to Pittsburg; #25 TCU – lost to SMU

o   Moved in: Auburn – defeated #8 South Carolina; Kansas State – defeated #14 Baylor; Florida State – idle; Washington – defeated Utah  

·         Ranked Teams Per Conference:

o   SEC – 6

o   Big 12 – 5

o   Pac 12 – 5

o   Big 10 – 4

o   ACC – 3

o   Big East – 1

o   Mountain West – 1