Dodgers Complete the Sweep of St. Louis

Two years ago the New York Yankees decided that bringing back Joe Torre to manage wasn't in the teams best interest as the manager hadn't gotten his team out of the first round in three years. So in turn, Mr. Torre took the vacant job across the country managing the Los Angeles Dodgers and has now led them to two straight NLCS appearances. His team with Andre Either, Casey Blake, Randy Wolf, and of course Manny Ramirez could right now be the hottest team in baseball.

You see it year in and year out how Wild Card teams win the World Series and the team with the best record gets ousted after the first round. The reason being is because usually that first place team hasn't played a meaningful game in months and the Wild Card winner has been playing every game with so much intensity trying to hold on to that one spot or trying to over take the team in front of them. That momentum usually carries them throughout the playoffs. The Dodgers, winners of the NL West were in a certain situation when the Rockies came to town in the last weekend of the season, however both teams already had clinched a playoff birth. They were fighting for the NL West crown.

That last series of the year may have propelled the Dodgers into being the hottest team in baseball and could propel them to a World Series championship. I picked the Cardinals to win it all this year, they had two Cy Young candidates and the clear cut NL MVP anchoring a potent lineup. The thing was the Cardinals weren't in any race since around June. They were cruising the last month while the Dodgers were playing and winning meaningful games down the stretch. If you want to win in the playoffs, take on the whole season with the attitude that you're always playing for something and try not to coast.