SportsViews

Tampa Bay have probably been the biggest surprise packet in the playoffs and they go into game five with three chances to nail the series. Not only have the Rays surprised everyone, they have done it with style taking the game right up to the Red Sox then running over the top of them.

The Phillies are in the same position. Most pundits predicted a Red Sox - Dodgers World Series. The Dodgers have hardly let out a yelp so far with the Phillies playing all over them. As I write this the Phillies have already jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game 5, a win here will send them to the World Series - forget games six and seven.

Why did the sportswriters get it wrong? Both the Red Sox and Dodgers had relatively easy paths to these playoffs. The Rays and Phillies had to do it a little tougher. It may have seasoned them a little more. Who Knows? It wasn’t just the sportswriters who got it wrong. Many of the fans thought that, while the Rays of Phillies would put up a good show, the Red Sox and Dodgers would shine through.

One sportswriter predicted a Red Sox sweep. How wrong he was. There has been a lot said on SportsViews about the four teams. Some have expressed surprise, few have predicted the results. If you have an opinion on the playoffs, feel free to join in.

Forget baseball, the Dodgers decided to fight fire with fire and came out to play hardball on Sunday evening and came away with 7-2 victory. That certainly wiped the smile from the Phillies faces in more ways than one. The play-offs are 1-2 the Phillies way with the Dodgers intent on squaring it up in the next match.

The Phillies have been playing hard ball in the first two games, using hard and fast balls designed to intimidate. The Dodgers came yesterday with Hiroki Kuroda pitching and from the first ball you knew he was aiming to fight back.

Both benches were warned for the intimidating tactics but that didn’t stop the benches and bullpens clearing to a good old fashioned first base brawl. No one was ejected but it certainly put some feeling back into the game.

The Phillies will go into game four full of confidence and ready to do battle. It’s not just the win that counts, it’s how they won. There is already plenty of talk surrounding their form reversal. Perhaps the real Dodgers have now stepped up to the plate.

The Red Sox and the Devil Rays are locked up at one apiece as they head off to Fenway Park in the MLB play offs.

In a game that looked to be heading the Rays way, the Red Sox clawed their way back to tie the game 8-8 in the eighth. What may be worrying for Rays fans is that after a good solid start, bringing in eight runs in the first five innings, they were held runless for the next finally scoring the winner in 11th.

For Red Sox fans, being down 6-8 after five, they didn’t give it away and worked hard to earn runs in the 6th and 8th to tie it all up.

The Devils needed the win as they head to Fenway Park for their next game of the series on Monday. They still need to get a game back at Fenway Park before returning to Tropicana Field to complete the series.

Meanwhile the Phillies lead the Dodgers 2-0 with game three being played as I write this (Dodger 1-0 after the 1st). The Dodgers desperately need a win to get their campaign back on track. A loss today would put their season on the line and a crack at the World Series almost impossible. The talk around the web is for a Phillies sweep - I am sure the Dodgers are trying to have a say in that.

The Dodgers swept the divisional series against the Cubs and it looked to all their fans like they had peaked at just the right time. Now, Dodgers fans are asking what has gone wrong. The answer is probably nothing.

If you look back through the divisional series a little closer, you get a feeling the Cubs threw the series away rather than any brilliance on the part of the Dodgers. With seven walks in 5 innings followed by fielding errors, the Cubs never gave themselves a chance.

Compare that to the Phillies never say die attitude and you have a completely different series. The Phillies may get behind on the scoreboard, but they have faith in their abilities and the abilities of their team mates - they do play like a team should.

The divisional series did the Dodgers no favors. It was too easy and they weren’t challenged enough to harden them for the playoffs. They now have to battle to make up lost ground. That lack of big game hardness is going to make the situation far more difficult. Hopefully they can come back and make a real series of it. History shows that teams that take the first two games 2-0 go on to win the series.

With the Red Sox and the Rays to meet in the playoffs, it is only right we show some of the action involving these sides. Unfortunately there are not that many Devil Rays videos around. Oh well - there are plenty involving the Red Sox, and what’s this, the promise of playoff action to come?

This year, MLB has come up with a unique way of fights. This video shows a fight between Red Sox and Devil Rays - Red Sox vs Rays Brawl

Speaking of the playoffs, does anyone remember this game: With six home runs, the Red Sox pound the Rays and pull into a virtual tie for first place The Red Sox pounds the Rays

Okay, I’ll leave the Rays alone - how about a bit of history. A tribute to the 2004 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox!

The Red Sox really are a ‘team’ - perhaps ‘the team’ - Red Sox players discuss making the playoffs again and what struggles they had to overcome - Red Sox Players

This is after-game footage of the Red Sox after they got the Playoff berth by defeating the Cleveland Indians - Red Sox vs Cleveland Indians

You would think it was a done deal. Everyone wants to talk about the Red Sox, the Devil Rays only get a passing mention whilst the Dodgers and Phillies at least raise a heart beat. At SportsViews, there are over 100 Buzz posts on the Red Sox, only 6 on the Devil Rays, 58 on the Dodgers and 43 on the Phillies.

If the Tampa Bay Devil Rays defeat the Red Sox and go into the World Series, everyone will need to change their views. The Red Sox cannot win if they are not there.

The Red Sox are the defending champions. The Devil Rays are having their best season ever, and the best games all season were when the Red Sox v Devil Rays - it’s only fitting they should meet in the playoffs. However, let’s be fair. The Devil Rays do actually have a good chance of winning.

When it comes to the World Series, the Dodgers have a good chance of winning. If you’re a Tampa Bay supporter then you really should jump onto SportsViews and add your support with a Buzz post - they need all the help they can get.

Major League Baseball must be popular judging by the number of bets on SportsViews. The last time I looked they were approaching the 100 mark and some of them really you make you think.

Good or bad? The Yankees are keeping Cashman as GM for another 3 years?

The MLB teams have just identified their players of the years in the minors; do you think that’s a given that someone will make it to the majors? Does Minor League Player of the Year Matter?

Now that the House that Ruth Built has seen its last Yankees game, how do you think fans will take to the new park next year?

Manny Ramirez was nominated, but has only been in the NL for a couple of months. He voted for Albert Pujols. Will Pujols win? Will Albert Pujols win the National League MVP?

Who will end up with the American League Division title? Who Takes the ALDS?

Of course there are the regular who will win head to head bets. Visit SportsViews to check out the MLB bets for yourself.

Major League Baseball is popular every where and there are over 70 bets being played at SportsViews right now. Some of the more popular ones include:

If you were a professional sports player, which position would you want to play?

Sports fan can make a lot of noise. Who is the loudest?

The MLB teams have just identified their players of the years in the minors; do you think that’s a given that someone will make it to the majors? Does Minor League Player of the Year Matter?

Now that the House that Ruth Built has seen its last Yankees game, how do you think fans will take to the new park next year?

Which pro team has the best team logo or uniforms

Home team advantages were set up for the baseball playoffs - well, the pre-playoffs really in which the wild card team would be selected; does having the home field really make a difference?

That is an interesting range of bets that may require a little thought. If you have an opinion on any of these questions, visit SportsViews and add your opinion - your opinion does count.

At the end of the day, the one game playoffs will be over and done with and the MLB post-season will be underway. That, of course, has fans of Major League Baseball talking about the odds that each of the teams have to work with.

First, of course, on the National League side of the coin there are the Chicago Cubs who are looking for the chance to prove that the 10-1 odds they faced at the beginning of the season weren’t really a long shot at all. The Phillies, the Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers are all looking for a shot at the big game as well.

Then, on the AL side, there are the Angels (who won 100 games this season the way that Cubs fans had thought their team would do) and the Red Sox, the Twins and the Chicago White Sox. At this point, it looks as though Anaheim is going to have the advantage - having already taken the majority of the games that they played against the Red Sox.

If the two teams with the best records make their way to the big game, it’s going to be all about the Angels and the Cubs, but whose to say; a lot can happen early in the post season; and the fans are just waiting.

The more that the regular season for Major League Baseball winds down, the more that different fans - particularly those who are fans of the New York Yankees - are going to be talking about things that are going to be happening during the off season. One of those things that Yankees fans will be talking about is Mariano Rivera’s shoulder surgery:

(source)New York Yankees star closer Mariano Rivera revealed Monday that he has decided to undergo surgery on his sore right shoulder in the offseason.

The 38-year-old pitched through discomfort throughout the 2008 campaign but was still dominant, converting 39-of-40 save opportunities and compiling a 6-5 record with a team-best 1.40 earned-run average.

After tests taken on Rivera’s shoulder revealed inflammation and calcification, the reliever opted for surgery rather than a series of periodic cortisone injections.

Surgery in this case makes sense: it gives the closer a better chance of having everything come back to normal for next year; cortisone shots are always just a temporary fix. Same point in time, surgery gives no guarantees either. And it’s all about the possibilities that will have all of the fans talking - debating all of the possible outcomes and, mostly, hoping for the best.