Baaaashing That Billy Goat Curse

Can the Cubs shatter history with their first World Series win in more than a century? Are the Rays for real? Or are the Angels too good to beat? Can Drew and Lowell come back and impact the American League order? How about CC and the Crew? Is Manny Being Manny enough for the Dodgers? Can the Fightin' Phils improve upon last year's NLDS appearance? Or will the White Sox win one for Griff?

So many questions, so little time.

Brewers vs. Phillies
The pitching matchups will dictate this series. You have to like Cole Hamels in Game 1 for the Phils. At 24, he is the ace of this Phillies rotation. He didn't do that badly in Game 1 of last year's NLDS against the Rockies (6.2 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 7 K, 4 BB), but he still lost. There has to be a strong desire to win in the kid from Cali.

After Game 1, though, CC should outduel Brett Myers, who hasn't left the fifth inning in either of his past two starts. Back in Milwaukee, I'll take Jamie Moyer and his ageless arm in Game 3. Jeff Suppan toes the rubber in 4 for the Brew Crew, but the Phils haven't named a starter. Will it be Hamels on three days' rest? Or will they go with Joe Blanton? If this thing goes five, we could be treated to a CC-Hamels showdown in Philly. Here's hoping ...

I'll take the Phils in five.

Cubs-Dodgers
Dear God, what a big mismatch. When you can stack Dempster, Big Z, Harden and Lilly in a five-game series, you may not even get to Lilly. And I haven't even gotten to the Cubs' lineup.

The Dodgers can win a game in this series -- probably when it comes back to LA for Game 3 -- just because of Joe Torre and Manny Ramirez. Aside from that, I really can't give LA much of a shot. This team is exactly the reason why my dad groans and moans every September about teams making the playoffs that don't deserve it.

Not much to really talk about here, so I'll take the Cubs in four.

Red Sox-Angels
The best team in baseball, the Angels, takes on a recovering giant, the Sox. This has to be the best first-round matchup in the playoffs, with the Phils-Brewers coming in a close second. Just look at the pitching matchups:

John Lackey vs. Jon Lester
Ervin Santana vs. Dice-K
Joe Saunders vs. Josh Beckett

Plus, waiting in the bullpen, we've got K-Rod for the Angels, Jon Papelbon for the Sox.

Please wait while I clean up the drool on my keyboard ...

Throw in Ortiz, Youkilis and Pedroia for Boston, Vlad the Impaler, Anderson and Hunter, and this series has more star power than 30 Rock.

Unfortunately, for this Sox fan, I like the Angels in this series. I'll take LA in five.

White Sox-Rays
It's the kid Rays against the playoffs in this one. If Tampa Bay plays like it has all year, this series should be theirs to win. The Rays' young rotation hasn't thrown a single pitch in the postseason, so that's something to watch. Once the games get into the bullpens, however, guys like Troy Percival, Chad Bradford and Dan Wheeler should shoulder the load capably.

The White Sox do have some nice momentum going after their thrilling 1-0 win against the Twins yesterday in a one-game playoff. I'm excited to see Alexei Ramirez in the playoffs. And remember, this is a Chicago team that rocked 235 homers and 296 doubles this year. They can hit for power. Can they get the pitching to back it up?

I don't think so. I'll take the Rays in four.

Tune in next week for the ALCS and NLCS previews. In the meantime, keep praying for me and my fantasy team.