2009 World Series Prediction

Now that it is official that the Yankees and Phillies will face in the 2009 World Series, it is my turn to predict who will win. Again, my opinion is just as valid as any other fan, so here we go.

Yankees win, the Yankees win!

I am going with the Yankees in 6 games. This postseason the Yankees have been a great team, pitching has been great, great hitting, and a strong bullpen. They swept a Twins team that came in on fire, surprisingly winning the Central. Then came the Angels, who put up a good fight and were quite balanced and held the Yanks at bay in two games. But, this Yankees team is a great team. They have 7 players with at least 20 home runs, a record shared with the 2000 Blue Jays, the only other team to ever accomplish this feat. An opponent can not just walk one Yankee in hope of facing a weaker batter, there isn't one on this year's team. They led the league in runs as well, 915 in total, and several other offensive categories. They were 4th in ERA, so they are strong on both ends and with Mariano Rivera closing, it is near impossible to come from behind in a game against them in the postseason. Then, you have to factor in the postseason play so far, A-Rod has snapped out of his typically poor postseason player and become the leader the Yankees and the crowd favorite.

The Phillies have also had a great season and postseason, they were first in their league in runs, and were near the top in several other categories, and were 6th in ERA. They won 10 fewer games in the regular season though. They kept many of the same players from last season's world champion team, but I just don't think they have enough to keep pace with this Yankees team. Brad Lidge was erratic in the regular season, but has done well this postseason, and they will have a few extra days off more than the Yankees and if they go with a 4 man pitching rotation, a slightly better pitching staff. But, the Yankees scored nearly a 100 more runs, and as stated before, they are have so many good hitters that even pitchers like Hamels, Lee, and Martinez starting won't be able to top this.

So I am going with the Yankees in 6 games. I say 6 games because we haven't had a World Series go past 5 games in several seasons, it is simply about time. Although the Yankees are better, the Phillies did just win last season and really beat up on the Dodgers in the NLDS, plus they have had more time to rest up, thus, it seems like the Phillies will win 2 games, they will put up a good fight. As for MVP, I am going with Mark Texeria. Of the 57 MVP awards (including shared honors), 26 have been pitchers, about %45, the last decade keeping with this trend. The reason I am going with Texeria is that this is a new Yankees team, alot of new names and faces and one of the biggest changes was bringing in Texeria, Sabathia, and Burnett. Thus far, Texeria has under preformed, but I expect big things from him in the World Series, second choice is A-Rod, he has been unbelievable this postseason and since CC just got the ALCS MVP, I doubt he would get WS MVP too.

Oh, and America you do realize if Philly repeats this will turn into another Boston situation. In so far as they won't shut up about about how great their city is and then the Flyers, 76ers, and Eagles will all win championships in their leagues. C'mon, we know it will happen. Philadelphia fans are almost as bad as Boston fans, at least Yankee fans are in a city that you want to live in.

W.A.S.P. - "Babylon" a CD review

The new W.A.S.P. CD came out this week, October 12th in Europe and sometime later in the U.S. (hopefully). I was able to get a copy off the Internet. First off, the band has stayed in tact from the previous album, Blackie Lawless (as always) Doug Blair, Mike Duda, and Mike Dupke. The overall sound of the album is quite similar to the previous album, Dominator. The band is a metal band after all. And just like the previous album, there are 9 tracks.

The album starts off with 'Crazy', a song which has a catchy chorus, of "you'd have to be crazy to love me", the song is about idol worship. The second track is "live to die another day", another strong effort. Track three is "Babylon's burning", which takes on a discussion of religion. There is an interview out there where Blackie says that the album has a strong influence from the biblical visions of "The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse". The cover seems to depict the four horsemen, or maybe it is the band members? Well, back to the songs. Track 4 is a cover of Deep Purple's 'Burn'. W.A.S.P. has not done a cover on an album in a while, there is 'Saturday Night's alright for Fighting' off The Best of the Best, but that was 9 years ago, and before that it was 'Somebody to Love' in 1995. Blackie's unique voice always make his cover choices interesting and often diverse. Selecting a Deep Purple song was interesting as Blackie's voice is a bit different than David Coverdale's (yeah, the guy from Whitesnake was in Deep Purple, look it up!). Blackie's take was solid and Doug Blair did a pretty good job on Ritchie Blackmore's guitars. the 5th track, 'Into the Fire' starts off a little slower, but by no means a ballad, it has some "Heaven's Hung in Black" on it, but it turns into a classic WASP rocker pretty quick. Track 6, 'Thunder Red' is a faster track, warning of the impending doom of the 4 horsemen. I found it interesting that the band had a song with a similar name, "Thunderhead" that track deals with impending doom as well, but the 1989 track is focused on drug addiction. 'Seas of Fire" is another strong rocker, sonically like "Hate to Love Me" off Unholy Terror, of course after 25 years and 13 albums, some songs might sound a little similar to another. "Godless Run" almost starts off as the big ballad that W.A.S.P. incorporates onto most of the post 'Headless Children" albums, but it is not the ballad at all, instead it is sonically a big and technical song, another strong song. The final track is "Promised Land" a cover a of Chuck Berry song from 1964. The song seems to be the way to close the album, after 8 songs that deal with the end of the world, it is nice to hear a song with some type of hope. The song is fast and has Blackie singing in a quick and positive voice, something out of character for him since, well several albums ago. The song is fast and lively, the closest song I can think of is Rock n Roll to Death off Still Not Black Enough, kind of a throw back to the songs of the 50s and 60s.

So overall, I would give this album a 7. The shortcomings; a little on the short side (only 9 tracks and two covers, makes you wanting more), a little too similar to the last album (it is nice to have a stable lineup in the band, but there are times where the band sounded a little too much like their previous works) and no ballad, (would have been nice and it could have been incorporated). The positives; the complexity of the album, going after the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a tough one to handle and Blackie did his research (it is over my head, but I am sure that his interpretation is based upon he understanding of the bible), though he has made it clear that the album is not a concept album (containing one story line), and Blackie's voice and the band's musicianship is solid, sorry to my personal favorite Chris Holmes, but these guys can play really well. The songs are all strong too, I cannot even say which is my favorite, it is going to take several listens before I can decide, but that is standard for a WASP CD.

There are so many W.A.S.P. albums to chose from and sonically there is a wide range, that it is tough to call this the definitive W.A.S.P. album. That title would again go to "The Headless Children" or maybe "The Crimson Idol" or possibly their first album "W.A.S.P". But, this album is another great effort and will hopefully be warmly embraced by the fans. It sounds like a combination of "Dominator" and "Unholy Terror", so newer W.A.S.P. As for non-fans, forgot what you know about 1980s W.A.S.P., their lyrics are much more complex, the musicians are stronger, it is not about making an over the top show anymore, it is about making good music. And to the metal fans out there, if you want something loud and aggressive, but also smart and lyrics you can comprehend, go check this one out.