As this wonderful baseball season draws to a close with the two teams with the best records (97-85) in each league playing for the World Series title, we have some winners and some ‘semi-finalists in the three remaining 2013 MillersTime Baseball Contests.
Contest # 1 – Make a prediction about the 2013 baseball season:
The following predictions came true and so you readers will have to decide which one is the best prediction:
1. Yanks will miss the playoffs. (Yup.)
2. Yanks will be 3rd in the AL East. (They were tied for third.)
3. RA Dickey will struggle. His ERA will be higher than in the past three seasons, and he won’t win more than 15 games. (His ERA was indeed higher 4.21/3.28, and his record was 14-13.)
4. Pirates will win over half of their games. (They were 94-68.)
5. Nats won’t make the playoffs. (They were four games out of the Wild Card.)
6. Angels will not make the playoffs. (Not even close.)
7. Jordan Zimmerman will be the Nats best and most consistent pitcher, over Strasburg and Gonzales. (Zimmerman was 19-9, Strasburg 8-9, Gonzales 11-8.)
8. A-Rod will not hit more than 20 home runs. (He hit seven.)
9. Sox (Red) will win more games than last year. (95 vs 69.)
10. Will Myers will be the AL Rookie of the Year. (He was named the Sporting News ROY, and I think we can assume MLB will follow suit.)
11. Historically bad year for baseball in NY. (Yanks 85-77, tied for third. Mets 74-88.)
12. There will be a three-way tie for the AL Wild Card. (Close.)
So, using whatever definition you like as the Best Prediction, choose one of the 12 above, leaving your vote in the Comment section or sending it to me in an email at Samesty84@gmail.com. You can, of course, vote for your own prediction.
Contest #2 – Predict your favorite team’s record for 2013 and whether they’ll make the playoffs and how far they’ll go, if they do:
There were a lot of you who came close in this one.
For instance: Justin B. had the Yankees at 86-76 (they were 85-77) and missing the playoffs. Dan C. had the Yanks exactly at 85-77 but said they’d make it as far as round one (not so). Steve V., a winner from 2012 who is attending a WS game this year as the result of that win, had the Yanks at 83-79 and third in the Division. Elizabeth M. had the Sox at 94-68 and winning the WS. Jere S. had the Sox at 89-73 and making it to the ALCS. Larry L. predicted the Reds would be 85-77 but not make the playoffs (90-72, no playoffs). Brandt T. thought the Rangers would be 90-72 and lose in the DS (they were 90-72 but lost out for the WC.). Tim M. thought the Mets would be 72-90 and not make the playoffs (they were74-88, no playoffs). And Chris B. had the Sox at 94-68 (three off), making it to the WS and winning it in six games (see Chris’s Comment below where he points out I did not include this prediction).
The winner is Steven Begleiter who had the Yanks exactly at 85-77 and out of the playoffs. He wins two tickets to a regular season game next year. I suspect he’ll choose the Yanks, tho I can’t imagine why.
Contest #6 – Who will be in the World Series? Who will win? Who will be the WS MVP?
Most people had the Tigers, Dodgers, and/or the Nats in the WS. Not so. Only two of you had the Sox in it, and no one had the Cards (where were you Ben S?)
The two people ‘alive’ in this contest are Chris B., who had the Sox beating the Nats with Victorino being the MVP, and Elizabeth M., who had the Sox beating the Giants with Ellsbury as the MVP.
I’m not sure how to decide the winner here. Any suggestions?
Elizabeth said:
As one of the people battling for WS bragging rights, I say we wait until we see who the MVP is! If it’s Ellsbury, I win. If It’s Victorino, Chris B. does. If it’s neither we both win!
Steven Begleiter said:
Sweet!!! Looking forward to it!!!
Rob said:
In contest #1, I vote for #3 for obvious reasons. But if I am not in contention, my vote goes for #7. I think everyone expected a big year from either Strasburg or Gio. While Zimm was expected to be good, I doubt many people had him as the hands down ace.
Chris Boutourline said:
Speaking of bragging rights, I thought my contest #2 choice was Red Sox at 94-68 (great minds think alike Elizabeth M.), just noting. I will be happy if any Sox player is MVP (has a losing WS team ever had the MVP?) and, as a crazed attendee at game 6 (in 45 years of games I’ve never heard Fenway so loud) of the ALCS, Victorino is already on my list of, all-time, MVP’s.
Richard said:
Chris B,
You are correct about your #2 prediction. I’ve amended the article above to include it. Let me see what happens with the WS.
:)
Richard
Carrie said:
Contest 1- # 7
I agree with suggestion to wait for vote on MVP
elliott trommald said:
Prediction #7 was the best. And Elizabeth can’t be serious? There cannot be two winners as she suggests if neither E or V win MVP. The best she can hope for is the reality umpires wrap themselves in: they may not be right, but they are never wrong. Cheers — and hopes for tonight.
Monica said:
For Contest #1 – I vote for # 11. Mostly because of my strong disdain for NY sports teams.
Brian Steinbach said:
#1 – #3 (Dickey) – because of the level of detail.
#3 – Chris B. wins here over Elizabeth. Victorino may not have been the MVP, but he was still key and so he is closer.
Tiffany said:
In #1, I also vote #3 for specificity. Tough competition!
Chris Boutourline said:
In contest #1 I thought about 75% were very good predictions but I vote for #12 since it came so close (up to the last day?) and seemed like an extremely improbable choice. I don’t know about contest # 6. Maybe Elizabeth and I pick straight up winners of all NFL games in an upcoming week? Or, maybe we both go to a game and pay half the ticket price?
BT said:
I think whatever genius chose Ellsbury as MVP should win contest 6.
Ellsbury had a higher batting average and slugging percentage than Victorino (his OBP is 5 points lower than Victorino). While Victorino drove in more runs, Ellsbury scored more runs.
According to Bill James’ Runs Created Formula http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runs_created, Ellsbury was 2nd most valuable offensive player in the World Series. Victorino was 7th.
I don’t see much of an argument in favor of the Victorino candidate because he picked the Nats instead of the Giants. Neither team made the playoffs. And just because the Nats were closer to making the playoffs than the Giants, doesn’t mean a whole lot, as the Nats finished 10 games out of 1st place.
For contest 1, whoever chose #5 should win because that was very much against the grain.
Dan Fisher said:
Contest #1 –
I vote for #7 –
Contest #2 –
Dan C.
Contest #6-
Game of online chess to decide the winner.