Round One Recap

Even though half of the first round series are still in progress, the headline for the 2013 playoffs seems to have already been written. It’s not enough to say that all four teams that swept the first round were underdogs. We’re talking about HUGE upsets (at least on paper). A 5-17 team defeating a 17-5 team; a 7-15 team defeating a 16-6 team; a 5-17 team coming one ridiculous catch away from sweeping a 16-6 team. Again, these aren’t just upsets. These are teams that were completely written off taking over and rewriting the season.

I saw a few of these developments coming, but certainly not others. I felt Team Younger had enough to upset the favored Team Beilis (although I thought they’d do it with more offense). And even though the difference in records made my team a decided underdog against Applebaum, I’ve known we’ve been playing like a different team over the past month.  But there are three things I never saw coming:

1.       Wallman getting swept: It’s pretty obvious why this is a shocker. Going into the playoffs, Wallman was the one team that didn’t come with any glaring flaws. You could look at other top teams like Jacoby and Applebaum and talk about stretches where they’ve looked pretty ordinary. Not true with Wallman until last week. Before the season, many people felt Marrone had one of the best teams in the league. That opinion dissipated pretty quickly once the season got into full swing, but now they’re reminding us what the fuss was about.

2.        Granese manhandling Feldman: A 10-12 team beating an 11-11 team is hardly big news, but the way it was done should open some eyes. Team Granese was the most dominating team in the first roun with 10-run victories each games. Like my feelings towards Marrone, I felt Granese had one of the better clubs before the season started; they were ranked 4^th in my preseason power rankings. So far what I’m primarily seeing is that my pre-season opinions of teams holds more water than any evidence gathered during the season. Depending on what happens with all the Game 3s, there’s a chance that my #2-8 teams all advance to the second round. My pre-season #1 team(Wallman) ended up losing to my pre-season #2 team (Marrone). Maybe it’s not that big of an upset after all.

3.       Mamone almost sweeping Jacoby: Unlike victorious teams like Marrone, Granese, and Younger, I never had that high of an opinion of Team Mamone. This wasn’t a case of a pre-season favorite finally living up to billing. This was a case of a completely out of nowhere team defying all possible odds to slay a giant. And then Barth Frank makes an incredible, season-saving catchWith all these game 3s being played a week later, I think the momentum tilts back to the favorites. It’s possible Mamone can finish one of the more improbable first round upsets in league memory, but I think it’s more likely that game one just becomes a footnote in Jacoby’s quest for the championship.

Sunday Preview:

It’s impossible to preview Round Two with so many matchup possibilities, so I’ll just stick with a quick preview of the Game 3s.

Harris vs. Randell

Goldfarb vs. Lapine

Jacoby vs. Mamone

Carlin vs. Bykofsky

With the exception of Harris vs. Randell, all three underdogs let their opponent back in the series by dropping Game 2. As a result, the momentum completely shifts back in favor of the favored team going into game 3. My opinion towards these series hasn’t changed too much since I previewed these matchups last week.

By switching the field from Union Hill to Swim Club, Harris has a more decisive advantage over Randell.

Although I picked Lapine to win the championship, I don’t think any of their matchups will be easy. Goldfarb can easily pick them off here, but I still think Lapine will squeak by.

Mamone almost pulled off an incredible upset, but with a week in between games 2 and 3, I think order will be restored. Jacoby should take care of business tomorrow.

With Both Carlin and Bykofsky so wildly unpredictable, it’s futile predicting the result of any given game between them.  For the sake of consistency I’ll pick Carlin to win although I did like Bykofsky more in my pre-season rankings.

I’ll have more to say about Round Two once we know what the matchups are. By that time, game 1 will already be in the books so whoever wins game 1 will be the favorite to win the series.