Monday, October 31, 2011
Postseason predictions wrap-up
Posted by Greg SimonsTwenty Hardball Times staffers made their predictions of how the 2011 postseason would play itself out. Some proved prescient, a few less so. Let's take a look at the rankings to see whose guesses came closest to, and shortest of, perfection.
Scoring was based on a 5-3-1 system similar to regular-season awards: If someone picked a Division Series correctly, that person received one point, choosing an LCS winner garnered three points, while being a fortune teller and predicting the World Series winner earned five points. (Nobody got those five points.)
Here are everyone's picks and the results, ranked by total points.
Staffer Total Pts. LDS Pts. LCS Pts. WS Pts. Ben Pritchett 6 3 3 0 Greg Simons 6 3 3 0 Sam Hendrickson 5 2 3 0 Mat Kovach 3 3 0 0 Brad Johnson 2 2 0 0 Chris Jaffe 2 2 0 0 David Wade 2 2 0 0 Derek Ambrosino 2 2 0 0 Kevin Lai 2 2 0 0 Matt Filippi 2 2 0 0 Vince Caramela 2 2 0 0 Brian Borawski 1 1 0 0 Chris Lund 1 1 0 0 Dave Studeman 1 1 0 0 Harry Pavlidis 1 1 0 0 Jeff Gross 1 1 0 0 John Barten 1 1 0 0 Nick Fleder 1 1 0 0 Paul Sullivan 1 1 0 0 Steve Treder 0 0 0 0
Ben Pritchett followed up his title as the best predictor of the regular-season standings with a tie for best postseason prognostications, knotted at six points apiece with yours truly. With one more strike in Game Six, Sam Hendrickson (and the Rangers) would have emerged victorious. Instead, he finished a close third.
No one else chose even one LCS winner correctly. And then there was poor Steve Treder. He whiffed on every playoff series, but he's still warmed by the radiating glow of his beloved San Francisco Giants' title last fall.
Greg Simons continues to hold out hope that some major league team will have need of a past-his-prime left-handed shortstop. If you know of such an opportunity, or want to contact him for any other reason, he can be reached at gregbsimons AT yahoo DOT com.