After two long, painful days of no baseball whatsoever, we're finally set to begin the LCS tomorrow when the Rangers host the Yankees down in Arlington. And that, of course, is merely prelude to the big Halladay/Lincecum matchup that Saturday will bring us. It's going to be a great weekend for baseball.

With the first round of the playoffs in the books, it's time for a quick update to the Wezen-Ball MLB Predictions contest. Here's the first update from last week, and here's the details about the contest.

To see the leaderboard and everybody's full predictions, side-by-side, click here.

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I wasn't smart enough to remember to alert everyone last night before it happened, so I'm trying to make up for that by letting you know now: Bill & The Common Man from Platoon Advantage and I did an LCS preview podcast. And it's even better this time because we were joined by two LCS experts: Dan McQuade, who you probably remember from his terrific guest post here back in August and who is a Phillies fan lucky enough to have tickets to the Roy Halladay-Tim Lincecum faceoff on Saturday; and Jason Rosenberg, who I hope you know from the excellent Yankees blog It's About the Money, Stupid.

The five of us, in part, offered our thoughts on what we learned from the LDS's, what we should hope to see in the LCS, and who we might be seeing in the World Series. It was a fun time and, at least on our part, flew by super-quick. It should be a good listen.

One thought: in the podcast, I predicted the Yankees would beat the Rangers in (I think) six games. This has been weighing on me. I hate picking the Yankees for anything, even when it seems pretty obvious that they're the better team. I can't really take back the pick, so I'll just say that I will take absolutely no joy in the Yankees live up to my prediction. I will be hoping beyond hope that they lose and lose good, and that the Rangers make it to the Fall Classic.

There. Just wanted to make that clear. To listen to the podcast, click the "Read More" link to be taken below. You can also find the podcast over here. And don't forget, you can always subscribe to the podcast through the link on the player. Feel free to do so.

Enjoy!

(Click "Read More" to listen to the podcast.)

Continuing my selections for the Baseball Bloggers Alliance awards this year, we come to the Walter Johnson Award, given out to the best pitcher of the year. I cast my ballot for the Willie Mays Award for top rookie yesterday.

As always, feel free to tell me where I'm wrong.

Walter Johnson Award (Cy Young)

A.L.: Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners

Let's face it. This is not a "stats-vs-writers" thing. There is absolutely no way anyone can credibly argue that C.C. Sabathia or David Price is better than Felix. I understand some people's support of Francisco Liriano but, again, Felix is better than him in every way. The only reason anyone would vote for someone other than Felix is because of the wins column, and that just should not fly in this day and age. Felix Hernandez is the best pitcher in the American League this year the same way Roger Clemens was the best pitcher in the National League in 2005. C.C. Sabathia is not the best pitcher in the AL this year in the same way Bob Welch was not the best pitcher in the AL in 1990. We do not need to keep making those same mistakes.

N.L.: Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies

I love Doc. I was so glad when he was traded out of Toronto into a city with a much bigger stage and a much better chance at postseason glory. I was anxious to see how he would do this year - the change in leagues seemed like a perfect chance to see another Randy Johnson-in-1997-type season. The fact that he was able to live up to those expectations so easily - and with a perfect game to boot! - just makes me ecstatic. This Cy Young award is about as certain as these things can be.

As my annual duty as a member of the Baseball Bloggers Association, I will be posting my selections for the various postseason awards throughout the week. The BBA has taken the step this year to name their awards after great players in the past who best represent the award. I like this, and think it's a great little addition.

Sadly, I missed the deadline for the Connie Mack Award (top manager) already, so we'll just move on to the Willie Mays Award for top rookie. You can expect the rest of the awards throughout the week. Always feel free to let me know where I'm wrong.

Willie Mays Award (Rookie of the Year)

A.L.: Neftali Feliz, Texas Rangers

The rookie of the year award always seems to stump me at least once every year. It just feels like we're "settling" for someone every now and then. Maybe it's just me. I'm choosing Neftali Feliz here over Austin Jackson for that exact reason. Jackson is probably going to win the BBWAA's award, and I can't quite shake the feeling that it's because the writers have no one else to vote for. Feliz, despite getting saddled as a closer (which I really, really hope doesn't pigeonhole him in the future), is the better rookie in my mind. His 40 saves are nice, of course, but we all know saves aren't a great statistic. Instead, it's his strikeouts and walks that really grabs me. Jackson had a nice year, but it's not enough to beat Feliz.

N.L.: Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves

There is no wrong answer here, provided you're choosing either Jason Heyward or Buster Posey. They both had absolutely fantastic years and they're both going to be All-Stars for many years to come. Frankly, I think it'd be sweet if the two split the vote evenly and shared the award. My one vote goes to Heyward, though. His hot two-month start, his ability to get on-base even after his injury, his solid defense in the outfield, and, most importantly, his two extra months of playing time all tilt it in his favor. Posey has hit for more power, didn't once slump even as the season progressed and the Giants entered the pennant race, and plays a fine defense at the tougher position. The two less months of playing time can't be ignored, though, nor can the fact that Posey played about a month of the year at first. Like I said, my vote goes to Heyward, but Posey is just as deserving.

With the Giants win over the Braves last night, we're down to our last game of the Division Series: a game-five elimination between the Rangers and Rays. I don't really know who I'm rooting for here, but I feel pretty confident I'll be happy for whoever wins. The fact that they'll then have to go and beat the Yankees only makes it better.

I have to say that the Rangers probably have the advantage, though, with Cliff Lee getting the start.

Tonight's tater trots should be posted shortly after they occur in the game. Be sure to check back often. And follow me on Twitter for other thoughts about tonight's game.

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UPDATE: Click through for the video and a play-by-play of Bart's colorful trot. (I had to move the video below the fold so things weren't pushed off to the side much.)

For the first time in what might be five years, I made an explicit effort to watch tonight's episode of The Simpsons. The news came out a few weeks ago that Bill James, the godfather to us all, would appear on a Simpsons episode. I wasn't sure what to think about that at first - I've seen way too many terrible guest stars on The Simpson in the last ten, twelve years to react positively to any news - but I slowly came around to the idea. As today approached, the enthusiasm of people like Rob Neyer, Joe Posnanski, and Jonah Keri got to me and I just had to watch it.

And, frankly, I'm happy I did. It was much funnier and well-written than I expected, and they seemed to give a good point of view on the stats-vs-heart argument. Not that I'm reading much into a Simpsons storyline or anything. No way.

If you watched the episode - and if you didn't, I guess I should say SPOILER WARNING - then you know that, about half-way through it, Bart hits a game-winning home run. Once he realizes it's gone, he busts out an emphatic and well-choreographed home run trot, including cartwheels, the moonwalk, and the worm. As the keeper of the Tater Trot Tracker, I took it as my duty to time that trot. The trot comes in at a speedy 17.85 seconds.

We can't judge Bart's trot against that of major leaguers, though. Bart, as a 10-year-old boy, can't be expected to run as fast as a grown man. Plus, on a Little League field, the bases are placed only 60 feet apart. This is just not an apples-to-apples comparison.

Still, I'll take a colorful 17.85 second trot like that over the fast, but mostly boring, trots we see from speedsters like Andrew McCutchen or Marlon Byrd. Thanks for making things exciting, Bart.

(Click "Read More" to see the trot play-by-play.)

We're only two days into the postseason, and already everybody is talking about how terrible the umpiring has been. The missed check-swing in the Tampa Bay game, the Berkman third-strike-ball and, most importantly, the Buster Posey not-caught-stealing in the Giants 1-0 victory over the Braves - those were all in yesterday's games alone!

I don't disagree with any of these complaints. All of those calls were egregiously wrong (though two of them wouldn't be a topic today if not for the next pitch) and deserving of attention. The Posey call, after all, led directly to the only run of the game and essentially gave the Giants the victory. Braves fans have every right to be upset.

These complaints do remind me of last October, though, when the poor umpiring was the story again. I wrote a post then reminding everybody that, as poor as umpiring is these days, this isn't exactly new. Now, that's not an excuse for the umps to continue to perform poorly; it absolutely isn't. I just wanted people to realize that we aren't seeing anything worse than we have before. I'm re-posting that article (originally found here) below:

There's plenty of talk today, as there has been all month, about the poor umpiring in these playoffs. In last night's Game 2, we saw Ryan Howard pull off a 3-4 double play after the first base umpire Brian Gorman incorrectly said that Howard caught the ball on the fly. Replays seemed to show that the ball took an oh-so-small short-hop into the mitt, but Gorman wasn't in the best position to see it. It was a tough call and one that you can't really fault the umpire for, but it was wrong all the same.

And it was exacerbated the next inning, with the Phillies up to bat. Chase Utley grounded the ball to second and, after Cano and Jeter did an excellent job turning a tough relay to get the lead runner out, he was called out at first by Gorman for the double-play. Replays were much more conclusive on this one, and Utley was clearly safe. Many people, Phillies and Yankees fans alike, had no choice but to wonder if it was a "make-up call" by Gorman (don't believe me? Twitter will vouch for that.)

So, considering all of that, this quote doesn't seem too far-fetched:

Whatever else this World Series is remembered for, it will be remembered for the uneven quality of its justice. As in previous Series, plenty of solid work was turned in behind the plate and on the basepaths. But in this one, much of it was undone by a few fateful blinks of the eye.

Okay, maybe it's not 100% true, but it's pretty close. And since it's a column from 1992 (by Jim Litke), when the Blue Jays were busy winning their first of two back-to-back championships, I think that's understandable. The point here is that, while it may seem like the umpires are worse this year than they've ever been, it's really hard to say if that's true. Umpires have been blowing calls on the big stage for years, for decades. More from the article:

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I’ve been up here in good ol’ Osh Kosh, Wisconsin, since yesterday morning doing work stuff. It’s as fun as you could imagine. Thankfully, though, I should be home in time for the playoffs this afternoon (except for the Rays/Rangers game – really, MLB? The #1 seed in the AL East is your early game? Seems brilliant.)

In the meantime, I wanted to remind everyone of the podcast I did along with Bill and The Common Man from Platoon Advantage on Monday night. This was a fun one. We discussed the upcoming Division Series and gave our thoughts on what we thought would happen. As always, there’s some good points by everyone.

The most important point, however – if I do say so myself – is from the Rangers/Rays preview: that Twitter showdown between Texas and Tampa Bay is really going to be key!

You can click below to listen to the podcast here in the browser or head on over to the podcast page and listen there. Also, don’t forget that you can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes from there.

Enjoy!

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I know, I still owe everybody Tater Trot Tracker times for the last two days of the season (including big home runs like the one Buster Posey hit Sunday afternoon). I had a very busy weekend (including my first trip to Lambeau Field and my first NFL game yesterday) and I have a couple of busy nights ahead - including tonight's on-a-special-night podcast with Bill and The Common Man from Platoon Advantage. Hopefully, I'll be able to get these last two Tater Trot Tracker posts up tonight, but they might just have to wait until Wednesday or Thursday. I'm sorry for that.

One thing I didn't want to wait any longer to put up - because we've already waited way too long to see it - is an update on the predictions contest I ran at the start of the season. If you remember, back in March/April, I asked anybody interested to feel out my MLB Predictions form to enter into the contest. The winner at the end of the season would get 2 Free Tickets to any 2011 baseball game*!

(*Actually, a $30 gift certificate to either MLB.com or the team of their choice, which should be theoretically enough for two tickets.)

The form asked for division finishes, team victories, playoff participants, and MVP/Cy Young/ROY award results. Point values would be assigned for the accuracy of each of these predictions.

I've been meaning to update everyone on the contest all year, but, since the leaderboard was based so much on team victories at the end of the season, I wasn't sure what to do. And then, as the season started to wrap up, I got too busy to tally the points. I'm making up for that now.

To see the leaderboard and everybody's full predictions, side-by-side, click here.

(Click "Read More" to continue reading.)

I'm going to be busy running errands all afternoon and evening, so the Tater Trot Tracker post for today is going to be delayed. I'll do my best to get it up some time this evening.

In the meantime, yesterday I participated in a discussion panel with Norman Einstein's, an online sports monthly, to talk about my thoughts on Ken Burns' "The Tenth Inning". Obivously, with my pieces on Tom Boswell and Jose Canseco earlier this week, I had some thoughts on the documentary. Click on over to Norman Einstein's latest issue to check out the discussion between Ben Birdsall of There Are No Fours, Brian Blickenstaff of Touch And Tactics, Drew Fairservice of Ghostrunner On First and Walkoff Walk, Patrick Truby of There's No "I" In Blog, and yours truly.

For other takes on "The Tenth Inning", I recommend Bill over at the Platoon Advantage and Jeff Polman (of Funky Ball fame) at Seamheads. Good stuff from those two.