Could There Really Be a Redline Series?

Could we be seeing blows like this one in November in Chicago? Could this finally be the year for the Cubs to make it to the World Series? Do the White Sox have the staying power to make another run at a World Title?

It's August 22, and both Chicago teams have a lead in their respective Central Divisions. The Cubs look like a lock to make October baseball and if the Sox can fend off a young Twins team in the mist of a 14 game road trip then it will be Playoff baseball north and south side style.

Let's start with the easier of the two, the Cubs. They are clearly the best team in the National League. They are deep with great bench players. They have the ability to rest key players because their bench players don't give them too much of a drop off. Henry Blanco, is actually a better defensive catcher than Rookie of the Year candidate Giovanni Soto. The center field combination of Reed Johnson and Jim Edmonds gives you either power and veteran leadership or speed and a defensive upgrade.

Their pitching staff is made for a short series where you only need 3 pitchers. They are going to have homefield advantage and will be able to throw Zambrano to open up the first round. Because of how dominate he is at home and so-so on the road I would throw Ryan Dempster game 2. And when you get to game 3, they have another number 1 in Rich Harden. And if they go to a game 4, Ted Lily has been pitching very well as of late to give them a pretty good number 4. Jason Marquis will not make the playoff roster because they won't need a fifth starter.

They could play either Arizona or the Dodgers in the first round. They are much better than both of those teams and if you're thinking, well Arizona has Haren and Webb, they would be a good one, two punch. I would say, The Cubs can beat those two easier than the Diamond Backs can beat Big Z and Dempster.

In the NLCS, I would say that the Brewers who will make it in via the Wild Card will beat the NL East Champion (Phillies) and the Cubs will play every game as if it is a home game because more Cubs fans will show up in Milwaukee than Brewers fans. The Cubs have no problem beating the Brewers in Miller Park, if you can remember the 4 game sweep the last week of July. That can only mean one thing. Hello NL Pennant and welcome to the Fall Classic Cubbies!

Now on to the Southside Hitmen. I believe they will win the Central by at least 5 games and face the the AL East Champion (Rays) because the Red Sox will make the Wild Card and cannot play a team in their own division in the Division Series. I just don't think the Rays can keep this Cinderella story going once they hit the big lights of October. The Sox are too powerful and too deep for a hurt Rays team (they will probably not have Carl Crawford back by then).

I believe they will play the LA Angels of Anaheim of California of LA in the ALCS and a rematch of the series in 2005. This one will be a much better series than the one in '05. The Sox rotation kind of scares me against a good hitting team. I would say they would start off the series throwing either Buehrle or Danks with Floyd up third. Vasquez is a good fourth, because he has the experience but not the confidence.

The Sox hitting is the thing that will make or break the series. We all know they can hit. But can they hit for the playoffs. They have been living by the long ball as of late, and I'm afraid they will cool off with the weather. With that said, I believe the fact that a lot of these players have been there before, I think they will win the AL Pennant, but it may take 7 games to do it.

So that's it. An All-Chicago, Red Line, Elevated, Crosstown, World Series. But the big question is...Who will win?