Twisted World Series Prediction

I don’t know when and how I shifted my allegiance from the Dodgers to the Mets.   

My first memories of baseball all involve the Brooklyn Dodgers.  My mother talked about them. My grandfather talked about them.  My grandmother talked about them.  I learned, through them, all about Pee Wee Reese, Carl Furillo, Pistol Pete Reiser Duke Snider and all of the rest of the legendary Brooklyn Dodgers. 

My first baseball poster was of Don Drysdale.   I grew up with the 1970s LA Dodgers.  Perhaps it was when all of my favorites left the team did I start actively rooting for the Mets.  

Until 2000 I always rooted for the Yankees to win.   I never felt conflicted about loving the Mets and liking the Yankees.  They did not play each other much and seeing the Yankees defeat the hated Braves twice in the World Series gave me so much joy. 

Admittedly that all changed in 2000 when the Yanks beat the Mets in the series.  I became sick and tired of the smug Yankee fan and never really rooted for the Yankees again

So here we are the Yankees face the Dodgers and though I am no longer a Dodger fan, I cannot root against them because in some sense I would be rooting against my grand father. 
Therefore I will be rooting for the Dodgers.

This is how I see the series.

The key to this series for me is which team can take advantage of the other team’s relief pitchers.   The Dodgers have the deeper and better lineup.  The Yankee pitching is mediocre at best (with the exception of Cole and more on that later).  While the Dodger pitching is certainly vulnerable I suspect that the Dodgers will tee off against Yankee pitching early and often and cruise to a series win in 5 games. 

In game one, I predict that Cole will have a very rocky start because he will fracture his big toe when walking from the bullpen to open the game.  Cole will try and work through the pain and while in the process of doing so, he will develop a stomach cramp that forces Cole to change his windup. This will then cause him to develop a sore shoulder.   He will exit the game and the series after three innings.  At that time the Yankees will be down 4 to 0.  Seeing Cole go down will inspire the Yankees to take game one 9 to 6.

Following game one, the Dodgers will win games two through five by identical scores of 8 to 5.  

The Dodgers will have avenged World Series losses in 1941 1947 1950 1952 1953 1956 1977 and 1978

Enjoy the World Series!