BDD’s team preview series ends with the 2008 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies learned from their ‘07 regular season hangover that led to being quickly swept out of the playoffs by the Rockies in ‘08. Cole Hamels emerged in the postseason and a few balls bounced their way (and some, like Matt Stairs’ home [...]

Even the most optimistic of projections did not have the ‘08 Devil Rays winning the American League East. So, their magical run past division rival Boston in the ALCS and to their first World Series appearance in club history was just a bonus. Too bad for Joe Maddon’s Rays they fell three wins short of [...]

The ‘08 Red Sox were a mess… and still won 95 games. Think that “mess” is harsh? Think of the Manny Ramirez saga, the milk carton performance by Jason Varitek, injuries to Big Papi, J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell, Josh Beckett, and others, the sophomore slump of Jacoby Ellsbury, and a back end of the rotation [...]

The 2008 version of the Los Angeles Dodgers were really the tale of two halves. The first half: New skipper Joe Torre held the club together cutting and pasting a new lineup together each day as injuries slowed down the club’s progress. The second half: Manny Ramirez. The arrival of the “good” Manny Ramirez after [...]

Angels manager Mike Scioscia is probably not a huge fan of the ‘93 comedy “Groundhog Day” starring Bill Murray… it may hit too close to home. Since World Series glory in 2002, Scioscia’s Angels have won the AL West four times — 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 — but have yet to make it through the [...]

For fans of the Chicago Cubs, it was yet another promising season that ended in disappointment. For the truly pessimistic ones, it was yet another season done in by the Curse of the Billy Goat. Their ‘08 Central division crown — second in as many years — did not result in playoff success as the [...]

They say chicks dig the long ball. If that’s so, their favorite team in ‘08 was the Chicago White Sox. The Sox homered their way to a AL Central division title — their 235th of the year was a Jim Thome bomb in their 1-0 win over the Twins in a one-game playoff — spoiling [...]

The Milwaukee Brewers pushed all-in when they acquired CC Sabathia from the Cleveland Indians in early July. The move may have cost the Brew Crew a few prospects but it also pushed the Brewers into the Wild Card spot in the National League. Unfortunately, the ‘09 Brewers will be without Sabathia and likely without the [...]

For the second consecutive year, the Metropolitans found a way to blow a division lead in September to the Philadelphia Phillies. While not as catastrophic of a demise as ‘07, this year’s collapse came partnered with also losing the Wild Card spot to the Milwaukee Brewers AND watching the Phillies go on to win [...]

Last year the Yankees traded in their inexplicable mystique for an experimental litmus test — whether it’s gauging the efficacy of Torre by replacing him with Girardi, revealing the true importance of the bullpen, or, best of all, underpinning the quantitative merits of A-Rod. And for the first time in 12 years, the Bronx Bombers [...]