My son Aidan noticed something

I was watching the game last night and my son Aidan sat with me.
At one point he looked at the TV and had a confused look on his face.

They cut to the Giants dugout...

And Aidan observed "They are all wearing my hat."

And with THAT moment, Aidan felt a one on one connection with the team.

He took his first step into a larger world.

How did we do with our picks? (And how did the fish do?)

Before the playoffs began, I made my post season picks… and compared them to the picks of my wife Lisa, my sister in law Debbie, my sons Matty and Aidan, a coin toss and which direction my fish Red swam.

With the Division Series over, let’s see how we all did.

SULLY’S PICKS

PHILLIES over REDS
GIANTS over BRAVES
YANKEES over TWINS
RAYS over RANGERS

3 out of 4



SULLY’S WIFE LISA’S PICKS

REDS over PHILLIES
GIANTS over BRAVES
YANKEES over TWINS
RANGERS over RAYS

3 out of 4


SULLY’S SISTER IN LAW DEBBIE’S PICKS

PHILLIES over REDS
GIANTS over BRAVES
TWINS over YANKEES
RAYS over RANGERS

2 out of 4

SULLY’S 5 YEAR OLD SON AIDAN’S PICKS

REDS over PHILLIES
GIANTS over BRAVES
YANKEES over TWINS
RAYS over RANGERS

2 out of 4



SULLY’S 5 YEAR OLD SON MATTEO’S PICKS

PHILLIES over REDS
GIANTS over BRAVES
TWINS over YANKEES
RANGERS over TWINS

3 out of 4



COIN TOSS RESULTS

PHILLIES over REDS
GIANTS over BRAVES
TWINS over YANKEES
RANGERS over RAYS

3 out of 4

So no perfect ones… except for one…

SULLY’S FISH RED’S PICKS

PHILLIES over REDS
GIANTS over BRAVES
YANKEES over TWINS
RANGERS over RAYS

4 out of 4

That’s right folks… my FISH beat us all!
My FISH made all the right picks.

Do you know how humiliating it is to have your picks beaten by a fish?

To remind you, I held a logo for each team on either side of the tank… and which ever direction he went is where I recorded his pick.

He usually swam this way or that… but when I put the Rays and the Rangers logos up, he paused… then looked up at me and asked “Wait, how many starts is Cliff Lee getting?”

My picks... my sister in law's picks... my kid's picks... a coin toss and a fish

The playoffs are starting in less than an hour and it is time to make my official picks.
Now my picks tend to suck... despite my following EVERY team in baseball and thinking way too much about, my powers of prediction leave a lot to be desired.

So this year I am comparing my picks to Debbie Zambetti, my wonderful Sister in Law and a health and nutrition counselor who maintains a wonderful website about food and health that you should check out NOW!

I'll also be getting the picks of my twin 5 year old boys (who don't follow baseball except in an abstract "I like what daddy likes" way).

I'll be comparing my picks to a coin toss.

And also will be getting the picks from Red... our fish. I put a logo of each team next to his tank... which ever one he swam to will be his pick.

So let's compare.

SULLY'S
OFFICIAL PLAYOFF PICKS

American League Division Series

TAMPA BAY RAYS defeat TEXAS RANGERS 3 games to 1
NEW YORK YANKEES defeat MINNESOTA TWINS 3 games to 2

National League Division Series

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES defeat CINCINNATI REDS 3 games to 0
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS defeat ATLANTA BRAVES 3 games to 2

American League Championship Series

TAMPA BAY RAYS defeat NEW YORK YANKEES 4 games to 3

National League Championship Series

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES defeat SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS 4 games to 1

World Series

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES defeat TAMPA BAY RAYS 4 games to 2


SULLY'S 5 YEAR OLD SON
AIDAN'S OFFICIAL PLAYOFF PICKS


American League Division Series

TAMPA BAY RAYS defeat TEXAS RANGERS 3 games to 1
NEW YORK YANKEES defeat MINNESOTA TWINS 3 games to o

National League Division Series

CINCINNATI REDS defeat PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES 3 games to 2
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS defeat ATLANTA BRAVES 3 games to 1

American League Championship Series

TAMPA BAY RAYS defeat NEW YORK YANKEES 4 games t0 3

National League Championship Series

CINCINNATI REDS defeat SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS 4 games to 0

World Series
TAMPA BAY RAYS defeat CINCINNATI REDS 4 games to 3

SULLY'S 5 YEAR OLD SON MATTEO'S
OFFICIAL PLAYOFF PICKS


American League Division Series

TEXAS RANGERS defeat TAMPA BAY RAYS 3 games to 2
MINNESOTA TWINS defeat NEW YORK YANKEES 3 games to 2

National League Division Series

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES defeat CINCINNATI REDS 3 games to 2
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS defeat ATLANTA BRAVES 3 games to 1

American League Championship Series
MINNESOTA TWINS defeat TEXAS RANGERS 4 games to 3

National League Championship Series
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES defeat SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS 4 games to 2

World Series

MINNESOTA TWINS defeat PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES 4 games to 3

SULLY'S SISTER IN LAW DEBBIE ZAMBETTI'S
OFFICIAL PLAYOFF PICKS


American League Division Series

TAMPA BAY RAYS defeat TEXAS RANGERS 3 games to 1
MINNESOTA TWINS defeat NEW YORK YANKEES 3 games to 2

National League Division Series

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES defeat CINCINNATI REDS 3 games to 0
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS defeat ATLANTA BRAVES 3 games to 2

American League Championship Series

MINNESOTA TWINS defeat TAMPA BAY RAYS 4 games to 3

National League Championship Series

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES defeat SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS 4 games to 1

World Series

MINNESOTA TWINS defeat PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES 4 games to 3

OFFICIAL PLAYOFF PICKS
BASED ON A COIN FLIP


American League Division Series

TEXAS RANGERS defeat TAMPA BAY RAYS 3 games to 2
MINNESOTA TWINS defeat NEW YORK YANKEES 3 games to 2

National League Division Series

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES defeat CINCINNATI REDS 3 games to 2
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS defeat ATLANTA BRAVES 3 games to 1

American League Championship Series

MINNESOTA TWINS defeat TEXAS RANGERS 4 games to 3

National League Championship Series

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS defeat PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES 4 games to 3

World Series

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS defeat MINNESOTA TWINS 4 games to 1

SULLY'S FISH RED'S
OFFICIAL PLAYOFF PICKS


American League Division Series

TEXAS RANGERS defeat TAMPA BAY RAYS 3 games to 2
NEW YORK YANKEES defeat MINNESOTA TWINS 3 games to 1

National League Division Series

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES defeat CINCINNATI REDS 3 games to 2
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS defeat ATLANTA BRAVES 3 games to 1

American League Championship Series

TEXAS RANGERS defeat NEW YORK YANKEES 4 games to 2

National League Championship Series

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS defeat PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES 4 games to 2

World Series
TEXAS RANGERS defeat SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS 4 games to 3

Now keep in mind we all used different methods for our picks.
I watched baseball all year and poured over the stats.

My sons picked by how they liked the sound of the names.

My sister in law believes the entire balance of the playoffs will be tilted based on how many vegans are on each team. She also predicts the World Series will end with both teams crying.

The coin is just chance.

And Red the fish swam to one side of the bowl towards one logo I held up or the other side where the other logo would be.

And when you think of it... they are all equally valid methods to picking a winner.

(Let's hope my picks are better than my fish's!)

Sneaky Twins

Twins can be very sneaky.
Trust me... I am the father of two of them and they work in tandem sometimes to get what they want.

Well guess what? There are some sneaky Twins in Minnesota.

Now while we have all be looking at the Yankees and Rays and seeing who will get home field advantage and I've been hoping the White Sox make the AL Central another "decided via 1 game playoff" year for the third straight season, I noticed something.

The Twins are only 4 games back of the Yankees.

That's it.

As they take on the Royals, the Indians, the A's and the White Sox over the next few weeks, they have a pretty solid rotation and nobody is noticing them.

Meanwhile the Yankees are struggling with the Orioles and have 7 games against the Rays coming up.

Could the Twins catch the Yankees? Could the Minnesota Freaking Twins take the claim of "Best Regular Season Record" and home field advantage in the Division Series and possibly the ALCS?

Now I would pick the Rays or Yankees over the Twins in a short series... but then again, they ARE Twins.

They are sneaky.

Right now I wouldn't bet against them... whether it is to win the Division or steal another cookie.