Seel's Baseball Playoff Predictions: 2003 Realized, At Last

Back in 2003, both the Cubs and Red Sox were on the brink of making the World Series. But then Steve Bartman and Grady Little happened, and the curse remained intact. The next year, of course, the Red Sox shook the monkey off their back by winning it all, a feat they repeated in 2007.

Of the eight teams in this year's playoff field, but three, in my opinion, have a legitimate chance of winning the World Series, and wouldn't you know, the Cubs and Red Sox are two of them (and Kevin Youkilis should be the AL MVP, whereas the NL race is a two-man tossup between Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols). Here are my round-by-round predictions:

ALDS: Boston over Anaheim (I refuse to call them the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) in four. Really, it's all about game one; if the Angels win it, my money will shift to their winning in five. But without the benefit of seeing how the first game goes, I'm sticking with Boston. Whoever wins this series will be the AL representative in the World Series. They need to change that stupid rule where the Wild Card winner can't play a team in its own division in the first round.

Tampa Bay over ChiSox in four. Tampa is the best story in baseball this year, despite relatively meager fan support. Chicago miraculously reveresed one of the all-time late season tanks to limp into the playoffs. The Rays and their stellar bullpen will vanquish the more experienced ChiSox on their home field.

NLDS: Cubs over the Dodgers in five. The Cubs will overlook the Dodgers and drop one at home, only to come back and take care of business in the rubber match.

Milwaukee over Philly in five. Two very evenly-matched squads engage in a hyper-competitive series that ends up being decided by the Brewers' Sabathia factor in game five.

ALCS: Boston over Tampa in six. The Rays will hang in there gamely, but ultimately, Boston's playoff experience will prevail here.

NLCS: Cubs over Brewers in five. In a virtual Upper Midwestern subway series (Milwaukee's only an hour up the Lake Michigan coast), Cubs fans will find a way to finnagle enough tickets to Miller Park to make it feel like a neutral field, and the Cubs will coast in five.

World Series: Cubs over Red Sox in seven. Finally, the promise of 2003 is realized. Only this time, America's collective heart lies with the snakebitten team from the north side. Cubs win! Cubs win!