Game Picks - Friday: September 11, 2009

How easy is it for us human beings to put to the back of our minds the pain of the past. This picker did not even realize what day it was until typing the heading for this post. A lot has happened since that event. The President who got us through that crisis has been disgraced as an idiot. This writer just hopes that the web of protection he created to stop future incidents is vigilant. We may have forgotten, but the danger is just as real today as it was then. The Fan lifts his coffee mug and salutes and remembers those good people we lost eight years ago today.

Apologies if that was a bit of a downer for those of you who just wanted to watch the Fan bungle through another day of picks. Thursday was an off day for more than half the teams, but the Fan was slightly above .500 for the games that were played. While correctly picking the Nationals to beat the Phillies, this picker failed to see the Royals sweeping the Tigers. Really? Nor did this picker expect Oswalt to blow up the joint. The Fan did expect the Twins to confound as usual. The Fan hates the Twins. They are impossible to predict. Impossible.

And so it is Friday and we are back to a full slate of games. Let's see what we got here:

• The Cubs over the Reds: Did you know that Wells is seventh in the NL in ERA+?
• The Yankees over the Orioles: Burnett was pretty good the last time out. The Yankees really need him to get it together.
• The Twins over the Athletics: Let's see, the Twins are starting a guy with the improbable name of Manship. That means that they should lose. So then they will win. Golly.
• The Braves over the Cardinals: Not high on either Lohse or Hudson at this point. But one of them has to win.
• The Phillies over the Mets: Moyer gets a start. Go old man, go!
• The Angels over the White Sox: Decent match up of Santana versus Danks. Going with Santana.
• The Marlins over the Nationals: One of those darned games when anything can happen. Anibal Sanchez can be brilliant or really stinky. The Nationals are starting an unknown named, Estrada.
• The Pirates over the Astros: Ohlendorf versus Moehler. Moehler will shout: "Ohlie Ohlie in come free!"
• The Royals over the Indians: The Royals just completed a Royal Flush over the Tigers go out and win their fourth in a row.
• The Tigers over the Blue Jays: Jackson should be better than Richmond. Are the Tigers the worst playoff team ever? Could be.
• The Red Sox over the Bay Rays: The Bay Rays always play the Sox tough, but Beckett has to get out of this funk he is in.
• The Rangers over the Mariners: The Rangers really can't lose any games the rest of the way, can they?
• The Brewers over the Diamondbacks: Another one of those, "Who knows?" games. Mulvey starts for the Diamondbacks. Who? Bush starts for Milwaukee. Yuck.
• The Dodgers over the Giants: Padilla keeps showing that nearly any AL pitcher can succeed in the NL.
• The Rockies over the Padres: Jiminez should blow through this game.

Yesterday: 4-3
Week: 36-32
Month: 76-63