Host Mike Silva’s “Grapefruit Roundup” included guests Casey Stern of MLB Network Radio and Scott Miller of CBS Sports. Both are in Arizona and spoke about some teams to watch this spring. Mike also discussed MLB’s decision to expand the playoffs and both local teams- including why the Mets should consider adding Pedro Beato to the starting rotation, and how A-Rod drinking from the fountain of youth is huge, even for the talented Yankees.

Hosted by Mike Carver. Guests included longtime sports broadcaster Seth Everett to talk some Major League Baseball as spring training approaches, followed by NHL.com writer Brian Compton, who spoke about the local New York area hockey teams.

Host Bill Donohue kicked off the program talking some Rangers and Islanders hockey, speaking with former Islanders captain Ed Westfall, followed by longtime Rangers netminder John Vanbiesbrouck. Bill later discussed his thoughts on the greatest baseball movie of all-time, as well as the best ever baseball documentary.

NY Baseball Digest host Mike Silva talks with former Atlanta Brave Dale Murphy, who spoke about his Hall-of-Fame candidacy and his career with the Braves.

Hosted by Mike Silva. Guests on the show included former Atlanta Brave, MVP and Hall-of-Fame candidate Dale Murphy, who discussed his thoughts on the selection process, his career, and how the writers should evaluate steroid users.

Hosted by Mike Silva. Mike gives his thoughts on the Yanks “wait and see” approach with the free agent starting pitching market, if Eduardo Nunez can be used as the centerpiece of a deal, and how the Yanks and Braves could come together on a deal. Also discussed was the Mets 50th anniversary press conference, trading David Wright, the new walls at CitiField and finally the new playoff system and collective bargaining agreement. Guests included Brien Jackson from It’s About the Money and Steve Keane from the Kranepool Society.

The ALCS starts tonight and there are no Yankee or Red Sox lineups involved. Even more interesting is the fact that when the NLCS starts tomorrow there will be no Cliff Lee or other Big 4 pitcher from the Phillies on the mound. Very interesting, since most experts including this writer had some combination of the 3 in the World Series this year no less an LCS. That won’t happen though. Instead, Detroit and St. Louis will try to earn the right to go after their 5th and 11th titles, respectively, while Texas and Milwaukee keep working for the chance to play for their 1st World Series championship.

ALCS- Detroit Tigers vs Texas Rangers
The Tigers were 6-3 vs the Rangers this season with all games played before the end of the first week in August. This was before Detroit really got hot, because starting on August 19 the Tigers bulldozed through the AL and rolled to a 30-9 finish and a overall record of 95-67. The Rangers finished the month of September with a 19-6 record, and overall they were 96-66 which was good enough to earn them home field in the ALCS.

Texas has a strong lineup that features Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Ian Kinsler and Michael Young. They also have a more balanced starting pitching staff and better bullpen.

However, the Tigers have Justin Verlander to start the series and the edge in the manager department. They also have an underrated lineup, as proven by the fact that Miguel Cabrera was hitless in 4 of 5 games vs the Yankees, while hitters like Delmon Young, Don Kelly and Magglio Ordonez came through with big hits. The Rangers have the home field but the Tigers won 2 at Yankee Stadium including a crucial series deciding game 5.

Detroit over Texas in 7

NLCS- Milwaukee Brewers vs St. Louis Cardinals
The Milwaukee Brewers (96-66) won the central division over the St. Louis Cardinals (90-72) by 6 games, but head to head the teams split 18 games with 9 wins a piece. The Brewers won their first playoff series since 1982 and the Cards got a tremendous performance from Chris Carpenter in Game 5 vs the Phillies to pull off the biggest upset of all 1st round series. It was only the third 1-0 series deciding game in MLB history with the others in the 1962 and 1991 World Series.

The Cardinals have Albert Pujols and a serious edge at manager. The Brewers have Ryan Braun and a back end of the bullpen that has not allowed an earned run in the postseason yet. More importantly, the Brew Crew has home field which was their strength in the regular season. They had the Majors best home record at 57-24, used it to their advantage in their series win vs the D-Backs and will capitalize on it here also.

Milwaukee over St. Louis in 7

Here are the Waz’s selections:

Yankees vs. Tigers
Detroit has the best pitcher in Justin Verlander and the most dangerous hitter in Miquel Cabrera, plus a closer in Valverde who hasn’t blown a save (46) all season.
Tigers over Yankees in 5

Rangers vs. Rays
Texas has the dominant lineup with power and some speed throughout. It all starts with their leader, Michael Young, who put up 213 hits(.338 avg.) and 106 RBI.
Rangers over Rays in 4

Phillies vs. Cardinals
Philadelphia will send out Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels. They have a solid bullpen and proven experience in their lineup with Howard, Utley, and Rollins. Albert Pujols had less than .300 avg and less than 100 RBI for first time in career.
Phillies sweep Cards in 3

Brewers vs. Diamondbacks
Milwaukee is all about the power duo of Ryan Braun (NL MVP to be) and Prince Fielder, who are as good in the 3-4 holes as any in baseball. They have better depth in the bullpen which will help them pull this one out.
Brewers over Diamondbacks in 5

Hosted by Frank Maniscalco. Guests included NFL player agent JR Rickert who discussed the ongoing NFL labor negotiations, as well as the NFL draft. In the second half of the show Frankie welcomed Casey Stern from Sirius radio’s MLB Home Plate.

Hosted by Greg Locke. Guests included John Delcos from the New York Mets Report, followed by Mike Siano from the popular MLB Network show Fantasy 411.

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Photo by Keith Allison

Yankee fans may be jumping for joy after seeing AJ Burnett retire all nine hitters he faced on Monday. But Burnett’s issue has never been ability, its been consistency.

AJ Burnett is coming off a year where he went 10-15 and had an ERA of 5.26. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t seen a good game here and there:

April 17, 2010: 7IP, 0 ER, 7K

April 29, 2010: 8IP, 0 ER, 4K

May 4, 2010: 7.1IP, o ER, 8K

May 25, 2010: 5IP, 0 ER, 5K

May 30, 2010: 8IP 1 ER, 8K

I can continue. In general after this he had an awful June (22.3 IP, 29 ER), a fantastic July (26.3 IP, 6 ER, 20K) and then a pretty bad rest of the season.

But when we see a good game from AJ Burnett, especially in spring training, it sure is nice to see. But lets not jump for joy yet. Lets see how he does in the regular season, and see if Burnett can put together some consistent starts. The Yankees rotation isn’t very deep, and the pressure is on. We’ll see how Burnett handles it.

Frank Maniscalco hosts. Guests on the show included author Robert Tuchman, and former Major League Baseball commissioner Fay Vincent.