Yes, Matt is World Serious.

OK, so these World Series predictions are very late. But Matt had a good reason for being late. (More about that later.) You'll just have to take Matt at this word that he made these predictions before the Series started, not three games in.
So Matt picked the Phillies to win game one, followed by two Yankees victories...
Just kidding. Matt picked the Phillies in four. Which sounds bad because 1) it's clearly wrong, even at this point and 2) it sounds like Yankee hating. That second one isn't true. It's not Yankee hating, it's just faulty logic and bad hunches.
That being said, here's a recap of how we got here:
Matt picked one of the four first-round division championship matchups correct. Hooray!
Then, in the League Championship Series, Matt picked the Angels in seven and the Phillies in four. That's a .500 batting average. That would be an all-time record! Success! Or something like that.
And now the Yankees and Phillies are matched up. This is going to be a classic series. The Series is filled with great players amid two storied franchises. There are several positions where you could spend all month debating which player you'd rather have (Utley or Cano, Jeter or Rollins, Teixeira or Howard, Sabathia or Lee, Posada or Ruiz?). The starting staffs are excellent and both managers have different styles and strategies. It should be great, great baseball.
So Matt picks the Phillies in four. Why?
Well, Matt is picking the Phillies because he believes the team is just too deep. One through eight, the lineup never lets up. And the pitching has been dynamite - even the relievers.
Either way, Matt believes the key players in the Series are Cole Hamels and Alex Roidriguez. If Hamels can pitch like last year (he hasn't shown he can) then the Phillies will win, easily. If A-Rod continues to tear up pitchers (as he has in the first two rounds), the Yankees may be unstoppable.
So why Phils in Phour? This is all about bad instincts and nothing to do with good baseball logic. Matt has had A LOT of time to sit and watch baseball as he feeds Mark, burps Mark and tries to get Mark to go to sleep. In each round, there has been lots of bad serieses (seri?) but almost all great, close games.
So why not predict the trend will continue, even though - logically speaking - those past serieseseses are not a predictor for future results.
So Matt believes - for no solid reason - there will be four great games and the Phillies will have a little more in each one.
Which is clearly wrong.

The Streak continues!!

Matt's unbelievable baseball prediction streak continues!

In the first round of the playoffs, Matt went out on a limb and predicted that the White Sox, Angels, Cubs and Brewers would roll through. And they did!

It was amazing, wasn't it? Remember when Ted Lilly threw the Game 3 no-hitter to clinch it for the Cubs; when K-Rod decked Big Papi; when Paul Konerko went deep three times in Game 5; and when the Brewers went down two games to none and looked like they were done but C.C. Sabathia pitched back-to-back-to-back games and still they were down 1-0 in the ninth inning of Game 5 and it looked like all hope was lost - 2 outs and 2 strikes - but then Brad Lidge hit six batters in a row to lose the series? Remember that? Wow. And Matt predicted every bit of it.

Then, last week, Matt went out on a longer, different, even less sturdy limb and took the Cubs and the White Sox to make the World Series. No one believed it would actually happen. But, here we are, in Baseball City, U.S.A., watching the unthinkable, viewing the unbelievable: a Windy City Series.

Wait?

Huh?
Do I hear some scoffs? Guffaws? Harumphs?

OK, so Matt has missed on every single one of his playoff predictions. That's fairly difficult do, seemingly. The Red Sox made a run at it - nearly pulled off the amazing comeback - only to completely disappoint Matt. (And it need not be mentioned on these same American Internet waves, Matt predicted the Mets would make the playoffs.)

All. Righty. Then. There's just one series left: Rays and Phillies. Already, people are publicly speculating that the ratings will be down for this series. Matt will ask the obvious question: who in the world - besides TV execs - cares what the ratings are? Will they stop broadcasting the Series if the ratings fall off this year? Ha.

Everything is telling Matt the Rays will win the Series. They're on a roll. They play great defense, have outstanding starting and relief pitching, and timely hitting. There's a bit of that destiny thing rolling in their direction. So that means the pick has to be, there's really no other choice, it simply cannot be anyone else besides...the Phillies. (Hence the fuzzy picture of Ryan Howard above.) Get your Rays Championship merchandise now.

OK, well, you're owed some real posts after all this baseball magic. So, why don't we give you a little Illini football and finally get you out of darkest Peru?

Coming soon!

Perfect in the playoffs!

Well, Matt has done it. A perfect 4-for-4 in the playoffs. What's that you say? Matt got all his playoff predictions wrong? Hark! I dare say it may have seemed that Matt swung and missed on every single one of his playoff predictions. But if you look closely, the exact opposite is actually true.

Let's take a closer look:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Angels

Matt's prediction: Angels in 3 games
Comment: The Red Sox are good. The Angels are really, really good.

Result: Red Sox win the series in four games.

See? Matt said the Red Sox were good. He was right on!

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Chicago White Sox

Matt's prediction: White Sox in 5
Comment: Experience and good starting pitching edges out the team of the future.

Result: Rays won in four games.

See? Matt clearly mentioned that starting pitching's the key. "For the Rays" was implied. Booya!

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs

Matt's prediction: Cubs in 3
Comment: Cubs aren't as good as everyone thinks. But they're a lot better than the Dodgers.

Result: Dodgers in 3.

See? This one's easy. Matt clearly said the Cubs aren't as good as everyone thinks. They're not even as good as Matt thinks! And, by the way, Matt nailed it: three games. Money.

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Brewers in 5
Comment: With Sabathia pitching two games, the Brewers squeak by.

Result: Phillies in four

See? Matt never put the word "prediction" in there. So, if he had been allowed to finish ... Matt would have said Brewers in 5...years, will win the World Series. Stay tuned...

OK, after all that success, how can Matt avoid throwing out some predictions for the championship serieses?

Red Sox vs. Rays

Matt's "prediction": Red Sox in 7 games

Comment: Red Sox experience edges out the Rays. Matt will send his formal apology, by fax, to each and every Sox fan.

Dodgers vs. Phillies

Matt's "prediction": Dodgers in four games

Comment: Phillies have the hitting, but not the pitching. Inexplicably, the Dodgers will be in the World Series.

That's right! Matt's predicting an all-Manny series! (So start getting tickets, Phillies and Rays fans!)