Five Things That Scare the $#!% Out of Me

We're two days away from the baseball playoffs kicking off. We'll have a few preview for everybody up once we know who's going to be in. The White Sox and Twins are still battling it out for the AL Central crown, and we're waiting for that saga to play itself out. The following though, is a list of five things that scare the bejesus out of me going into the playoffs.

1. Manny being Manny
Call me crazy but would you be that shocked if Manny hit .550, knocked 4 home runs, and scored 15 rbis in a 5-game set? I just have that awful fear of this guy in my gut, that he's going to win Game 1 at Wrigley single-handedly and the Cubs' playoff push will be dead in the water before it even starts. I can't stress this enough, it is unbelievably important that the Cubs win Game 1 on Wednesday. Am I really worried about losing to the Dodgers? Not really, but I might be worried about beating ourselves against the Dodgers. The storyline for that team just seems too good, and I am sick about the possibilities of the coming week.

2. Z Gets Hurt
I could see Derek Lowe going out to Wrigley and throwing one of his playoff gems at the Cubbies, and Ryan Dempster losing a close one at home. If the Cubs go down 1-0 and then Z re-injures his arm during Game 2, things could get ugly. Chad Billingsley isn't that bad, he's actually pretty good. This Dodgers thing can get ugly quick.

3. The Potential Storyline
This Manny, Torre, LA storyline has too much potential. Not to mention the storyline of the Cubs collapsing once again. Can't you picture Game 4 in LA, with TBS treating us to a repeating montage of billy goats and Steve Bartman? I've seen this before haven't I? It just seems too perfect, and if you think I'm not concerned about being on the SI cover you're nuts.

4. Geovanny Soto's Hand
The pulse of this team, Talented Mr. Soto, may be the biggest piece to this team. The Cubs boast 5 guys who hit 20 home runs, Edmonds had 19, and depth on the bench at almost every position on the field. At catcher however, Soto offers so much more than almost any other catcher in baseball. When he is missing, Blanco doesn't quite stack up in the same way. When Soto is in the lineup, this lineup is devastating, when he goes down, the Cubs miss him. If he misses time in the playoffs, it may be panic time.

5. The Gates of Hell open up, and the Apocolypse begins
Yeah, I still think that's the most likely way for this to all end. I mean, I could really picture, Game 5 World Series at Wrigley, as Fukudome is about to make the last out the Four Horseman rip him apart at the torso. That would have to be the way this ends right? Even if it does, I like our chances with Lou v. The Horsemen, if there's one out between him and the trophy, I think he's going at it with those horsemen in a hard way.

Once the previews go up on the site, I'm going to start posting constantly. At this point it's all butterflies, but my goal is to be able to post frequently enough that I can go back and look at this thing day-by-day. That's also assuming it lasts more than 3 days, either way I look forward to posting where I'm at mentally, often.