The search for a Series title: Predicting the MLB postseason

Los Angeles Dodgers With over $230 million spent this year in payroll, the Los Angeles Dodgers are all in.

This roster has been stacked from the get-go with one of the top pitching staffs in baseball featuring Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Hyun-jin Ryu. In the postseason, pitching wins championships.

The Dodgers have proven throughout the year that their pitching is legitimate, building a 3.40 earned run average as a team with the fifth highest relative power index in the game. In layman’s terms, they pitched very well against some of the best hitters in baseball.

Their batting and fielding are also solid. Outfielder Yasiel Puig has a cannon for an arm in right field and can hit inside fastballs a mile if he’s given the chance. First baseman Adrian Gonzalez and centerfielder Matt Kemp add to the lineup with strong defensive play and clutch hitting to combine well with Puig’s power.

The Dodgers’ biggest competition for a ring this year will be whomever they meet in the World Series. Just a freeway ride away, crosstown rivals the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are hungry, young and relentless. Their bats will be strong, but the Dodgers’ pitching will be better.

The Dodgers’ time is now. With a huge payroll and a remarkable pitching staff, the Dodgers will easily defeat the Angels in six games.

Washington Nationals

Every team in the postseason has top-caliber pitching and a solid lineup. Not every team, however, possesses the top-to-bottom quality that the Washington Nationals have.

First, they have the best starting rotation in baseball. Although Los Angeles Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher in the league, the rest of the Dodgers’ rotation fails to match Washington’s depth. The Nats’ front four starters all have earned run averages of 3.14 or lower. On top of that, no pitcher has more than 11 losses.

Washington’s lineup is also undeniably stacked. Third baseman Anthony Rendon and outfielders Jayson Werth and Denard Span all have batting averages above .287. They also have three players with over 20 home runs.

One overlooked factor that could push the Nationals to the top is their fan base. Like the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Washington Nationals have not been the most successful franchise in baseball. The city itself is hungry for a title. The last time a Washington, D.C. team won a championship was in 1991, when the Washington Redskins beat the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVI.

The Nationals don’t have the flashiest player in baseball or the most dominant pitcher––what they do have is the best depth in the league. That will be the determining factor come World Series time.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim will win the 2014 World Series. The Angels have one of the best lineups in baseball. Major players such as superstar outfielder Mike Trout, first baseman Albert Pujols and shortstop Erick Aybar are leading the charge as the Angels look to take the trophy.

The team also has solid pitching with Jairo Diaz, Kevin Jepsen and Cory Rasmus—all of whom have pitched the ball very effectively against all teams this season.

The Angels should be the biggest competition to any team. While the Kansas City Royals have a good defense, the Angels have Trout who has the potential to be the next great legend of baseball. Trout’s line included a batting average of .287 with 36 home runs and 111 runs batted in this past season.

The Angels are no strangers to the postseason; plenty of players on their roster have postseason experience. Their team batting average is .259—good enough for sixth in the league. Their opponents’ batting average is just .236—fourth in the league.

The key for the Angels to win the World Series will be to play defensive baseball. They need to have their pitchers throw strikes. They need to have their fielders limit errors and convert plays. Doing so will set them up to hit the ball effectively. Come the end of October, it’ll be time to bring out the Rally Monkey once again.

Writers Billy Burns and Taylor Frank contributed to this article.

Sports on the silver screen

Victor Wang - The Rookie  The age of 35 usually heralds thoughts of mid-life crises, aching bones and baldness. That, however, never stopped Jim Morris, who squeezed his way into professional baseball late in life when most professional athletes would consider retiring. His underdog story is the basis for 2002 sports film The Rookie, starring Dennis Quaid.

The Rookie is easily my favorite baseball movie for two reasons: It’s a great dark horse contender movie, and it is based on a true story. First off, who doesn’t like rooting for an underdog? From Frodo to the Looney Tunes in Space Jam, it’s hard not to cheer for these lovable, inspirational characters. When Morris steps up to the plate to strike Royce Clayton out to end the inning, there is no other reaction but to cheer.

Knowing that someone out in the world accomplished his dream against all odds encourages us to move forward and work hard for what we love.

Nick Preller - Major League

Major League is, hands down the funniest sports movie of all time.  It centers around the lowly Cleveland Indians who are now being run by a former Las Vegas showgirl. She wants to move the team to Miami, so she instructs management to get the worst players so team does horribly and fans stop coming, thus giving her a reason to move the team.

Enter Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn, played by Charlie Sheen, fresh out of prison and throwing absolute fire along with speedster Willy Mays Hayes played by Wesley Snipes and voodoo worshiping Pedro Cerrano played by Dennis Haysbert, turn the franchise around.

While it might not be the most accurate depiction of what the major league is really like, the movie is still a classic and a must see for any sports fan with a sense of humor. Watch it solely for the fact that Sheen wears hipster glasses for the majority of the film. Don't ever watch the sequels.

Taylor Frank  - Rookie of the Year

Rookie of the Year is the story of a boy, Henry Rowengartner, who falls on his arm and becomes an incredible pitcher who is signed by the Chicago Cubs.

Personally, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the Cubs. They have been so bad for so long, their attendance is abysmal (as it is in the movie), and there is seemingly no hope. When Rowengartner arrives, he faces challenges of acceptance from his teammates, especially his favorite player, Chet Steadman (Gary Busey).

The main reason I like this movie is that it is an underdog story from every angle. Rowengartner is a kid who it an average baseball player, yet luck befalls him and he makes an MLB team. He leads the Cubs, a bottom dwelling team, to prominence. Even Steadman is able to learn something from Rowengartner and better himself.

Lastly, Rowengartner is the quintessential American hero. He struggles at first, but he is able to achieve his dream and his father's dream of playing in the Major Leagues. This is one of the great stories in American baseball cinema without a doubt.

Mike Eisinger - The Sandlot

A good baseball movie does not just show us baseball; it shows us life. It shows us certain truths about both the American pastime and American culture in general. With this in mind, there is no question that the best baseball movie is the 1993 classic The Sandlot.

You cannot convince me that the plot of The Sandlot is not ripped straight from the dreams of any American 12-year-old. What kid do you know would turn down the opportunity to spend every minute of their summer vacation with their best friends planning high jinks, getting into trouble and doing something that they all love?

Smalls, Scotty, Squints, Ham, Benny the Jet and the rest of the ragtag team have the time of their lives playing baseball and learning life lessons together, making for a fun-filled, nostalgic trip for the audience. Who could forget Squints making out with Wendy Peffercorn? Or the epic plans that the boys conceive to get their baseball back from the Beast and the ensuing chase?

Even if your childhood summers weren’t as action-packed as The Sandlot, the movie will make you think back to those pivotal moments that you shared with your friends growing up. That’s what makes this movie great; there’s not only some great baseball action but also some key lessons learned about teamwork, determination and, most of all, friendship.

Joe Leathersich - Moneyball

Determining what the best baseball movie really doesn’t require much debate. The clear cut answer is Moneyball, featuring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. Pitt plays the part of Billy Beane, the unorthodox general manager of the Oakland Athletics, while Hill plays Beane’s sidekick as they both try to revolutionize the sport of baseball.

What Beane did – and this movie is based on a true story – was look for athletes to replace the star athletes he lost in Johnny Damon and Jason Giambi. Instead of looking for players with comparable statistics to Damon or Giambi, he tried to replace them with lesser known, less expensive athletes that could get on base because base runners equals runs.

Everyone who claimed to know baseball could not believe what he was trying to do. It went against everything scouts throughout the league were trying to do, but the numbers never lie.

The team set the American League record of 20 consecutive wins and finished first in American League West with a record of 103-59. They also did this with the third-lowest payroll in the season.

There are other baseball movies that are good, but Moneyball is the best. Plus, you can never go wrong with Pitt.