I had Mike & Mike on briefly this morning, and I heard Mike Greenberg reiterate something I’ve heard a lot this season: Back to the Future Part II predicted the Cubs would win the World Series. Not to get my baseball and movie nerd on, but the movie made no such prediction. 

In Part II, Marty McFly, Doc, and Jennifer travel 30 years into the future to save their future children. Yes, we do see that the Cubs win the World Series. Here is what else we learn the Cubs won the World Series by beating Florida on October 21, 2015. 

Now, next to nothing from Back to the Future Part II has come true. I don’t have a hover car. I lace my sneakers everyday. My clothes don’t dry themselves. The American League team in Florida didn’t make the playoffs. The World Series doesn’t begin until October 27th. So other than that, yeah, let’s rely on the predictions made in a 1989 movie. 

Also, keep in mind that the Cubs winning the World Series was part of the second timeline. The first timeline was before Marty went to 1955. Everything after that was altered when George decked Biff. It was then that we found out that Marty McFly’s Johhny B. Goode was ripped off by Chuck Berry with the help of his cousin Marvin. 

Anyway, a new timeline is created when Biff steals the DeLorean with the Sports Almanac and goes back to 1955. For argument’s sake, let’s say the timeline reverted to the prior 2015 timeline when the Cubs first win the World Series. It doesn’t matter because this timeline was going to be erased anyway. 

The timeline was first erased when Marty goes back to 1885 to save Doc from being murdered by Biff’s ancestors (yet another timeline). In any event, Marty saves Doc (new timeline) and Doc saves Clara Clayton, who was supposed to die, marries her, and has children (new timeline). Also, important is that Marty’s ancestor, Seamus McFly, teaches Marty restraint. 

This creates our current timeline because back in 1985, Marty doesn’t have the drag race, which ruins his future.  Since the DeLorean was destroyed, we don’t know what the future holds anymore. We can’t predict anything with certainty. There’s no clear cut road to the World Series. I mean c’mon. “Roads?  Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”

That means the 2015 World Series is not the Cubs “density.” What does this all mean?  Let’s let Doc sum it up:

It means your future hasn’t been written yet. No one’s has. Your future is whatever you make of it. So make it a good one, both of you. 

The Mets have the pieces to make this a World Series run. No one can tell me right now they know the Mets won’t win the World Series. So, let’s all jump on and enjoy the ride. The only thing I know for sure is “if my calculations are correct, once this [playoff run gets going], you’re going to see some serious shit!”

Typically, teams will trot out former players and stars to throw out the first pitch. Since it’s a series against the Mets, the Dodgers will look to bring out 1988 heroes Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson. That’s boring. We should find people Mets and Dodgers fans can bond over, and I don’t mean Paul Lo Duca. 

Before the Subway Series, a friend of mine, who is a Yankee fan, and I decided to look for the seven athletes most hated by New Yorkers. I don’t remember the full list, but I do know it included Reggie Miller. With that said, here’s my five choices:

Game 1: Cole Hamels (2008 NLCS MVP)

Game 2: Ryan Howard (2009 NLCS MVP)

Game 3: Mike D’Antoni

Game 4: Reggie Jackson

Game 5: Tim Duncan

If you have anyone better, I’ll be happy to update this and give you credit. 

The Dodgers pitching staff features the big two of Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. They’re the two biggest obstacles to the NLCS. However, as you know and see below, they’ve had uneven performances in the postseason. Here’s how they’ve fared along with the rest of the Dodgers pitching staff:

Clayton Kershaw (8 starts, 3 relief appearances) 1-5, 5.12 ERA, 1.235 WHIP in 51.0 innings

Zack Greinke (7 starts) 2-2, 3.63 ERA, 1.052 WHIP in 44.2 innings

Brett Anderson (1 start, 1 relief appearance) 1-0, 1.42 ERA, 0.947 ERA in 6.1 innings

Luis Avilan (4 appearances) 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.500 WHIP in 2.2 innings
Joel Peralta (6 appearances) 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.235 WHIP in 5.2 innings
Jim Johnson (5 appearances) 0-1, 2 saves, 8.44 ERA, 1.688 WHIP in 5.1 innings
Kenley Jansen (7 appearances) 0-0, 3 saves, 3.38 ERA, 1.313 WHIP in 5.1 innings
J.P. Howell (23 appearances) 0-3, 3.26 ERA, 1.397 WHIP in 19.1 innings
Pedro Baez (2 appearances) 0-0, 7.71 ERA, 0.857 WHIP in 2.1 innings
I know Kershaw has not had a great postseason history, but sooner or later, he’s going to figure it out. The Dodgers may ride him and Greinke four out of five games. If that’s the case, the Mets need to work the count and up the pitch counts, they can hit the Dodgers terrible bullpen. 

This is the Mets best chance of beating the Dodgers. 

Unlike the Mets, the Dodgers have a wealth (pun intended) of postseason experience. Here’s how they fared:

Adrian Gonzalez (18 games) .294/.360/.500 with four homeruns and 10 RBIs

Howie Kendrick (16 games) .186/.197/.288 with one homerun and two RBIs

Jimmy Rollins (46 games) .250/.314/.372 with three homeruns and 15 RBIs

Carl Crawford (35 games) .275/.309/.472 with seven homeruns and 16 RBIs

Yasiel Puig (14 games) .314/.364/.412 with zero homeruns and five RBIs

Andre Ethier (30 games) .231/.333/.407 with three homeruns and six RBIs

Scott Van Slyke (3 games) .000/.000/.000

A.J. Ellis (14 games) .386/.481/.682 with two homeruns and five RBIs

Chase Utley (46 games) .262/.402/.500 with 10 homeruns and 25 RBIs

Justin Turner (2 games) .000/.000/.000

Alberto Callaspo (7 games) .222/.222/.333 with no homeruns and one RBI
Chris Heisey (6 games) .000/.000/.000

From this we learn what we already knew, Gonzalez and Puig (if healthy) are the Mets biggest problems. Shutting them down will the key to winning the NLDS.

With that said, I’m confident in the Mets pitching staff. It’s why I think the Mets will win this series.