The final 4. I know it’s not March yet, but this final 4 should excite baseball fans everywhere. You have The 2003 Marlins, 2005 Chicago White Sox, 2009 New York Yankees, and 2003 Braves all battling to see who deserves being named the best team in the decade. Let’s take a quick look to see who moves on, and who goes home.

Check out Rounds 1 and Round 2.

Bracket A Finals- 2003 Florida Marlins vs 2005 Chicago White Sox

Both of these teams might have been a little surprised to find themselves in the final 4, but I’ll tell you what. I feel confident that each of these teams could hang with the best of the best from any decade. They all proved to have what it takes to reach the promise lands and both teams were talented beyond talented. The thing I liked most about this series was the pitching. Both teams have a solid starting 4 that matches up in every way. If these 2 teams were able to play each other a few years ago, I have a feeling it would have been a low scoring pitching and defensive series.  I know most fans absolutely love slugfests, but come October, I’d much rather watch a 1-0 game where the pitchers dominated. Buerhle vs Beckett at the Cell. Pavano vs Garcia at the Cell. Penny vs Jose in Miami. The Dtrain vs Garland in Miami. Seriously- what a sweet series that would be. Pudge vs AJ. Pierre and Luis Castillo vs Scotty Pods. Speed vs Speed. Pauly vs Lowell. Power vs Power. How do I even pick a winner?

Brett’s Selection- I must absolutely love that 2003 Marlins team because that’s who I’m going with here. I think Josh Beckett is that ace the Sox were lacking in that October. Not taking anything away from the Sox pitching staff, but Josh Beckett was a different animal that postseason, and I think the Sox wouldn’t have been able to beat him. One pitcher can make the difference in a series and Josh Beckett was that difference maker against a team just as equal as the 2003 Marlins. Unfortunately for the 2005 Sox, the train stops in the semi’s, but what a postseason they had. Congrats to them for being in the top 5.

Bracket B Finals- 2003 Atlanta Braves vs 2009 New York Yankees

The Atlanta Braves in 2003 didn’t win the world series. But would they have if they played a 7 game series against the Cubs? I don’t know but that matchup between them and the Marlins would have been something for the ages. I love and will continue to love that Braves team. They were absolutely an all star team that didn’t live up to expectations. That happens. I don’t want to give them to much credit because they did lose in the playoffs, but that team’s numbers speak for themselves. Their offense against the 2009 Yankees offense? Whew. Lopez, Jones, Jones, and Sheffield vs Arod, Jeter, Teixiera, Matsuit? Maddux,Hampton (in his prime), Ortiz vs CC, Pettitte, Burnett? Goodness. Not an easy one to pick, but I think with the Yanks having home field- they have to have the advantage. CC was so darn good this postseason against the Phillies offense, I think he would have been equally good against the Braves offense.

Brett’s Selection- I’m not going against the Yankees. As good as the Braves were, I think the Yankees would have handled them. Arod had a monster postseason and Derek Jeter definitely led them. CC was outstanding, and Burnett could have shut down the 2003 offense that was mostly right handed. It’s hard to take Russ Ortiz over Andy Pettitte, but I would have loved to watch CC go up against Maddux. Unfortunately, what it comes down to is- the Yanks took down a pretty good team this year in the Phillies, very similar to that Braves team in 2003- so therefore- The Yankees are going to move on to the finals to face the 2003 Florida Marlins.

Coming next- for the championship, I’m going to do a mock game by game breakdown and we’ll find out- whose earned the title of “Team of the Decade” according to Bringingheat.com!