http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blo...buster#20061010
I think Olney picked the A's to win the WS during spring training, BTW.

The 10 biggest matchups of the American League Championship Series:

1. Detroit hitters vs. Patience
Two scouts who watched the notoriously free-swinging Tigers in their
series against the Yankees were surprised by their plate discipline, by
their ability to work through their at-bats.

Curtis Granderson piled up 174 strikeouts during the regular season but
struck out only once during the Division Series, battling Mike Mussina
in a two-strike count before whacking a big triple. Craig Monroe had
126 strikeouts and Marcus Thames had 92 whiffs in 348 at-bats, and
while they did have some strikeouts against the Yankees, they refrained
from chasing every bad pitch, said one scout.

"If they can do that against Oakland -- especially against Barry Zito,
who needs hitters to chase against him -- then they will be a much more
dangerous offense," said one scout. "Thames and Monroe have to swing at
pitches in the strike zone. That, to me, is the key to the series."

2. Joel Zumaya vs. Frank Thomas
The Tigers' right-handed reliever has been clocked at 103 mph, and a
scout who has seen the right-handed hitting Thomas play repeatedly this
year says the 38-year-old Oakland slugger can hit an inside fastball
thrown at that velocity -- if he guesses right, if he anticipates the
fastball and starts his swing a little early. "I think some teams are
using an outdated scouting report on him -- they just pitch him inside
all the time," said the scout. "They're busting him inside, but he
cheats a lot" -- that's baseball parlance for anticipating -- "and he
can get to that fastball. You've got to watch his feet; his feet will
give away what he's thinking. That's the responsibility of the catcher;
the catcher has to see that."

3. Jamie Walker vs. Eric Chavez
The Tigers' left-handed relief specialist is an underrated part of the
Detroit staff, holding left-handers to a .238 average and a .265
on-base percentage, and it figures he will be used against Chavez,
probably the most dangerous lefty in the Oakland lineup. Chavez has had
success against Walker in the past: three hits in 10 at-bats, with one
home run.

4. Rich Harden vs. Rust
Harden returned from the disabled list and started three games at the
end of the regular season, struggling in his last outing. He didn't get
to pitch in the Division Series, which means that Harden has pitched in
major league games only three times since April 26. On Monday, Susan
Slusser writes, Harden had a shaky instructional league outing. So when
Harden does start, he'll be a complete wild card -- he could be
dominant or he could be awful.

5. Marco Scutaro vs. Curveballs and Sliders
The Oakland shortstop went 4-for-12 with six RBI against the Twins,
earning those incredible chants from the Athletics' fans: MAR-CO
SCUT-ARO. Scutaro is swinging well, and he's known as a guy who can
murder high fastballs. You can assume that the Tigers will try to
attack him with a whole lot of breaking stuff in this series.

6. Milton Bradley vs. Postseason Vortex
Bradley had a minor coffee-spilling situation involving Esteban Loaiza,
and Loaiza handled it the way the Oakland players have handled
Bradley's quirks all year -- by ignoring it, in effect. After one
victory in Kansas City this year, Bradley waited at his position until
his teammates had finished shaking hands; the Oakland players didn't
make an issue out of it.

But there is one very big difference now: Hundreds of reporters will
attend these games, and if Bradley has a Milton Bradley moment, it will
get a lot of attention, and we'll see how Bradley handles that.

7. Justin Verlander vs. His Command
Verlander throws almost as hard as Zumaya, but the reason why he was so
good in Game 2 against the Yankees was his control over his breaking
ball and changeup. If he has the same stuff against Oakland in this
series, he could be a difference maker, pitching in Games 2 and 6.

8. D'Angelo Jimenez vs. Ground balls
All summer, Mark Ellis made plays, turned double plays and was a
crucial piece of Oakland's defense. But he broke a finger playing the
Twins. He's out, and Jimenez replaces him in the lineup. While Jimenez
is a decent offensive player who works the count and draws some walks,
he is defensively challenged, with much less capability than Ellis.
We'll see if that turns out to be a big factor in this series.

9. Eric Chavez and Brandon Inge vs. Ground balls
This is a total mismatch, actually. Chavez and Inge are both tremendous
defensively, and this could be one of the greatest postseason displays
in third-base glove work since Brooks Robinson in the 1970 World
Series.

10. Kenny Rogers vs. Oakland's home park
If this series goes to seven games, the Tigers' lefty will pitch in
McAfee Coliseum. He dominates when pitching in Oakland and always has;
from 2003 to 2005, his record in Oakland was 6-1 with a 3.66 ERA. "He
believes he can win there," said a scout. Rogers could be very, very
tough to beat in a Game 7.

Then again, the conventional wisdom going into last week was that he
couldn't possibly beat the Yankees in the playoffs. So much for that.