The real Opening Day is tonight...not that crap no one saw in Japan last week while every other team was still in camp. Let's see your predictions for the season. Don't forget the extra wild card team. How exciting! National League East 1. Phillies - rotation carries them though early season offensive problems 2. Braves - Epic collapse last year but the talent is there 3. Marlins - Will push for 2nd and a wild card 4. Nationals - much better...probably over .500, just not quite good enough, yet. 5. Mets - Could be an epic, all-time bad season. Central 1. Reds - decent pitching, good offense, mediocre division 2. Cardinals - loss of Pujols and Carpenter until mid-season too much to overcome 3. Brewers - similar to Cards, cannot replace Fielder's impact. 4. Pirates - same old, same old 5. Astros - some improvement with the kids. If the rotation holds together, could finish above Pirates 6. Cubs - Epstein is starting over and has A LOT of work to do. West 1. Giants - Rotation and return of Posey huge in what will be a very close division 2. Rockies - getting better, despite having 98-year old Jamie Moyer as their #2 stater 3. D-Backs - won the division last season...any of the 3 could legitimately win. 4. Dodgers - still have holes to fill but at least the ownership issue is off their backs 5. Padres - young team with a ways to go NL Playoffs Wild Card Marlins vs. Braves NLDS Phillies vs. Marlins Reds vs. Giants NLCS Phillies vs. Giants American League East 1. Red Sox - Last year was an aberration. Out with something to prove. 2. Yankees - They're the Yankees and they'll be in the playoffs. 3. Blue Jays - 1st team from the NL East in years to make playoffs not named Yanks, Sox, or Rays 4. Rays - Will come down to last days with Blue Jays and Angles for last spot. 5. Orioles - still suck. Central 1. Tigers - should win this division as early as mid-August. Won't even be close. 2. White Sox - I'm not convinced John Danks is a #1. They'll miss Guillen. 3, 4, 5 - Twins, Royals, & Indians - all 3 are still in MLB but completely insignificant. Put them in any order you'd like. West 1. Texas - getting better and better. Could have first 100 win season. 2. LA Angels of Anaheim of Orange County, etc. - Pujols makes them better, still have to fight for last WC spot 3. Mariners - Young and improving team. Could push to finish above .500 4. A's - Good thing Billy Beane has ownership stake in team. Otherwise he'd be out of a job by now. AL Playoffs Wild Card round Yankees vs. Blue Jays ALDS Tigers vs Yankees Red Sox vs. Rangers ALCS Tigers vs. Red Sox World Series Tigers over Phillies - 4-3
National League East 1. Phillies - Manuel can manufacture enough runs to overcome any offensive deficiencies 2. Braves - Good young team with years of potential 3. Marlins - Will challenge the Braves all year for #2 spot in division 4. Nationals - Will be good but not great. Could win a division not named NL East 5. Mets - I expect Johan Santana to have a decent year Central 1. Cardinals - Surprise, surprise, new manager, new first baseman, no problem 2. Brewers - Have some good players but not enough 3. Reds - Pitching staff will take some hits in the banjo box of a stadium and injuries will plague them 4. Pirates - Good enough to finish ahead of the Astros and Cubs 5. Astros - There will be some suprises and some let downs. Chris Johnson to have a better year 6. Cubs - Cubs don't win! Cubs don't win! West 1. D-backs - Solid team, will win the division again 2. Giants - Great pitching but inefficient hitting 3. Rockies - Nice young stars but not enough pitching in Denver 4. Dodgers - Stars will be stars but rest of lineup will not be good enough supporting cast 5. Padres - Lots of speed but no pop. A city I wouldn't mind living in with a bad baseball team NL Playoffs Wild Card Marlins vs. Braves NLDS Phillies vs. Braves Cardinals vs. D-backs NLCS Phillies vs. Cardinals American League East 1. Red Sox - It is better to go through injuries at beginning of the year and then get hot at the right time 2. Yankees - Ton of hitting but not enough pitching to hand it over to Rivera 3. Rays - Enough pitching and enough hitting, but not enough to make the post season 4. Blue Jays - Will not be a surprise to anyone this year and pitching will not help them 5. Orioles -Big bats but pitchers will make other lineups look better Central 1. Tigers - Fewer and fewer weaknesses and a stronger bullpen this year 2. Indians - Good hitting and good pitching but just not there yet 3. Royals - Nice lineup, city more excited about hosting all-star game 4. White Sox - Old, and not enough pitching. AJ drinks beer while catching a game 5. Twins - Mauer returns but still not enough pop to make other teams afraid West 1. Texas - Solid team all over, should have won a WS by now. 2. Angels - A scary team, with a good future 3. A's - Better, ballpark will help pitching and Cespedes will enjoy the power alleys 4. Mariners - blah, blah, blah, King Felix, blah, blah AL Playoffs Wild Card round Yankees vs. Angels ALDS Tigers vs Angels Red Sox vs. Rangers ALCS Tigers vs. Rangers World Series Tigers over Cardinals - 4-3
NL Division Winners Phillies Reds Rockies NL Wild Cards Giants & Marlins NL Champ: Phillies AL Division Winners Yankees Tigers Angels AL Wild Cards Rangers & Red Sox AL Champ: Tigers World Series Champs: Phillies
Not sure why the Marlins got home field against the champs. They played like garbage too. Sellig did a terrible job picking this opening day game. Should've given the Cards a better opponent.
AL East Tampa Bay New York Toronto Boston Baltimore Central Detroit Kansas City Cleveland Minnesota Chicago West Texas Los Angeles Oakland Seattle NL East Philadelphia Miami Washington Atlanta New York Central Cincinnati St Louis Milwaukee Chicago Pittsburgh Houston West San Francisco Arizona Colorado San Diego Los Angeles I'll go ahead and pick Detroit over Texas Cincinnati over San Francisco Cincinnati over Detroit. Bloods everywhere rejoice.
actually it just pissed her off that i was too tired...and then snored because i was so congested. so tired of this damn cold. back to MLB, though.
Selig has done a fine job of nearly destroying Opening Day as a whole. All tradition has been stripped from it...from having the first games in Japan a week early, to the defending champions having to play on the road...and most importantly even though I'm not a fan of theirs...not having the first game be in Cincinnati. That last one is a sin against the game.
I heard a guy on sports radio last night talking about how good Selig has been for baseball. On some counts...in the really big picture...I can't deny it. The sport has grown tremendously. The revenues are at levels no one thought possible. New ballparks have been built all around the country. They've been absolutely all over the internet presence of the game in a way the other sports still haven't caught up with.... having said that... as an Astros fan, I can't stand the guy. The AL thing/delay with Crane obviously sticks out as just damn near unbelievable to me. It's hard to imagine a pro sports commish getting a pass for that from the national media. I hated the decision about the roof in the 05 World Series and the "home game" in Milwaukee. Too many times it feels like we've paid the freight for Milwaukee. But big picture...I think he's going to be remembered very well for his contributions to the game.
To add to this, last week a colleague asked me when the Astros opened. I actually had to look it up because I wasn't positive (My guess was correct but I had to reaffirm it nonetheless). I attribute that not to the fact the Astros will not be very good, but to the fact that there are 3-4 "opening days" and I had to remember which one the Astros were a part of. I believe the thinking was to stretch it out to make each opener somewhat more special, but what it did was make it feel like a convoluted mess. Now it just feels like game 1 of 162; not opening day.
National League East 1. Phillies - rotation carries them though early season offensive problems 2. Braves - Epic collapse last year but the talent is there, lots of it, will struggle early 3. Marlins - Don't have the pitching...... 4. Nationals - much better...probably over .500, just not quite good enough, yet. 5. Mets - Not as bad as people expect Central 1. Reds - decent pitching, good offense, mediocre division 2. Cardinals - will the veteran guys come through? 3. Brewers - similar to Cards, cannot replace Fielder's impact. Braun will struggle!!! 4. Pirates - same old, same old 5. Astros - hahahaha...I'm glad I'm not an Astros fan:grin: 6. Cubs - Epstein is starting over and has A LOT of work to do. West 1. Giants - They simply won't hit! Will pitching overcome this? I don't think so. 2. Rockies - getting better, despite having 98-year old Jamie Moyer as their #2 stater 3. D-Backs - any of the 3 could legitimately win...they might possibly suck. 4. Dodgers - still have holes to fill but at least the ownership issue is off their backs 5. Padres - young team with a ways to go....no pitching NL Playoffs Phillies...enough said. American League East 1. Red Sox - These guys will struggle.....book it. 2. Yankees - Will they ever get old?? I expect them to hit, but what about their pitching? 3. Blue Jays - Blue Jays will shock everyone, they are loaded with talent. Starting pitching a question mark?! 4. Rays - They will rule this division....way too much pitching. 5. Orioles - still suck. Central 1. Tigers - these guys will hit people into the ground. 2. White Sox - ... 3, 4, 5 - Twins, Royals, & Indians - The Royal will hit, but unknown pitching. The Twins will need M&M to come back to have any impact. West 1. Texas - Yu Darvish will be a beast, guaranteed, Blue Jays should have gotten him, Texas will be same as last year. 2. LA Angels of Anaheim of Orange County, etc. - The bats are getting old, but will still be good. 3. Mariners - Young and improving team. Could push to finish above .500 4. A's - Good thing Billy Beane has ownership stake in team. Otherwise he'd be out of a job by now. AL Playoffs Rays Rays vs Phillies in final: Phillies win. Sorry to the guy whose predictions I plagiarized from....
Yanks over Brew Crew in the WS. Other playoff entrants: Tigers Rays Rangers Angels Phils DBacks Bravos Cards or Reds
