Play Ball! (real) Opening Day is upon us

Not a pre-dawn kickoff in Japan or a made-for-ESPN prime time tilt but real live Opening Day

Good thing baseball is such a tradition-obsessed sport, huh? Not only have we already had two opening days, but one was at night and the other was in a foreign country 7,000 miles away from American soil.

Ah, Bad Hair Bud, what are we ever gonna do without you when you finally get busted with an underage male prostitute?

Following those two faux starts the 2008 baseball season officially gets underway with 14 contests on tap today. The former traditional Opening Day opening act, the Cincinnati Reds, will play but not the first game of the day, much to the chagrin of my Queen City relations, and the Red Sox and As, who played the first two games of the season in Japan last week, don't resume Part II of their 4-game series until tomorrow night in Oakland.

Another scheduling "quirk" finds the Braves and Nats, the clubs that played in last night's ESPN opener, both in action today but not against each other.

Idiotic scheduling aside, the beginning of the baseball season ias always a cause for celebration, especially when you don't have to get up at 5:00 am to do so, and like every other year this season will bring many questions that fans want answered and bloggers are obligated to try and answer for them, such as:

• will the Red Sox repeat?


• will the Rays finally reach .500 now that they've exorcised the Devil?


• will Barry Bonds remain an unemployed pariah all season?


• can the Tigers score 1000 runs with their modern day version of Murderer's Row?


• how long before the Brewers regret giving Eric Gagme $10 million bucks (over/under is about 3 games)?
  

So without further adieu I'm going to dip my toe into the prediction pool. As with all my other picks, these are 100% guaranteed to come true...3-4 years from now.

AMERICAN LEAGUE:

AL EAST: Red Sox- they may not have made many changes from last year, but when you're the best team in baseball, why should you? Plus they learned about tinkering with the team following the championship in '04. If veteran starters hold up and kids Buchholz & Lester can step in, they should have enough firepower to repeat as division champs for the first time in the modern era.

AL CENTRAL: Tigers- I realize the Tigers are this year's chic pick to go all the way, and normally I don't like to jump on the bandwagon of the media darling du jour, but lat year I stayed away from the Indians and picked the White Sox, and look where that got me. Too much offense and enough quality pitching not to take the Central this year

AL WEST: Angels- see above, but substitute Rangers for White Sox. I realize their two aces are hurt right now, but Oakland is rebuilding, Seattle isn't ready yet, and Texas is, well, Texas. It's LA of A's divison for the taking

AL WILD CARD: Indians- like the Bosox the Tribe didn't make many changes this offseason. But also like the Sox, when you win 96 games, why mess with success?

BIGGEST SURPRISE: Rays- another fashionable pick to finally break through, but there is definitely a different attitude down here in the Bay area, and like I tell my Little Leaguer son, you can't do well without confidence, and this young team is a confident bunch. Could finish 3rd in the East because...

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Blue Jays- a rash of preseason injuries (Rolen, Ryan, Stairs) is a precursor of what's to come for the star-crossed Jays. As always they will have the talent to make the postseason and the salaries to make the talent happy, but the injury bug will keep this team from finishing above the Rays this year

MVP: Manny Ramirez, Bos- two words sums up why the mercurial ManRam will win his 1st regular season MVP award: Contract. Year.

CY YOUNG: Josh Beckett, Bos- he was robbed of the award last season, which should be all the motivation he will need to lay waste to the rest of the league again. IF his back injury flares up again however, look for transplanted Oriole Eric Bedard to notch his first Cy in Seattle

ROY: Evan Longoria, Rays- he didn't even make the roster to start the season, but that was purely a (typical D-Rays) business decision; when the 22-year-old third baseman is called up, he will dazzle voters with his sweet stroke and slick fielding

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

NL EAST: Mets- the team added the perfect cure for what ailed them last season: a multiple Cy Young winner whose shoulder isn't falling off. Johan Santana will help the Metropolitan fans forget last season's epic collapse and the disastrous signing of Petey Martinez as he plows through NL lineups like The Bride with a long blade.

NL CENTRAL: Cubs- every year I pick em to break the curse. One of these years it will finally happen. But with a nice blend of speed, power and pitching this could finally the the year. Right? Okay, stop laughing.

NL WEST: Dodgers- they may not have the offense of Colorado or the arms of San Diego, but they've got one thing those other teams don't have: a Hall of Fame manager with 5 championship rings. Somehow Joe Torre, freed from the shackles of the Bronx hellhole, will find a way to get this team to the postseason

NL WILD CARD: Padres- still not a great offense, although the additions of Tony Clark and Jim Edmonds will help, but when you've got a couple of guys on the staff with a combined 5 Cy Youngs plus a deep bullpen, it's tough to pick against 'em

BIGGEST SURPRISE: Nats- I'm not saying they're gonna win a playoff game or anything, but combine a young & talented club that doesn't know it should suck with the thrill of a new ballpark and all the signs are there for Washington to be the next crappy team to turn things around in a hurry

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Phillies- got all the makings of "one year wonder" written all over them. Biggest question is who will implode first, Brad Lidge or Brett Myers?

MVP: Jose Reyes, Mets- I picked him to win it last year and he was in contention until a late-season swoon brought him back to earth. This year he is poised to do what Jimmy Rollins did for Philly in '07: be an MVP sparkplug for a playoff team from the leadoff position

CY YOUNG: Johan Santana- the rumor is he's on the downside and that's why the Twins let him walk. I say give him a chance to face the pitcher three times a game in the DH-free NL and he'll add Cy #3 to his mantle place

ROY: Kosuke Fukodome, Cubs- another rookie who's not really a rookie thanks to his many years in the Japanese League, Fuko will be the '08 equivalent of Ichiro and Iwamura- an MLB-ready rookie without the actual service time

ALDS: BOS vs. CLE, DET vs. LAA
ALCS: BOS vs. DET

NLDS: NYM vs. SD, CHI vs. LAD
NLCS: NYM vs. CHI

WORLD SERIES: Red Sox over Cubs in 7 games

One of these years it's gonna happen!

Check back in July for my excuse-riddled post as to why these predictions are so far off course.

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MLB Opening Day: Notes, Quotes, Heroes & Zeroes

It's funny how Major League Baseball hypes opening day like it is the gateway to a seasonful of great plays, terrific games and memorable feats, a day to rejoice in the return of America's pastime and revel in the glory that is baseball.

Then the next day everyone gets the day off.

Well, not every team was off today. 18 teams are in action, including suckers like the Mets and Cards, who actually had to start the season a day early to accommodate those egotistical goons at ESPN; they both had their off day yesterday, on opening day when everyone else played, except the Giants and Padres, who open their seasons today.

What did I just write? WTF ever happened to just plain old opening day, when there were no huge TV contracts and every friggin' team played on the same day, hence the phrase "opening day"? Is that so hard?

Anyway, since today was the anti-opening day I decided to take a sojourn to Clearwater beach in order to get my head straight after a few long weeks dealing with kid-related issues such as field trips, spring break, broken bones, doctor visits, asthma attacks, birthday parties and sleepovers. Throw in a wedding and another Gator championship and I think I was literally coming down with a case of actual March madness.

Nothing like a bike ride in paradise to clear one's head. Now I am lucent enough to go through my notes from Opening day 2007 and go over some of the things I though were worth mentioning.

NEWS & NOTES:

-Take the D-Rays loss to the Stankees, multiply it by 100 and you've got Tampa Bay's season
Let's get one thing straight: everybody knows Tampa Bay has assembled one of the greatest collection of young position players ever, but for all that potential pop and speed in the lineup they Rays still have one of the worst collection of arms this side of Sweden.

The entirety of the Rays season was on display yesterday in the 9-5 loss in the Bronx: they got a lead, 5-3 after a 4-run fifth, and got another shaky-but-decent start from ace Scott Kazmir (5IP, 6H, 5ER, 4BB, 5K). There was also speed on the base paths (Upton, Crawford & Baldelli all had steals) and pop at the plate (rookie Elijah Dukes slugged a homer for his first ML hit and 7 Rays had hits.)

But when Kazmir gave way to the wasteland known as the Rays pen, all hope for a big opening win in the Bronx was lost. Four relievers combined to allow 5 runs and turned a potential D-rays win into a surefire loss. By the time E-Rod homered off Juan Gone Salas in the eigth, the blueprint for another Tampa Bay season had been mapped out for all the world to see.

-The White Sox, my pick to win the AL Central, got their asses handed to them, losing 12-5 at home to Cleveland, which is the chic pick to win the division (what else is new?) Jose Contreras, who went from can't lose (9-0 start) to can't win (4-9 finish) in 2006, got shellacked for 8 runs and 7 hits in an inning+ of work as Cleveland's 13-hit attack was paced by old friend Trot Nixon, who had 3 hits and 3 runs scored in his first appearance in a uniform that doesn't say Boston on it. His veteran leadership, work ethic and playoff experience is really going to be a plus for those young Indian hitters like Sizemore, Hafner, Blake and Martinez.

Countdown to Ozzie's first meltdown? Two more losses.

-There's a new phenom pitcher on the West Coast, and his name is Felix Hernandez. Joining the likes of Randy Johnson, Francisco Rodriguez, Barry Zito and Rich Harden, the 20-year old Mariner became the youngest starter to win on opening day since Doc Gooden in 1985 with a dominating 3-hit, 12-strikeout performance in a 4-0 win over Oakland. Hernandez has a career record of 16-18 with Seattle but after losing 20 lbs in the offseason and a slew of starters in recent years (Gil Meche, Jamie Moyer, Freddy Garcia, Joel Pineiro) Hernandez was tabbed to start opening day, and to say he took advantage of the opportunity is an understatement.

-Another start, another win for Johan CyTana and the Twins. The 2-time Cy winner was not sharp in the season opener for the defending AL Central champs, but luckily he has the league MVP to back him up. Despite allowing 4 runs and 7 hits in 6 innings, Justin Morneau hit a home run and had 3 hits and 2 RBIs to help Santana get the win over Baltimore, 7-4. The Twinks roughed up B'More ace Eric Bedard (4.2, 10H, 6R) and knocked out 12 hits, including back-to-back jacks by Morneau and Torii Hunter in the 2nd. Think Hunter is still trying to forget that gaffe against Oakland in the ALDS?

-The new Big Red machine halted the Cubbies march to the pennant as country strong Adam Dunn belted two homers and Aaron Harang shut down the multi-million dollar Cubs lineup. Harang out dueled Chicago Cy Young contender Carlos Zambrano and made the shiny new Cubbie offense look old and weak; he allowed only 6 hits, all singles, and 1 run in 7 innings while striking out 5, including new LF and Nomah trade includee Matt Murton 3 times.
-The Brewers, this years trendy NL pick-to-click, got a complete game 2-hitter from big Ben Sheets and shut down the Dodgers 7-1. the former strikeout pitcher only had three Ks, but used a variety of pitches to baffle the Dodgers while his teammates were busy pounding Derek Lowe for 6 runs and 8 hits in 4 innings. The new look Brewer lineup produced 10 hits and as long as they're hitting and Sheets is pitching like that things could be looking up for the Brew crew.

-Speaking of strong, I mentioned Tampa Bay's Elijah Dukes homered for his first major league hit; the fact that it came in Yankee Stadium on opening day made it all the more sweeter. As I said in an earlier post, this dude is large, and as long as he's doing things like pounding the ball out to straightaway center in the Bronx in his second ML AB, he is going to be in the Rookie of the Year mix, along with teammate Delmon Young, who had a hit and an RBI in his 2007 debut.

-HEROES & ZEROES:

HERO: Felix Hernandez, P SEA a 3-hitter with 12 Ks when you're only 20 years old earns you top spot on this list

ZERO: Curt Schiling, P BOS the againg ace was supposed to get the 2007 championship campaign off on a high note; instead he couldn't make it to the 5th inning, and when the pen imploded, so did Boston's chances of going 162-0

HERO: ARod, 3B NYY the man the Bronx "fans" love to hate quieted early boo birds by driving in 2 runs on an 8th inning homer and rapping 2 hits in his first game since admitting that he and infield teammate Derek Jeter are no longer BFFs, but....

ZERO: ERod, 3B NYY... the catcalls came raining down early on ol;d blue lips when he woefully misplayed a foul pop in the first inning for an error, then struck out swinging in his subsequent at bat

HERO(es): Royals batters 12 hits including 3 doubles, 2 triples and a homerun against the Sox was bad enough, but when guys like Mark Grudzalaniek, Tonu Pena Jr and Jack don't call me Joe Buck are doing the damage, well hats off to the new-look Royals; if they were in the AL East they would finish above Boston they way they are manhandling them these past few years

ZERO: Derek Lowe, P LAD here's the opening day linescore for the former Boston playoff hero/ notorious cad: 4IP, 8H, 6ER, 5BB, 4K, loss of respect from entire team

HERO: Carl Pavano, P NYY the guy hasn't pitched in nearly 2 seasons, sparred with teammates and media all spring long, had lost all respect in the clubhouse and had become a pariah with the fans due to injury proclivity and huge contract. So what does he do? Goes out and throws 4.1 of 5 hit ball allowing 4 runs and giving his team a chance to win the game, which they did. Granted he faced the D-Rays, but still he did more than I though he would

ZEROES: Relievers and I don't mean throwing zeroes; from Hideki Okijima's homerun offering on his first meaningful American pitch to Brad Lidge allowing yet another crushing, 9th inning homer run, these men of mediocrity did not get the job done. All the Rays relievers sucked, Detroit flamethrower Fernando Rodney blew the Tigers game in the 10th and Philly closer-in-training Ryan Madson allowed the game-losing homerun to of all people Edgar Rentanerror in Philly's loss to the Braves, and you've got some god-awful relief work being done on major league mounds.

HERO: Trot Nixon, DH/RF CLE as hard as it is to see old Trotter in another uniform, it was great to see him get three hits and three ribbies on opening day. There is no question in my mind he becomes another in a long line of Sox Killers as soon as he starts facing Boston.

QUOTES:

"It was just the achievement. Just the bad things, the good things, all in there together. It was kind of like, 'Okay, you overcame.' " Dukes on where he came from and where he is now

"No fastball command. I did not adjust. I can't remember that ever being the case. It's very disappointing. As a starting pitcher, you can make your team look a lot worse than it is some days." Schilling, echoing the sentiments of every member of RSN

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Baseball preview: It's a beautiful day- let's play 2!

Opening Day combined with the NCAA Championship game make this one of the greatest days of the sports year

The Super Bowl, the Daytona & Indy 500s, the final days of Wimbledon & the US Open, Sunday at the Masters and in the old days a big heavyweight bout all have a certain unique and exciting aura about them that make them the best sporting days of the year.

Today, with the Opening Day of the 2007 MLB season and the NCAA basketball national championship game later tonight, has to be right up there with all those luminous events as a singularly spectacular day to be a sports fan. Throw in passover, the finale of prison Break and another episode of dancing with the Stars and you've got enough going on to qualify for national holiday status.

But nothing beats the pomp, pageantry, and propensity to see 'roided-up records set than opening day, and ESPN has a great double-header scheduled this afternoon. Devil Rays at Stankees at 1:00 followed by Boston at Kansas City at 4:00.

There will be some games tonight, although evidently not on Extra innings, but by 9:00 everyone will be glued to that ultimate reality show with the winner taking home the ultimate prize, the title game rematch between the Florida Gators and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

That game is still 8 hours away, though. In the meantime I will enlighten you with my always-entertaining MLB 2007 Season Predictions, guaranteed to come true or at least ensure I will have to endure months of unending verbal abuse.

AMERICAN LEAGUE:

A.L. East: Boston- this is the year that the Sox unseat the reigning 10-year division champion Stankees. Boston is not only stacked offensively thanks to the addition of Julio Lugo and J.D. Drew, but the rotation should be one of the best in baseball and Papelbon is back to close out close games.

Sure the Sox have questions, like will Coco rebound from his injury-riddled 2006 season, can Pedroia handle the strain of playing 2B for a contending team in the cauldron of Beantown, and will Lowell duplicate his bounceback season of 2006, but with five potential .300 hitters ( and 2 guaranteed 35+ HR/120+ RBI men the offense should score enough runs to take the division crown.

New York- great lineup, but that rotation is as old and thin as Ann Coulter. Toronto is loaded on offense as well with the addition of Frank Thomas but the loss of Ted Lilly could hurt the Blue Birds more than they realize. Beyond Cy Halladay the rotation is shaky and in this division that's all it will take to miss the postseason. Baltimore & Tampa Bay? Just watching, thank you.

A.L. Central: Chicago- everyone loves either the defending division champion Twins, ready-to-blossom Indians or the dominant Tiger team that went to the Series, but don't sleep on Crazy Ozzie's squad. The Sox are still loaded on offense with the Fearsome Foursome of Crede, Thome, Dye and Konerko combining for 151 homers last year and the pitching staff, though slightly overworked in recent years, has the potential to make the Chisox a title contender again.

Meanwhile Detroit lost its horse, Kenny Stickum Rogers, for a few months and my money says Gary Sheffield somehow poisons that chummy clubhouse by mid season. Minnesota has one pitcher, a Cy Young lock no less, but four guys had career years last year so don't look for that to happen again. Cleveland-when C.onstantly C.onvalescing Sabathia is your ace, you got no shot.

Plus if the White Sox don't win it will be fun to see how bad Ozzie will implode.

A.L. West: Texas- the ultra-chic pick this year evidently is the LA of Anaheim Angels, who have been picked by many experts to be this year's Cinderella team and go all the way (S.I. picked the Halos to win it all, thank God.) Closely trailing the Angles are the always-competitive A's, but the loss of Barry Zito, the final ace from that Terrific Triumverate of Zito-Hudson-Mulder, should kill Oakland's chances.

But I like the Rangers to get back to the postseason with reclamation project Sammy Sosa poised for a big comeback and boasting an offense that just won't quit. Hurlers Kevin Millwood, Vincente Padilla young Brandon McCarthey are just good enough to get it done, and they have two closers so when Eric Gagne breaks down Akinori Otsuka (32 saves last year) can step back in.

Wild Card: Stankees a $200 million payroll and a big mid-season acquisition (Rocket fueled?) should be enough to get the Empire into the playoffs

ALDS: BOS/CHI, NYY/TEX

ALCS: BOSTON vs. NEW YORK

AL Champ: Boston

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

N.L.East: Phillies- once again I am going against the grain as everyone seems to love the Mets repeating their success of 2006. I look at a threadbare rotation and an old, potentially washed up closer that will have a hard time overcoming the loss of Pedro Martinez. That's why I like the Phils, with their solid starting five (Myers, Hamels, Garcia, Eaton & Moyer) and dynamic offense led by reigning MVP Ryan Howard, to make it to the postseason for the first time since 1993.

N.L. Central:Cubs- while it seems everybody loves the Brewers- today- and the Cards and 'Stros have solid but pitching-thin clubs, when you take all that money the Tribune Co. spent (more than $300 million in upgrades) in its swan song season owning the team, throw in a combative, competitive coach like Lou Pinella, a Cy Young candidate (Victor Zambrano) and a pair of potential MVPs (Soriano, Lee) and you've got the makings of a curse-busting season.

Unless of course all that Stankee/Boston-like free spending blows up in their faces.

N.L. West: LA Dodgers- this division will most likely be the wild west shootout like it was last year when 3 teams went down the stretch with a chance to win the divison and two, the Padres and Dodgers, made the playoffs.

Arizona is a young but trendy pick and San Fran will be better with Barry- Zito I mean- but I like the Dodgers combination of quality starters (Lowe, Penny, Schmidt, Wolf) and plethora of .300 hitters. The Pads, Giants and D-Backs will all be in the mix, and even the hapless Rockies should be improved, but I love L.A. here-plus they're the West Coast Sox.

Wild Card: Mets- decent enough pitching (most like a mid season trade if Petey doesn't return) and a star-studded lineup will get this team back to playing October baseball.

NLDS: NYM/LAD, PHI/CHI

NLCS: CUBS vs. METS

NL Champ: CUBS

WORLD SERIES: Red Sox over Cubs in 7 games

AL MVP: Big Papi, DH BOS he will finally make the voters get over the hangup about him not playing the field when he mashes 55 homers and 145 RBIs for the division winners

NL MVP: Jose Reyes, SS NYM the supersonic shortstop will be the spark plug of the dynamic New York offense; he will lead the majors in steals, triples and being most exciting player to watch every at bat

AL Cy Young: Johan CyTana, MIN the 2-time winner for the Twins is sure to get 35 starts being the only quality starter for Minnesota now that Francisco Liriano is out for the year, and those starts will equate to 21-25 wins, a microscopic ERA & WHIP and close to 300 strikeouts

NL Cy Young: Carlos (don't call me Victor again) Zambrano, CHI I've picked this guy for three years running and one of these times he's gonna make me look like a genius. The ace of the new Cubs with Wood & Prior no longer in the picture this stud is poised to have a huge season, further justifying his demands for a mega buck contract.

AL Rookie of the Year: Daisuke Matsuzaka, BOS I know it's not fair because the guy had pitched for 67 seasons in Japan but if Nomo, Ichiro and Kaz Suzaki can win it so can he. the talented & enigmatic man known as Dice-K will win 18 games, have an ERA near 3.00 and a WHIP near 1.10 and strengthen the rotation of a playoff contender all while adapting to life in a foreign country; of course I'm referring to the Red Sox Nation.

NL Rookie of the Year: Kevin Kouzmanoff, 3B ARI This kid has got a ton of potential and a devastating bat; he hit the first major league pitch he ever saw for a grand slam after a September callup and he carried a .395 OBP in 340 minor league games. With the 3B job his to keep for the Pads he should have enough ABs to win the award.

Plus I just love saying his name (kouzmanoff, kouzmanoff, kouzmanoff...)

That's all for now. laugh if you want, but I will have the last laugh come October.

And if I'm wrong I'll just start over under another blog.spot

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Play Ball! The 2007 season is underway

For some reason the phrase "opening night" doesn't have that same lyrical, wonderful ring that "opening day" enjoys, unless you're referring to a Broadway play, but nevertheless the 2007 Major League Baseball season kicked off this evening when the Mets took on the World Champion Cardinals in St. Louis.

So let's all take a deep breath, kick it down a notch from Final 4 fever to Opening Day mania, and enjoy the poetic, beautiful, glorious sport of baseball.

Remember, every team has a legitimate shot of winning it all beginning tomorrow.

Except the Rays.

Full season preview tomorrow.

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