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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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