2009 MLB Predictions

Well, it’s that time of year again. I do this every year and I’m always wrong, but I won’t let that stop me.

American League

American League East: Yankees. Yeah, big surprise for me, right? But our starting pitching is (on paper) so much better this year. I really don’t think Tampa will repeat as AL East champs. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t make the play-offs. I think they will take a step back. Their starting rotation had virtually no hiccups last year. I don’t see that happening again.

American League Central: Twins. They almost did it last year, only losing to the White Sox 1-0 in a one game heart-breaker. They’re a young, athletic team and they are well managed. The Tigers are all messed up, and their pitching that looked so strong in ’06 has mysteriously been shot to hell. The Indians seem to be regressing and the White Sox, I don’t even understand how they win at all – they’re very Yankee-like, in a bad way. Old veterans, and not athletic.

American League West: Angels. They’re not going to win a hundred games, and their pitching is all banged up, but their division is so bad, they should win again anyway. Maybe Texas can slug their way to the top, but I doubt it.

AL Wildcard: Tough one. The Wildcard will come out of the East. I hate Boston, so I’ll pick Tampa.



National League

National League East: Phillies. I don’t like the Mets’ rotation, outside of Santana. The fact that Livan Hernandez, who gives up a TON of runs, is their fifth starter, is scary. I also think Citi Field is going to be a problem. It looks to be a very deep park, a pitchers’ park, and they will need young, highly athletic outfielders to keep singles from becoming triples. It could be a nightmare, though Reyes may steal 70 bases in that park.

National League Central: Cubs. I would like to pick a team other than the Cubs, since I feel they will not be as dominant in their division this year, but honestly, what other team has the pitching? Not Houston. Not the Cardinals. Perhaps the Reds, if Volquez, Cueto and Harang pitch up to form, but that never seems to happen for the Reds. The Brewers lost Sheets and Sabathia, so we won’t be hearing from them again, which is a shame, since they’re a fun team to watch.

National League West: Diamondbacks. This is the WORST division in baseball. God-awful. So much so that I think any team BUT the Padres can win it. However, I don’t think the Dodgers will repeat, since their pitching hasn’t improved. I think the Giants will be better than last year, and will contend. The Rockies are a nice team, but I just don’t see the pitching.

NL Wildcard: Another tough one. Again, I think the wildcard will come out of the East. I say the improved Braves will battle the Mets for this, and I think the Mets will fall short again.


ALCS: Yankees vs. Twins: Yankees prevail.

NLCS: Phillies vs. Cubs. Phillies prevail.

World Series: Yankees vs. Phillies. Yanks win.

AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez
NL Cy Young: Cole Hamels

AL MVP: Grady Sizemore
NL MVP: Hanley Ramirez

19 and... Oh Shit, They Lost!

LOL!

Too funny! I wonder how many pre-orders they had to cancel on Amazon.com?

My Favorite Podcasts

I moved up from an iPod Shuffle to a 30GB iPod video in August and I started really getting into podcasts. At first I listed to news and political commentary, but that quickly got boring and I moved on to sports and fiction.

During the baseball season I was really into ESPN Baseball Today. Their coverage was great through the regular season and through the conclusion of the World Series. I also listened to Steven A. Smith. I’m not sure if I like his style or not, but there’s something inherently creepy that hits you after you listen day in day out to sports guys trashing black and Hispanic men. It’s nice to hear at least one non-white guy give his opinion.

ESPN Podcasts

During the baseball season I was also listening to Without A Curse, a bi-weekly podcast by 13-year-old Red Sox fan, Alex Reimer. He’s not bad for a adolescent. He has a tendency to say “sucks” too often, and since he’s only 13 he has no sense of history (thing about it – in his lifetime the Braves and Indians have had more good seasons than bad), but, like I said, he’s not bad. He even manages to get adults who know a little something (like sports editors and the like) to appear on his show and do phone interviews. His show is weekly now that the season is over, but I’m still listening.

Why do I listen to a Red Sox show, you ask? Why, because it’s so fun to hear the suffering. You’d think they didn’t win that championship in 2004. More importantly, there’s no one doing a similar Yankees podcast. What’s up with that?

When I’m not listening to sports podcasts I listen to fiction podcasts. My favorite is Escape Pod, which gives me a weekly 30 to 50 minute sci-fi, fantasy or horror fix. Escape Pod tries to supply Hugo award winners or nominees to the listeners, so the quality of the stories is good. So far my favorite Escape Pod stories have been The King’s Tail and I Look Forward to Remembering You.

I also like the Union Dues stories, which fall into the superhero genre:

EP80: Cleanup In Aisle Five
EP62: Baby and the Bathwater
EP49: Off White Lies
EP27: Glass Jaw

Escape Pod has a sister show called Pseudopod which is dedicated to horror. My favorite Pseudopod stories have been Turista and Sacred Skin.

In the superhero genre I like How to Succeed in Evil, the story of an “Evil Efficiency Expert” who helps villains maximize their potential. Unfortunately, it’s been a month since an episode has come out, so they may have run out of steam.

Last but not least, I like Retrieval Detachment, which is a podcast that reviews other podcasts, but alas, they’ve disappeared since they’re doing NaNoWriMo. What I liked about the podcast was the freeform brainstorming of the two hosts as they analyze the themes of different stories – mostly Escape Pod stories. I liked their discussion of time travel as a business. They went way beyond the idea of guided tours to the past and came up with fun ideas like kidnapping Leonardo DaVinci to teach a special one day “Master Class” at a university. LOL!

Pathetic

From AP:

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) -- As they warmed up before Friday's semifinal against Greece, the U.S. players put on a jam session for the fans.

Dwight Howard dunked emphatically. Dwyane Wade bounced the ball off the backboard, caught it and stuffed. Elton Brand jammed an alley-oop pass. Finally, LeBron James flew down the lane for a tomahawk.

As the crowd roared, the Greeks lined up at the other end and shot free throws. The moment foretold Greece's 101-95 victory in the semifinals of the world championships.

Bleah.

Read more...

The Best Damn Sports Blog

If you're a sports fan and you haven't stumbled across Can't Stop The Bleeding, you need to check it out. The writing is witty (and a bit mean-spirited) and the author really knows his sports.

Here's an excerpt from his review of last week's home run derby:

I’d already promised someone I’d lay off Big & Rich, but when will those clowns be satisfied? If they aren’t reducing Chuck Barkley to tears, they’re costing Chuck Eddy his job. How do mega-talents like Sam Cooke, Selena and uh, Dimebag Darryl get gunned down, but these motherfuckers manage to survive? Sarah Silverman’s participation in the subsequent Celebrity Softball Game makes her the second Mr. Show alumnus to have played alongside Franco Harris. The first, of course, being Brian Poeshen. Said trash-sports event was the second Dave Winfield public sighting this month, much to the chagrin of Ruth Roper, who reported a burning sensation.

Google "Ruth Roper" and refresh your memory about her and Dave Winfield. LOL!

Galactica Season 2 Info

From SyFy Portal:

"We may will be seeing one or two new human Cylon characters in Season 2, and Tom Zarek (Richard Hatch) will return," Graphia said. "We're also going to see some unholy alliances between people you would least expect to work together.

"I recently finished writing an episode involving a Kent State-like incident where the military becomes overzealous. In another story, we learn why our characters' ancestral home world of Kobol is cursed, and there's an episode where a reporter causes problems after doing a documentary-style piece on the inner workings of Galactica."