2009 MLB Thread (1 Viewer)

We are just hours away from the "first pitch" of another season. And, as always, it seems like it can't come soon enough.

I love leaving spring training behind...and those weird inter-league matchups with random lineups and split squads.

It's time for "games that count!"

Bring on the predictions!

I predict that the New York Yankees will win the 2009 World Series. So, another wash for me as far as the MLB season is concerned.

I do hope that the Bosox and Rays give them a run for their money. Some of the analysts are once again predicting that the A.L. east will be the powerhouse division. We'll see.

And the season starts with tonight's game with the Phillies defending their title.

As I said in the Hot Stove thread, time for me to start planning those baseball trips, hopefully including the 2 new ones in NY.

And the countdown really begins for the Twins, going into their final season playing indoors.

The Rays were the surprise team last season, and the Rockies before that. Who will it be this season?

My predictions:

National League
East - Phillies
Central - Cubs
West - Diamondbacks
Wild Card - Mets

American League
East - Red Sox
Central - Indians
West - Angels
Wild Card - Rays

Possible surprise teams - Reds, Blue Jays

Okay...here goes:

AL
East - Red Sox
Central - White Sox
West - Angels
Wild Card - Rays

NL
East - Mets
Central - Cubs
West - Dodgers
Wild Card - Phillies

Red Sox over Dodgers in the World Series!

American League
East: Rays
Central: White Sox (this division is so wide open I have no idea who's winning, so might as well go with the defending champs)
West: Angels (if only Texas had some pitching, I think they could make a run for the division)
Wild Card: Red Sox

National League
East: Phillies
Central: Cardinals (I'm not buying the Cubs - I think they're worse than they were last year; I really want to pick the Reds because I think they're gonna be good this year, but I just can't do it)
West: Dodgers
Wild Card: Braves

World Series
Phillies over Rays (can it really be a repeat series?)

I think the Reds and Giants are going to be much improved this year and could contend for their respective divisions. And I think KC will be at least a .500 team this year. Their young stars are going to break out this year, I think.

Shocking. Who would have thought Mike Frezon would pick the Red Sox?

I would just be thrilled if the Phils ever won the first game of a season.

What if they did win their first game, yet ended up going 1-161?

Cardinals or Mariners.

All I can say about the '09 season is this:
If the performance of the Yankees causes the YES announcers to use as many plaudits about the team as they did about the new Yankee stadium, then the Yanks will go 162-0.

At $1.5 Billion, the friggin infield should tilt in whatever direction the Yanks need for any particular batted ball.

LOL.

With the roster the Yankees now have, I think they may have the opportunity to become the first 172-0 (or thereabouts) team in regular-season history.

In any event, if they do win it all this year, it will definitely come with one, and possibly two, asterisks.

And yes, I'm jealous. Teixeira would have looked quite good in a Bosox uniform.

Yo. I don't pick them to win every year...

Neither do I. I usually wait at least eighty-six years before I pick them to win it all. At least that's been my rule of thumb thus far.

Well, the Bosox / Rays were rained out. And remember this day: the Orioles are currrently in first place, having decimated the Bronx Bombers, 10-5. And Teixeira was 0-4. I knew that that was a good deal. [Yes, I am prepared to eat these words many months down the road....]

Does anyone here remember the glory days of the Orioles, with their formidable teams of the early 1970s? I was a glove-totting teenager when McNally (21), Cuellar (20), Palmer (20), and Dobson (20) each won at least twenty games for them in 1971. That truly was phenomenal. And to think that the Orioles weren't the first team to accomplish the feat. That was a year to remember, and I'm very happy I was around to see it.

Me, not so much.



I think Palmer really paved the way for those strange recent pictures of A-Rod!

How about something really worth talking about...Brooks ranging to his left!

Mike,

Brooks Robinson was wonderful to watch, wasn't he? And I believe I got to see him at his peak. He was such an outstanding fielder when I saw him play.

I'll recall a game I saw in the 1970s between the Bosox and (I think) the Orioles. Frank Robinson hit a shot -- a mammoth home run -- that seemed to leave Fenway in two seconds! Unfortunately, Boston didn't win that game, but those memories are worth treasuring forever.

I'm with you, except I pick the Red Sox over Mets for the W.S.

The Yankees lose! Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees lose!!!

Aaron,

I'm actually quite shocked by this result. I had good money on them going 162-0. You?

Go Phils!

The Chicago Cubs will win the pennant due in part to their very strong Boise Hawks farm club. :rolleyes

The SF Giants law team will beat the Oakland A's law team over market share in San Jose, forestalling the A's moving there.