It's Official, A New Season!

Jeremy Ordan

Jeremy Ordan

Major Contributor
Well some people here won't appreciate this at all, but today, February 15th is the date that pitchers and catchers report, officially marking the beginning of the 2006 baseball season.

This should be a national holiday!

-Jeremy
 
FINALLY!

Let the games begin!
beer.gif
 
No, I don't appreciate it.

An official end to the football season. America's real national pastime. How depressing.

well, at least the draft is coming up.
 
I've been waiting for this to start for a while, so I'm thrilled. Plus we're only two weeks from the WBC kicking off, and now I'm getting excited about that.
 
I hear that from a lot of people, they don't enjoy the sport. I played from the time I was about five in Tball all the way until I blew out my knee in college, but I've always been a fan of MLB.

Baseball is the only individual sport set within a team atmosphere. There is something poetic and primal about a guy saying: "I bet I can get this ball past you". It's exciting. I think it's also a little pathetic (people like me) who forget birthdays, but can quote nearly all the statistical data from the Yankees from last year.

(even more pathetic, I can do it for half the Red Sox also, because you should know your enemy)
 
Okay, it's almost here! Tomorrow is opening day :love4: Spring training has been fun (as always) but now it's time to start the real games. It's time to get out to the park and watch a game. If you're not close to an MLB ballpark, catch a minor league game. :beer:

Oh, yeah, GO DODGER BLUE!!!!
 
I concur. I did play football (WR...Split End to be exact) throughout school. However, my favorite sport to watch as a spectator has always been baseball (followed by boxing, with football taking the bronze.)
Man, there is nothing on earth like sitting in the stands and watching a ballgame.

Of course, our teams do differ, Jeremy. I'm a die-hard Pirates fan, and I have four little words for you Maz, Er, Os & Ki :evil:.
But in all seriousness, the Yankees are my favorite AL team.
 
OK, well let's get this party started. I'm actually getting ready to go to a buddy of mine's house for openning day (He's a die hard White Sox fan, so today is his day, tomorrow at 10:05 EST my Yankees embark on Championship run #27).

OK, so let's get our picks together for the season, keeping in mind that as of today David Delluci got traded to the Phillies.

My picks:

AL East: New York Yankees
AL Central: Chicago White Sox
AL West: Oakland A's
AL Wild Card: Boston Red Sox
AL Pennant: New York Yankees

NL East: New York Mets
NL Central: St Louis Cardinals
NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers
NL Wild Card: Atlanta Braves
NL Pennant: New York Mets

World Series: New York Yankees in five.

I'm not 100% objective and I have a couple of teams I think can get into the mix. I think in the AL that the Indians and Angels could have strong teams, but I think that Toronto has only improved by five games with their pitching additions. This still leaves them more than six games out.

In the NL I am worried about the Phillies and thought about giving them the Wild Card, but it's hard to right off Atlanta after 14 straight. My other strong contenders in the NL are the Padres and Astros. I don't have a good feeling about the Astros though and don't think they have improved at all over last year. Without Clemmens eating up innings I think that they are in trouble. There are two teams to watch out for seriously in the NL. The first is the Brewers. This is a young team that was under .500 last year, but this year I think they will win 90 and make that division a lot tighter. Furthermore, the Pirates are a young and scary team. This year I expect them to be right above .500 with next year them taking the division.

Two final teams that are going to burn bright or fizzle: my Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. This should come as no suprise, but there are a lot of issues surrounding these teams (Yankees.com being the second most viewed website for me behind DVXUser and RedSox.com being third, why? know your enemy).

First the Red Sox. They released their short stop because he was an NL player who couldn't adapt to the AL. Now their entire infield has turned over and is all NL players in their first AL season. That's weird. The Red Sox still have Ortiz and Manny, most likely the scariest 3-4 combination in all of baseball (I say this as a die hard Yankee fan), but their rotation is great on paper, but on the field it is different. No one doubts the ability of this offense, especially if Lowell comes back to form, but there are a lot of questions concern this rotation. Schilling looks to be back to form, but he is a big game pitcher who sometimes fizzles in small games. I expect teams like Baltimore and Tampa Bay to rock Schilling and him to perform well against the Yankees and Toronto. Wells is always a question mark healthwise, Wakefield seems ageless, and finally let's talk about Beckett. He is a career .500 pitcher who peaked at 19 years old against the NYY. I don't have a lot of faith regarding him, and I think his attitude is going to be a problem. Boston has the strongest starting rotation, but the weakest bullpen in my opinion. A race is won in the final feet, not the openning miles. I still think the Sox have a good team, and I'm afraid not to pick them for the Wild Card, although part of me believes the Sox will be at home for October while Cleveland snatches the Wild Card.

Now with the Yankees. On paper this is a Dream Team of massive potential. Perenial all stars mixed with young vibrant talent, this team reminds me of the team we fielded in the late nineties. The highpoints of this team are without a doubt that if you take the 1-7 hitters and move a single one of them to another team they become the cleanup or franchise player. When you field Jeter, Damon, Rodriguez, Sheffield, Giambi, Matsui, Posada, Cano, and Williams you are playing with a stacked deck. THen again, the White Sox proved last year once again that pitching wins. Without players like Clemmens, Petite, Wells, and the Mussina of old, this is not the 90's Yankees team. I expect Johnson to win 17 games and have an ERA just below 4. He will give up the home run, but 4 runs should be nothing for this line up to compensate with. Mike Mussina is in a contract year. This is an important fact, because he is playing for that option. Then again, Mike Mussina has never become MIKE MUSSINA. He's always shown potential, but just been plagued by Mike Mussina. I expect him to be a .500 pitcher, have an ERA around 5, and spend at least 30 days on the DL. Now the mysteries: Carl Pavano, Shawn Chacon, and Chin Ming Wang. Pavano will neve rbe what he was billed to be, and I think that we're looking at someone who might be a .500 pitcher. Chacon is going to come out strong, and I expect a .700 pitcher. Wang I expect more injury from, but he is growing into a legit #2 pitcher, and I expect an ERA around 4.5 with at least 14 wins and 190+ innings. Jarred Wright? I have nothing to say about this free agent aquisition from last year that the filter won't sensor. Now behind the starting pitching the Yankees have the number one bullpen in all of baseball. Everyone knows Rivera, but he just keeps bringing the heat. Tanyon Sturtze is a realiable long releiver who can eat up the 6th or 7th, but wont get worked to death this year because of aquisitions like Octavio Dotel who should be ready by May. Furthermore, Farnsworth should be a great addition in replacing Tom Gordon with a younger more vibrant arm. The Yankees also have a nice AAA and AA club, so expect to see some players called up from the minors throughout the season including the dreaded Cabrera and Duncan who should be ready for permanent big league play starting next year as Giambi's replacement at first base.

So there are my picks and analysis. I have been wrong in the past, because last year I picked NYY and NYM and we know how well that turned out.

Who does everyone else pick?

-Jeremy
 
I just bought an official case of beer for tonight's game, man, this is what life's all about!

My picks...

AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Angels
AL Wild Card: White Sox
AL Pennant: Angels

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Padres
NL Wild Card: Brewers
NL Pennant: Padres (I can dream can't I?)

Angels take the Padres in the big game.
 
NL East: Phillies
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wildcard: NY Mets
NL Pennant: Cardinals

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Oakland
AL Wild Card: Angels
AL Pennant: Oakland

Cardinals over A's in six.
 
NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wildcard: Phillies
NL Pennant: Phillies

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Oakland
AL Wild Card: Angels
AL Pennant: Yankees

Yankees over Phillies in five
 
i'm from cleveland, and used to be a die hard Indians fan. then it really started to go downhill for them and it was too painful for me to watch. this season looks promising for the Tribe though :)
 
This dosen't have anything to do with the thred but I was in vegas last night partying with some friends at Ceasers and Pett Rose was there singing stuff and just hannging out.
 
my dad was there too. he got in trouble for taking a picture of pete rose without paying for the picture. pete rose charges for autographs and pictures in case you didnt know. my dad told whoever it was that yelled at him that he was able to take the picture because him and Rose were in a PUBLIC mall, not some private event or anything.

i couldnt believe my dad got yelled at for taking a picture of him because he didnt pay for it. unbelievable.
 
Pete Rose was a fine baseball player but he has shown himself to be a liar, shameless self-promoter and a boor.
 
I hung out with Pete Rose in Vegas last year at a signing event. I bought him about three drinks, he signed a bunch of autographs for me, and he was a nice guy. I know the history regarding him, but I found him to be very nice. He is a liar and I don't believe he should be allowed in the hall of fame, but we can't deny his accopmlishments either.

That being said, there are a lot of great picks. The A's are being picked as this years big winner by a lot of pros, but I just can't pick them... And for some reason I'm pissed anytime I see someone's list without the Yankees winning it all... If you get an angry PM from me, that's why

-Jeremy
 
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