Quick Thoughts

If someone were to ask me to list my favorite hobbies in the world, it would look something like:

1.) Fantasy Baseball
2.) watching LOST
3.) NCAA Football for PS3

As for the fourth thing on my list, I would go with re-watching the Ken Burns Baseball documentaries, which profiles everything one should know about the history of baseball from its beginning to Kirk Gibson's walk-off in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. Since my parents got me the 18 hour, 9 DVD set for Christmas in 2006, I have perhaps watched the series over 25 times. Since I was first introduced to the series by my US History teacher in 11th grade, I have only met one other person that owns the set besides myself: my good buddy Jim Blissenbach. Jim also informed me that Ken Burns was coming out with a new series next fall that would discuss the 1990s and the 2000s, which propelled us into discussing what we hope will be included in the upcoming series. The criteria we set forth for the discussion was that if only 10 subjects could be included, what are the most important 10 events/players/games that happened in each of the two decades. Here is what I would include if I was in Ken Burns' spot:

1990s:
1.) 1991 World Series
2.) Joe Carter's Walk-off
3.) 1994 players' strike
4.) Ripken's streak
5.) Atlanta Brave dynasty
6.) Profile of the decade's best hitters (Griffey, Arod, Bagwell Frank Thomas)
7.) 1997 Florida Marlins
8.) 1998 Home run race between McGwire and Sosa
9.) Profile of decade's best pitchers (Johnson, Martinez, Clemens, and Maddux)
10.) Yankee dynasty 1996-2000

2000s:
1.) 9-11
2.) 2001 Mariners
3.) 2001 World Series
4.) Barry Bonds 2001-04
5.) Roger Clemens record 7 Cy Youngs
6.) 2004 Red Sox
7.) Mitchell Report
8.) Albert Pujols
9.) the success of small market teams
10.) the statistics revolution

I think these 20 topics are the most important of the past two decades and would give people the best snap-shot of the past 20 years.

Week One Thoughts

At lunch today, a coworker and myself headed over to a pub next to the office to catch a couple innings of the Twins game. Took about 15 minutes longer than usual and caught innings 5-7, just enough to kind of get my fix for the time being. I was there long enough to watch Delmon Young collect his 2nd hit of the day (ended with 3), Pat Neshek throw two scoreless innings, and people to start whining for a roof (after celebrating it not being there two days before) because of a little rain.

We walked back to the office and talked about how nice it is to have somewhere so close to jump over to for a quick bite to eat and a couple of innings of baseball. The conversation ended with a thought that summed up my feeling for the day: "It's a long season, man, so can't get too caught up in each game...but it's so hard to not get caught up."

So after one week, a lot of us want to jump to conclusions about which guys have finally arrived, which guys are done, and which guys we're going to hate for the season (by the way, the last one I'm all for. You can see pretty early on the guys you're going to despise watching and sometimes it's the same guy as every other year that maybe played for the Cubs last year and plays for the Mariners this year. Not that I'll name names.). So instead of going against nature and holding off on predictions, assessments, and all sorts of other forward thinking that will inevitably prove false, let's embrace those things!

1.) Hot start for Milton Bradley. I know, I know, he's hitting the hell out of the ball so he can keep up his usual shenanigans as long as he keeps hitting. Wait, he's not hitting either? Oh that's right, he's ONLY HITTING .115. And it's not just that he can't hit anymore. Tonight, he ran straight through a stop sign at 3rd base to simply stand and watch the play unfold (the play that was a backdoor throw to 3rd to nail him. Good work, Milton). I really wonder how much longer he's going to last in the league. I think most thought that a city like Seattle might prove to be his saving grace, somewhere that's a lot of love when you do well and general disinterest when you don't (as opposed to active hatred that comes in places like Chicago). Most were wrong.

**UPDATE** MB just laced a two-out bases loaded single. It didn't take 5 minutes for me to look stupid. Who cares? I'm posting this anyways. He'll still end up hitting. 235 with 5 HRs and 3 punched umpires.

2.) Is there really any argument as to who the best player in baseball is at this point? He's never had a bad year, really never anything less than a great year, and this year he's out to an even better start. Is this the year that he pushes that 50 HR number? We'll see. Looks like that offseason elbow cleanup surgery is paying off.

3.) The NL West will actually be fun to watch this year. The Diamondbacks have good, young hitting (Stephen Drew, Justin Upton) that looks like it is really ready to turn that proverbial corner and should be ready to really make it interesting when Brandon Webb gets healthy (hopefully sometime in June). The top two, Giants & Rockies, should be a lot of fun to watch. The Rockies have more offense but the Giants have a ton of starting pitching. Hopefully they can actually score some runs to support that pitching. Lincecum, Cain, and Sanchez are an awesome top three--hopefully they find someone to help Pablo Sandoval in the scoring department.

It's only been a week and a half but, just as with every baseball season, I'm far too invested and excited. And my favorite thing about it is that it's always something different. No two seasons are the same. Only 150+ games to go.

The New Age of Baseball

Sometimes it seems like the steroids issue is doomed to linger around baseball forever. And honestly, that's the way it should be. Baseball is so much about history that it's impossible to forget about an entire era of baseball. The merits of those players for the Hall of Fame is a debate for another day (they should be allowed in) but we can now say, hopefully, that the Steroids Era WAS and no longer IS the identity of baseball. And, finally, we have fresh hope to move us out of that era and into a new (and hopefully bright) era of baseball.

That hope is easily identifiable for Nationals fans in the fastball of Stephen Strasburg and for Braves fans in the monstrous homeruns that Jason Hayward launches on a daily basis (why wait around until the 2nd AB when you can destroy the ball in your first big league AB. And speaking of destroying the ball, just wait for Bryce Harper. If you haven't seen the kid yet, just check this out. FINALLY. Young star power, like a new age Ken Griffey Jr. or baseball's version of LeBron). But it goes deeper than the individuals. Though numerous teams still lag far behind (see: Pittsburgh Pirates), there are a number of teams that are now competing just a few seasons removed from the cellar. The most obvious example is the Tampa Bay Rays but there are others (namely the Seattle Mariners) that are making a push based around a mix of pitching, defense, and youth.

Can these teams really compete with the Red Sox or Yankees? After 2008, it's easy to say yes but it'll be tough to continue as the front offices of even those teams have gotten smarter. Just look at the 2010 edition of the Red Sox. Unlike past offseasons, the Red Sox spent their offseason going after guys like Marco Scutaro and Mike Cameron, not exactly your typical marquee names. Perhaps this offseason is an aberration as opposed to a coming trend (other factors, specifically the economy, easily could have contributed to the downturn in spending), but all indications are that the way front offices think is changing.

Perhaps we can finally say that baseball is out of the dark. With front offices employing armies of statisticians, baseball is actually at the forefront of statistical revolution, changing the way people look at sports and their favorite athletes in those sports. I'm pretty sure that's the first time we can say baseball has been at the forefront of anything in quite a while. There are so many areas to improve upon (for starters, the draft) but still a lot of progress has been made. Like we say with young prospects like Bryce Harper, there is unlimited upside. Here's to the new age of baseball.

2010 Predictions

With the 2010 season under way as we speak, I would like to make some quick predictions for the 2010 season:

AL East: Contrary to popular belief, I believe that the Yankees will repeat as AL East Champs in 2010. They were hands down the best team in all of baseball last year and with the additions of Curtis Granderson and Javier Vazquez, they have only improved. With the exception of Rivera, I feel that their bullpen is weak (why is Chan Ho Park still pitching in the majors?), but a strong starting rotation and the best batting line-up in baseball will carry them.

AL Central: I think this will come down to the Twins and White Sox, with the deciding factor being who has the stronger bullpen. I am expecting Jake Peavy to have a huge year, but the White Sox can never be considered a safe assumption. I give the nod to the Twins.

AL West: I feel like this is the toughest call of all in the AL, but I just can't find any reason not to give it to the Angels again. Yes they lost Vlad, Lackey, and Figgins, but I feel that Hunter, Morales, and Abreu still prove to be a strong enough line-up in an overall weak division. I'm not sold on the Mariners like everyone else (I believe they were last in the AL in runs scored last year and Cliff Lee will be starting the year on the DL). Felix Hernandez is my pick for AL Cy Young.

AL Wild Card: Red Sox will take it again this year in a tight race over the Rays. I do not feel comfortable enough with the Rays starting rotation to give them the edge over the Red Sox.

NL East: With the addition of Roy Halladay (my prediction for 2010 NL CY Young), the Phillies will win the East again. Not much thought needs to go into this one.

NL Central: Cardinals will take it again. I think all five teams in the rest of that division will be really bad.

NL West: This is much tougher but the Dodgers are a safest pick. The Rockies' pitching has to convince me more and both Jeff Francis and Huston Street are on the DL already. I like the Giants pitching but they lack the offensive power. Dodgers did not do much in the off-season but they are already pretty strong all the way around.

NL Wildcard: I am going to go with the Braves over the Rockies, not only because I already have predicted the same division winners as last year, but also because Tommy Hansen and Jason Heyward are legit.

Well, that should wrap it all up for my predictions, plus it's just not my specialty. In fact, I'm flat-out bad at them. I'll look forward to seeing how I do come October, but there are too many great days between now and then, so I'm going to sit back and enjoy the new season for now (and continue hating on Nick Punto and Delmon Young).