Chapter 85.1: Initial Thoughts on the 2010 Baseball Season

As usual, my life has been a fast-paced, loony series of days that band together to call themselves weeks and months. They get larger and more unruly as I get older.

For example, not many years ago I'd have been incredibly excited about the beginning of baseball season. I'd watch spring training games on television, read up on the next Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays coming up through the ranks, and prepare for a fantasy baseball draft or two. These days, I grumble about how my fantasy draft got moved to the girls' bedtime and whine (to myself) about how I rarely get to see an inning of baseball, what with the Elmo and Barney DVDs that play almost nonstop on our TV these days.

I can't even prepare for my usual World Series predictions properly any more. I don't know who half the pitchers are in baseball these days, and without that, such forecasts are about as accurate as predicting the weather for August 22 while looking out on the darkened streets on an April evening.

So here goes — my abridged predictions for the 2010 baseball season.

Division leaders
NL East: Philadelphia Phillies.
I don't think my Mets will do any better than third place. Even that might be tough to achieve. The Phillies, Braves, and even the Marlins all appear to be more potent than my inconsistent favorite team.

NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals.
Strong pitching and weak competitors should make it look easy for the Redbirds.

NL West: Colorado Rockies.
Because the whole division sucks.

NL Wild Card. Atlanta Braves.

AL East: Yankees.
I hate them, but they're strong.

AL Central: Minnesota Twins.
They've kept Joe Mauer. If they can pitch well enough, they might be able to do some serious damage to other AL teams.

AL West: Los Angeles Angels.
I wanted to pick the Mariners, who've made some great acquisitions during the winter (and one terrible one by getting Milton Bradley). But even I have heard about the injuries that keep happening.

AL Wild Card: Boston Red Sox.

World Series: Phillies vs. Red Sox
The Red Sox will win in seven games in what will be a classic.

Ok, for all you non-baseball fans out there, I suspect you'll be able to keep following this blog because this could be the last baseball-related item I'll be able to write, seeing as how my Mets will embark on a seven-game losing streak by the beginning of May and I'll just lose heart.