This week has been crazy in the baseball world. We saw the "Yankee Universe" come to its knees as they lost Bob Sheppard and George Steinbrenner. Tonight was something to watch as I caught a bit of the pre game ceremony and the final inning on MLB tv. (MLB tv is the single greatest creation ever for baseball fans, watching their mlb tonight show almosts makes me regret having purchased and entire season mlb.tv) and we saw a great game in which the yanks were able to pull it off thanks to one of the most likeable players in baseball Nick Swisher. He is truly a guy you can't root against, one of those guys who looks like he is always having fun. There is something to be said about that guy when we also have to watch nut cases like that certain right handed pitcher play for the Cubbie bears and make 18 million a year. O well he is at the least entertaining. I won't mention his name because of his disgrace to baseball, his teammates and his manager. Either way good job to the yanks for winning one for the boss and Sheppard, but mainly Sheppard.
On the topic of the "The Boss", I really wonder what Steinbrenner's legacy will be in 20 years. Yes he won the world series seven times for he yanks, but my real question is will we remember his ties to watergate and his ban from baseball for his incident with a known gambler and his attempts to ruin a great player, Dave Winfield. Steinbrenner however did change the game and we can argue all day whether it was for the best or the worst but as attendance figures continue to rise and salaries do as well it is clear that yes we do in fact appreciate what he did whether you would like to admit it or not. Steinbrenner was a good man too and no obituary on him should be complete without mentioning his great contributions to charity over his years. The book on the boss should simply include a lot of buts, he was good, but........
Right now I am watching though one of my favorite pitchers to watch, not because of his power or his flair, or even his obvious love of baseball, but Barry Zito, is a damn good pitcher. The guy can truly pitch and has an amazing curve ball and how many other guys can have those strikeout numbers with an 86 mph fastball on a good day, he's the type of guy that makes me believe that, hell i could that, even though we all know that is not true. We all forget that 86 is still hard to throw and also makes you appreciate what Strasburg does.
On the topic of strasburg, the class of NL rookies is amazing, and the most overlooked at this point still proves to be either Jaime Garcia or a future perennial all-star, Buster Posey. Posey can absolutly rake and has the look of a Joe Mauer. Simply put Posey is going to be great and I expect an MVP out of the guy in the next five years. However with those guys how many years behind the plate can they take? The amount of punishment on their legs will surely take effect. We can only watch Mauer to find out. Will that big contract from the Twins backfire? My bet is not quite but I do expect him to drop his power numbers as he already has and this season to become his typical season in the next few years. Also the NL rookies cannot be mentioned without talking about the Brave's Hayward, another guy with MVP written all over him. The Braves will be good for years witht he help of Hayward and Sophmore Tommy Hansen who hasnt lit up the league but will only get better as he learns to pitch a bit better.
Well as I finish my first post I might as well put up my predictions of the season.
AL
East: Yankees
Central: White Sox
West: Rangers
Wild Card: Red Sox
ALCS: Red Sox over White Sox
NL
East: Braves
Central: Cardinals
West: Rockies
Wild Card: Cincinnati
NLCS: Cardinals over Braves
World Series Champs: Red Sox
Sox get healthy and Beckett, Lester, Buchholz, and a good second half Lackey take the Sox to the playoffs and the Laser Show propell the Sox to their third world series in a short time.
AL Cy Young: Jon Lester
NL Cy Young: Josh Johnson
AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera (Triple Crown Winner) (first bold prediction)
NL MVP: Albert Pujols
