Well, its that time of year again. For many sports fans, it is the most exciting time of year. Where something magical happens. No, I am not talking about the Masters. Nor am I talking about the NCAA basketball tournament, which is already more than halfway over. I am talking about the start of Major League Baseball, opening day being a little more than a week away, with the Yankees and Red Sox playing on April 4th. THE EXPERTS (I put that term in allcaps because I believe that when it comes down to it they(baseball media) are no smarter than you or I when it comes to making predictions) are predicting that the Red Sox will thwart the Yankees attempt to become the first team since, well, the Yankees to repeat as world champion. I have to respectfully disagree with THE EXPERTS. I believe that this year's version of the Yankees might actually be better than last year's, especially if Phil Hughes can settle into the fifth starting position as expected, and Joba Chamberlain returns to the setup man for Mo Rivera as he once was. The Red Sox have added pitching, but in doing so they might have cost themselves some key hitting. And the Mariners think that by adding Cliff Lee to the rotation they will become instant contenders, sort of like the Phillies did last year. Well I have a news flash. The Phillies were already good before they added Lee, Lee just put them over the hump. I am not so sure about the Mariners. No, I think Yankees will face a tougher challenge in their quest to repeat from the NL, where I see the Cards and Phillies duking it out again. The Cardinals always have a tough lineup, and the Phillies just added the best pitcher in baseball in Roy Halladay to an already dangerous lineup. I think we just might be seeing you again in October, Yankees and Phillies.
The start of the 2010 baseball season also brings another phenomenon that I have recently latched onto: fantasy baseball. As you are all aware, I have an unhealthy obsession for stats. It's to the point that I have even taken that obsession with me to work, where I am constantly checking my productivity and quality numbers. I probably have driven a couple of the warehouse leads crazy agonizing over averaging around 150 labels per hr per dc(distribution center) for a day means that I was averaging 90 labels per hr for the whole day. That obsession may take on a whole new meaning when it comes to fantasy baseball, for I have just drafted my fifth (that's right fifth) free team the other day. Some may think that this is bordering on the level of The Fan, starring Robert DeNiro. I would like to think that I am more on the level of Pedro Cerrano in Major League when he gives homage to Jobu. But hey, I had three leagues last season, and seeing as how I didn't really know anything about fantasy baseball going in, and not really paying attention to it until after the all-star break, I ended up 2nd out of 10, 3rd out of 10, and 6th out of 10 respectively. I will probably drop a couple of teams, of course the one that has Albert Pujols and CC Sabathia on them won't be one of them. But hey, as long as they are free, what's the harm? Nothing really, but between you and me, it's probably good i am not paying to join these fantasy leagues because then my interest in them would force me to do a Cleveland Indians to this blog.
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