Earlier this year along with a few friends of mine, we started a brand new blogging project called The Outfield Ivy. It’s a blog dedicated to the greatest rivalry in all of baseball, the Cardinals/Cubs rivalry. There are 10 different writers with our own passions and take on the enigma that is the Chicago Cubs, and the hicks that are the St. Louis Cardinals.

As a result, I probably won’t be blogging about baseball here like in the past, but you can certainly find me there as well as a bunch of other rabid fans venting our frustrations and anger as we keep the rivalry alive on the net.

Be sure to check out my latest post Chicago Cubs Starting Lineup (Self-Loathing Edition) and let me know who I missed!

It’s that time again for my annual predictions for the 2010 season of Major League Baseball! (Albeit, I am a few days late in getting this out because to do so means that I should probably re-enter the blogging world after a hiatus and re-enter hiatus and re-enter… I think it’s time to jump back into a regular rhythm of writing once again… so why not start with the best sport in the world!)

Last year I had the Red Sox winning it all and boy did I fall short… In ’08 it was even worse… I picked the Cubs. In ’07 I picked the Red Sox… and I was right… it was like a drug and I haven’t been able to stop the predictions since! So, here’s my brilliant analysis of how the 2010 baseball season will play out… cause it always happens like I say!

American League
East: NY Yankees
Central: Minnesota Twins
West: Seattle Mariners
Wild Card: Boston Red Sox

National League
East: Philadelphia Phillies
Central: St. Louis Cardinals (This pains me.)
West: San Francisco Giants
Wild Card: Atlanta Braves

Reasons
American League East: Perhaps the toughest division to pick in the entire league, I think the Yankees will end up pulling it out barring any major injury to their core. The Yankees are old and one key injury will not only cost them the division but potentially a playoff spot with Tampa Bay right on the heels of both teams. The Red Sox have (arguably) the best pitching staff and the best defense in the division, but their offense has too many question marks and I’m just not sure Tampa will show strong enough down the stretch to snatch the division or the Wild Card.

American League Central: Twins. Duh. The only real challenge to the Twins will be the ChiSox, who could pose a threat. However, the durability of Peavy throughout the season as a reliably healthy #2 could cost them a good run at the Twins who are simply more suited for success in the division.

American League West: The additions of Cliff Lee, Milton Bradley (as long as he doesn’t go crazy), Chone Figgins, and Jack Wilson are great additions to an extremely weak AL West. The only real challenge could come from Anaheim… or the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (dumb). But the one-two punch of King Felix and CLee will be a tough combo throughout the season as long as they have decent years from their supporting cast!

National League East: The Phillies are the best team in the National League, hands down. With the addition of Halliday, they’re going to be even more devastating throughout the season and the playoffs. The Braves are going to come up real strong with their rebuilt pitching staff and perhaps the best lineup they’ve had in years. They’re not going to surprise anyone, but they’re going to make a great run in the playoffs.

National League Central: I hate the Cardinals… but the Cubs are going to struggle this season with such a young bullpen and an overcrowded outfield that fails to produce on a consistent basis. The Cardinals will have the most dominant pitching staff in the Central with potential Cy-Young candidates in Wainwright and Carpenter, and with Brad Penny as the 3 starter (under the Dave Duncan spell) you can expect a great season from him as well. The Cardinals have some question marks offensively, but they’re going to be fine in the division.

National League West: No this isn’t a homer pick. Their pitching staff is the best in the NL from the starters to the bullpen. All they need is above average (and above expectation) production from their lineup and they’ll challenge the Rockies and take the West. The Rockies are the favorites at the moment, but I think they’re going to struggle with injuries throughout the year in their rotation and bullpen that will cost them the division. However, Jim Tracy could pull out another rabbit from his hat!

American League Playoffs
ALDS
Red Sox over the Twins
Yankees over the Mariners

ALCS
Red Sox over the Yankees in 7

National League Playoffs
NLDS
Cardinals over Braves
Phillies over Giants

NLCS
Phillies over Cardinals in 6

World Series
Phillies over Red Sox in 7

So, there it is… my pick for the 2010 season… the Philadelphia Phillies.

Man that sucks.

Baseball season is upon us and it’s time to unfurl my annual pre-season predictions for this the 2009 baseball season. I’ve been waiting with great anticipation for this season because of the flurry of off-season activity between many of the teams which should make for some really interesting division races in the AL East (a three-team run), the NL East, the AL West and NL West. This years picks are much harder to select, but here goes nothing!

American League
EAST: Boston Red Sox
CENTRAL: Cleveland Indians
WEST: Oakland A’s
WILD CARD: New York Yankees

National League
EAST: Philadelphia Phillies
CENTRAL: Chicago Cubs
WEST: Arizona Diamondbacks
WILD CARD: Atlanta Braves

Reasoning
AL East: Even though the Yankees spent a whopping $441 million this off-season to upgrade their team who missed the playoffs for the first time in forever, they’re in the toughest division in baseball. The Red Sox made small, quiet moves to bolster their starting rotation which boasts Brad Penny as their #5 starter and John Smolz as their #4 starter come mid-season. I don’t think the Yankees starting rotation will stay as healthy as the Red Sox throughout the season Wang, Pettite, and Burnett will more than likely go down at some point throughout the season and that’ll be that. I also prefer the offense of the Red Sox to the Yankees, as Lowell and Ortiz are coming back healthy (they were absent down the stretch last year) and the addition of Rocco Baldelli and the swap of Jason Bay for Manny should prove to make a more stable team. I like the Red Sox to win the division and see the Yankees taking the Wild Card in a heated battle with the Tampa Bay Rays. (The Sox also have some extra cash to spend mid-season, a luxury not many teams have.)

AL Central: The Indians battled a lot of injuries last year but certainly have the most talent in the division. I think we’ll also see a rebound of the Tigers this year but don’t count out the White Sox who I think are being overlooked this year. I think there will be a good battle in the Central this year but the Indians will see rebound years by Haffner and Martinez to put them over the top by 3-5 games.

AL West: The Oakland A’s have made some pretty major upgrades to their offense adding Holiday, Giambi, Cabrera, Nomar, and a healthy Chavez. This team is going to put up some big numbers offensively. The major question mark for this team is their starting rotation. The same could also be said of the Angels because of injury concerns. Even though the Angels are the favorite to win the division, Oakland is my darkhorse team to win the division. Look for Billy Beane to make some moves with the extra cash reserves he’s amassed come mid-season to bolster his pitching staff if the A’s are in contention.

NL East:This will be an unbelievable three team race and you can’t count the Braves out, which is why I think they’ll slip past the Mets and pick up the wild card slot. I like their rotation, and as long as Chipper Jones can stay healthy and the back end of their bullpen can pull through they’ll be tough. I’m not a big believer in the Mets revamped bullpen, K-Rod coming off a tremendous year is a question to continue in the limelight of New York, not to mention he’s bound to have a down year after having so much success. Putz isn’t a lock to do a great job either in the closer role and there are still massive holes in their rotation not to mention question marks in the outfield. I think the addition of Sheffield will help shore things up, but not enough to overtake the Phillies amazing offense led by Howard and Utley. The addition of Ibanez and a full season of Jayson Werth over Geoff Jenkins in right field is a big bonus. Their bullpen is strong and they’re the team to beat in the NL East.

NL Central: I don’t think there’s really much competition for the Cubs in the Central, they’ll probably run away with it by 10+ games. If there were a darkhorse team to watch for, it’d be the Cardinals, just because LaMullet (Tony LaRussa) seems to figure out ways to win with what he’s got. Carpenter and Wainwright coming back healthy this season are the keys to success for the Cardinals this year.

NL West:I think the NL West can break any number of ways, but the one thing I’m sure of–the Padres will finish in last. The Dodgers are the favorite to win the division, but I’m going with the dark horse Diamondbacks to win the division. They’re a young team with a great pitching staff, solid bullpen and good offense. I think the Dodgers let too many pitchers go from last season to really be as solid as they were. I still think the Giants are one big offensive player away from winning the division, but for some reason they stayed away from Manny and Sheffield, which I think either one would’ve put them over the top. Pitching wise the Giants are untouchable in the NL West, but their offense is pitiful and even though they made some upgrades they’re still expecting Molina to match or exceed his career year from last season–not to mention a Pujols like year from Sandoval. If the Giants add a player mid-season that’s an offensive force, they’ll win the West.

World Series:Last year I had the Cubs winning it all… this year I’ve learned my lesson… or have I? I see the Cubs and Phillies in the NLCS with the Cubs over the Braves and the Phillies over the D-Backs. This will be a 7 games series with the Cubs coming out on top and visiting the WS for the first time in 64 years. I’ll take the Red Sox as the AL Pennant winner over the Indians in a 6 game series. The Indians will dispose of the Yankees in 6 and the Sox will take care of the A’s in 5. My pick for World Series Champion? The Red Sox in 6. Cubs just won’t be able to put it all together yet again… but at least we’ll have gotten one step closer.

Let the berating begin!

This past weekend Tracy and I were able to join some friends in San Diego for Game 1 of the Second Round of the World Baseball Classic! I was tremendously excited to see Japan vs. Cuba, a rematch of the 2006 Championship Game! A couple of months ago when I realized the WBC would be just down the coast I looked into ticket prices but was blown away at how much it was going to cost to attend a couple of games, however purchasing single-game tickets the day of the event proved to be a much more cost-effective routine!

We were already in San Diego for the weekend when we decided to make our trip to the ballpark, and little did we know we’d get to see two great teams take the field. Dice-K was the starting pitcher for Japan and he was absolutely lights-out… Ichiro didn’t disappoint either… but Fukadome, was a terrible disappointment (and doesn’t really bode well for the Cubs upcoming season!) Even though it was great to watch a baseball game in the middle of March in a sort of playoff type atmosphere, my favorite part was the fans. Drums and cowbells could be heard all over the stadium during Cuba’s at-bats, and the Japanese fans were unbelievably in sync with their thunder sticks producing complicated rhythms and beats. It was exciting to be in the midst of the madness and hopes riding on each team.

Ultimately Japan prevailed, and they looked remarkable in the process. I’m looking forward to watching more of these games on TV, just as long as ESPN quits televising them solely on ESPN Desportes… a station we don’t readily get.

After the implosion of the Cubs this past week – I maintain that they truly didn’t lose, they gave the series to the Dodgers with passion-less play. In fact, I would say that they lost the series after James Loney’s grand slam in Game 1… they never looked good after that and played as if they were going to lose the series.

Anyhow, Page 2 has a great way of bringing humor to the situation with this fake facebook page.

At the beginning of the season I made my season predictions and fared pretty well sweeping the National League and missing out on the Devil Rays, Tigers, and Indians in the American League. I actually picked 6 of the 8 teams… not too shabby.

Pre-season Predictions

American League
AL EAST: Boston Red Sox
AL CENTRAL: Detroit Tigers
AL WEST: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
WILD CARD: Cleveland Indians

National League
NL EAST: Philadelphia Phillies
NL CENTRAL: Chicago Cubs
NL WEST: Los Angeles Dodgers
WILD CARD: Milwaukee Brewers

I’m not sure anyone really saw the Devil Rays come through like they did in the East, but it’s certainly an exciting story to follow in the postseason. That’s why I’m picking them in 5 over the White Sox. I think the White Sox are a dangerous postseason team and have the potential to go a long way, but they are also prone to massive cold streaks. I think the Devil Rays have the best possibility of taking them down early on.

American League Divisional Series
Devil Rays v. White Sox
Devils Rays in 5

Angels v. Red Sox
With the Red Sox struggling with injuries to their pitching staff and a Manny-less existence in the playoffs, I’m not sure what kind of team we’ll see the post season. I like the Angels, but they played in arguably the worst division in baseball. I think these two teams might be more alike than not. I’m going to say this one goes the distance as well, but the Angels will prevail in 5.

Angels in 5

American Leage Championship Series
Angels v. Devil Rays
The Angels bullpen is too good, and their offense can be flat out destructive when they’re together. I think the Angles win it in 6.

Angels in 6

National League Divisional Series
Phillies v. Brewers
The Brewers scuffled into the post season, and Ben Sheets has been completely shut down. Their starting rotation for a short series is in disarray, and they have major bullpen issues. I have a hard time seeing the Brewers even taking a game from the Phillies who look better than the have in a long time… but Sabathia will more than likely win a game for them. I think the Phils may be one of the most dangerous teams in the playoffs this year.

Phillies in 4.

Cubs v. Dodgers
I hope the Cubs don’t overestimate the Dodgers. They have a decent starting rotation, a great bullpen, and a fair lineup with the addition of Manny. The Cubs however, are the most balanced team in baseball… when clicking on all cylinders. The Cubs were my preseason pick to win the world series and the Dodgers certainly aren’t going to sway my original pick.

Cubs in 4.

National League Championship Series
Phillies v. Cubs
This could go down as an epic battle between two very good teams. The Phillies bullpen is equal to the Cubs, however they have the advantage with Brad Lidge who’s had a perfect season thus far. The Phillies have a more potent offense, while the Cubs is more balanced (5 with 20 HR’s). The Cubs have a better starting rotation, but the Phillies rotation isn’t shabby. This could go down as an amazing series.

Cubs in 7.

World Series
Angels v. Cubs
Once the Cubs make it this far there’s no turning back. I think at this point they show their dominance.

Cubs in 6 (Picked in the preason—can’t turn back now!)

My recent trip to Great America Ballpark in Cincinnati to see a Reds game is just one more check off the list to see a baseball game in every ballpark in my lifetime. However, not all stadiums are created equal. In fact, some just flat out suck. So, here is my rankings for the stadiums I’ve seen games in. The criteria for ranking the experience is four-fold: Connectedness with baseball history; Fans interaction with each other and with the game; Uniqueness; Overall design.

So here’s the current list.

1] Wrigley Field: There isn’t a stadium like it in all of baseball. In fact, it seems to be the model that many of the newer parks are attempting to replicate in some way. It is ripe with history standing as the second oldest stadium in the majors – and perhaps one of the more interesting facts about Wrigley Field: it took a month and a half to build. It is a simple, unique design from the ivy to the manual scoreboard atop center field, and maintaining the old charm of organ music. The seventh inning stretch is the best in the majors and the fans are incredible. Wrigley Field stands above the rest in a big way! (P.S. don’t forget the trough’s!)

2] AT&T Park: Home of the San Francisco Giants this is the best new park I’ve been to hands down. In fact, it would be easy to call this the best park because of how beautiful it is. In the background is a beautiful view of the Bay and the Oakland Bay Bridge, McCovey cove is a spectacular innovation with the kayaks waiting for the illusive home run ball, and although it’s not a historical ballpark, it certainly incorporates a tremendous sense of history throughout the stadium. I truly love watching games in this park!

3] New Busch Stadium: It’s hard to admit, but I actually really like the New Busch Stadium. It’s got a great view of the city of St. Louis in the outfield, and the fans are really great. The food is amazing, the seats are great, and it truly is an enjoyable experience.

4] Miller Park: Even though it’s got a retractable roof that makes a horrendous sound, and the biggest piece of history rattling around is an All Star Game that ended in a tie, there isn’t a bad seat in the place! The views are amazing and the 6th inning sausage race is one of a kind. The fans are great as of late (since there’s a team to actually root for) and the design is great for a new stadium.

5] Kauffman Stadium: This is the best stadium from the 70′s that has an amazing outfield view. It probably helps that when I visited Sosa hit 2 homeruns, but it was an exciting place to visit…

6] The Ballpark at Arlington: This is one of the better new parks that I’ve visited. It’s got great outfield seating and has a great “old” ball park feel to it. The fans weren’t spectacular, but the ball park certainly was.

7] US Cellular Field: A space ship has landed on the south side of Chicago. It was poorly designed aesthetically and I’m not really sure what the gigantic lollipops adorning the scoreboard are all about, but they’re not good. The Cell is simply utilitarian and not beautifully designed. It doesn’t connect well with history and although the fans are great and can bring the stadium alive, they can also make a game a real bore and simply sit idly by. A funny note about it’s design: it had to be renovated nearly 10 years after opening because of faulty design. The cost to build=$167 million… the cost of renovation=$118 million. Poor design led to massive costs only 10 years later.

8] Old Busch Stadium: This was perhaps one of the ugliest, stadiums of all-time. I’ve seen several games here, and even though there were some good experiences, the travesty of design and turf can’t outweigh what good times there may have been. The circular design blocked any good views of the city—thankfully that was rectified with New Busch. At least the fans are always into the game! That certainly bumped it up on the list.

9] Great American Ballpark: 16,860. That was the number in attendance the night I went to watch a game at the “Great” American Ballpark. It’s perhaps one of the ugliest “new” parks out there… the steamboat in center field is hideous, the scoreboards are in horrible locations, and the fans just simply don’t have it. It was an okay experience, but the ballpark is one of the worst I’ve been to.

10] Dodger Stadium: There is some good history here in Chavez Ravine, however there’s not much to look at. It’s a hard stadium to navigate your way through and there is simply no view. The fans leave after the 7th inning and there are police officers patrolling the grounds at every corner—not the seemingly family friendly ballpark you might be hoping for.