Baseball picks and basketball champs

Technically, baseball officially began last night. But there’s a reason everybody looks forward to Opening Day, not Opening Sunday Night. It’s because there isn’t much better than the first Monday in April, with first pitches and top prospects debuting all across the country, followed by the NCAA basketball title game at night. Personally I can’t figure out what I’m going to do around 8 p.m. this evening, when Cubs-Astros will be reaching the sixth or seventh inning and the Heels and Spartans are about to tip off. Oh, time will tell.

Anyways, before the 162 game marathon had its starting gun shot off, here are my baseball picks, with my obvious caution of not wanting to mock the Gods like the New York Times did. (Seriously, do you want to know why newspapers are dying? Because they have writers like Tyler Kepner, who ignore all intelligence and history by choosing the Royals to win the AL Central and the Cubs to win the World Series. Those picks would be the equivalent of the Miami Herald endorsing Ron Paul for President or my man Roger Ebert at the Sun-Times giving four stars to a movie staring The Girls Next Door.)

Also, scroll down for a brief NCAA title game preview.

AL
East- Boston
Central- Minnesota
West- Anaheim
Wild Card- Cleveland

Pennant winner- Anaheim

I’m not at all on the Yankees bandwagon: too many old players, too many innings on the arm of CC Sabathia, too much pressure to succeed in the new Stadium. Same with the Rays, who I doubt have the pitching to keep up with Boston out East. In the Central, I really like Cleveland’s team, but there is something about the Twins that always succeed (Oh yeah, it’s called not overpaying for players and filling holes with talented young guys instead of high priced vets), so I’m putting them both in the playoffs. The West should be Anaheim ’s, though watch out for the Rangers, if they ever get any sort of pitching, they could surprise due to their insanely loaded lineup. In the end, I really have no reason to pick the Angels, but it just seems like their time again (I’m banking on a huge year from third basemen Chone Figgins, one of my favorite players in the AL ).

NL
East- Philadelphia
Central- Cubs
West- LA
Wild Card- New York

Pennant Winner- Philadelphia*

*You know who I want to pick, but the jinx potential is too strong

First off, I’ll discuss the only real important division: the NL Central. Everybody and their mother is picking the Cubs to win this thing, and deservingly so. They won 97 games last year, had the league’s best lineup, one of the best pitching staffs, and in some ways, got better over the winter. Still, like any real Cubs fan, I have concerns. One, I’m hoping the seasons out of Ryan Dempster, Ryan Theriot and Geovany Soto were not just career years. Two, they need to make sure they escape the injury bug, because the loss of Mark DeRosa really kills their versatility. Three, they can’t be complacent, thinking that the division is theirs for the taking; they must earn it. I think Sweet Lou can handle the third one, but that doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to worry. Finally, beware of St. Louis and Cincinnati , I think both squads could be dangerous if their pitching is as good as advertised. The Brewers, who have no pitching, will not be a contender this season.

In the East, I’ll take the defending champs in a toss-up with the Mets. The edge goes to Philly due to the fact that New York has blown division leads twice in two years. Still New York should be strong, and the addition of 73-year old Gary Sheffield only helps. Out West I really wanted to take somebody other than LA, but I’m not sure anybody else is good enough. The Giants and D-Backs have pitching, the Rockies have hitting, and the Padres are just horrible. Because of that, the Dodgers take it.

World Series- Anaheim over Philadelphia

There hasn’t been any back-to-back World Series champs this decade, and I don’t see it starting now. Expect the Angels to pick up another key player at the trade deadline this year, carrying them to a championship. MVP of course is the monster, Vlad Guerrero.

NCAA Final:

Every bone in my body wants Michigan State to win. I support Big Ten teams, I’d be nice to see something positive related to the state of Michigan and oh year, I win my pool and like $120 bucks of Sparty pulls it off. So Go Green, Go White! Too bad I don’t think they got a shot. North Carolina is just so good on offense, there is almost nothing that a team like MSU, who is great on D, can focus on and say ‘If we shut so-and-so down, we win.’ You take out Lawson, Ellington (or as I say Michael Redd, Jr.) steps up. You take out Ellington, and Handsbrough does work down low. You take out Psycho-T, and Danny Green is hitting threes. Their offense is better than the ’05 National Champs, and that squad had four players drafted in the Lottery. Tom Izzo won’t let his team get blown out like what happened in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge, but at the end of the night, Roy Williams and his squad will have their One Shining Moment. North Carolina 78, Michigan State 70