Ahhh, it’s baseball season!!! Spring is in the air, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood are injured yet again (mentally and physically), Barry Bonds is ready to assault baseball’s most hallowed record while under suspicion, the world champ’s manager gets busted for DUI, players are stonewalling a congressional investigation into steroids, the Extra Innings baseball package for TV is now not available to anyone who doesn’t have DirecTV, and Sammy Sosa is trying to make us all forget he was juiced up when he hit 60+ homers for 3 consecutive years.
While I’m not a fan of the Cincinnati Reds, I still think it’s an abomination that they no longer lead off the season. Until a few years ago, it was tradition that the Reds game always had the first pitch of the season. That tradition, like many else, was kicked to the curb in favor of Sunday night games prior to the Monday afternoon Reds games. Hey Bud Selig, it’s Opening DAY, not Opening NIGHT. The first game of the season should be played in the daylight. First, you’re talking about springtime in the north, where even a day game in April can be in the 30s. It makes as much sense as having World Series games bumping up far too close to November and then having those start times be around 8:45 PM, making a game in a northern city an exercise in endurance for those fans who brave the outdoor elements suitable for Monday Night Football.
Second, and it’s strictly a personal preference, but I refuse to acknowledge that the start of a baseball season begins in the evening. I’m sure if King Bud and His Merry Band of Assclowns had their preference, he’d have every Opening Day game start at night to maximize TV revenue.
As for the team I love, the Tigers, I really don’t know how they’re going to do this year. Last year was a nice surprise beyond any Tigers fan’s expectations and it’s going to be hard to return to the playoffs with how tough the AL Central is. It’s nice to see the Tigers return back to respectability, as it was a tough 14 years of mediocrity that tested the patience of this lifelong fan. I put a pox on the Cardinals for ruining the Tigers destiny last year. Now if the Tigers pitchers can simply field the darn ball, this year's offseason might produce better results.
Of course, my adopted NL team has made several huge financial statements in the offseason but this is where I have to tell my Cubs fans friends that this year will be just as much a disaster as last year. With the amount of money they threw at players, you’d think they’d go after someone other than two pitchers (Lilly and Marquis) who barely have above-.500 career records. That’s $40 million down the drain. Jason Marquis was one of the few Braves who clashed with Leo Mazzone during his tenure here. When the best pitching coach in baseball history, who turns moribund careers into All Star appearances, gives up on you after you stop listening to him, he might not be the best person to throw tens of millions of dollars at.
Then you have Alfonse Soriano, baseball’s newest Hundredmillionaire. Sure, the kid can hit but he is one of baseball’s worst fielders. He was rotten at second base and when Frank Robinson moved him to the outfield, he threatened to not play. After coming to his senses, he did make the move to the outfield but his fielding prowess is superior to maybe only Manny Ramirez. So what does new Cub Victim, I mean, manager, Lou Pinella do? He decides he will put him in the most demanding fielding position of all – center field!!! Add the swirling, unpredictable winds of Wrigley and you have a disaster in the making. Also, his hitting is going to drop dramatically at Wrigley too. How long will it take before those homeruns he’s used to getting get held up at the warning track when the wind is blowing in? If he starts the season with a lot of errors and sub-par hitting, how long will it be before he becomes a headcase and the bleacher bums start booing him mercilessly? It’s a recipe for Futility and the Cubs are writing the script.
This is not the year they break The Curse. Next year will be their 100th non-championship season with no end in sight. Signing Mark Prior and Kerry Wood for ANY amount of money this offseason was indicative of how they simply have no clue. Now Wood is on the DL once again and Prior, who is one pitch from the DL too, is playing for the AAA team with no callup in sight unless there’s an injury. How the mighty have fallen. Only the Cubs could have the best 1-2 starting combo in baseball and in 3 short years have both pitchers become irrelevant footnotes in history.
Mark my words, folks. The Cubs won’t finish above 3rd place in the NL Central. Maybe fourth. Lou Pinella, another manager whose reputation was tarnished permanently the second he put on the Cubs hat, will have a heart attack in August on a sunny day at Wrigley when the Cubs are about to lose yet another game and go 30 games below .500.
On a side note, fantasy wise, in every league I'm in, it's amazing how NO ONE wants Barry Bonds even though he'll put up great fantasy numbers. His reputation is so tainted that people won't put him on their FANTASY teams. And this guy is about to tackle baseball's Holy Grail of records?! Will the commissioner even show up when he gets within 1 homerun of the record? If he's on the road, will be be booed when he ties and breaks the record?
Enjoy the 2007 season.