MLB Predictions

Here they are, my predictions for the 2009 MLB Season:

AL West

Team Record GB

Los Angeles Angels 95-67 --
Texas Rangers 84-78 11
Oakland Athletics 80-82 15
Seattle Mariners 69-93 26


AL Central

Team Record GB

Cleveland Indians 90-72 --
Kansas City Royals 86-76 4
Minnesota Twins 85-77 5
Chicago White Sox 83-79 7
Detroit Tigers 74-88 16

AL East

Team Record GB

New York Yankees 94-68 --
Tampa Bay Rays 91-71 3
Toronto Blue Jays 88-74 6
Boston Red Sox 86-76 8
Baltimore Orioles 70-92 24

Wild Card: Tampa Bay Rays

NL West

Team Record GB

Colorado Rockies 87-75 --
Los Angeles Dodgers 83-79 4
San Francisco Giants 79-83 8
Arizona Diamondbacks 75-87 12
San Diego Padres 70-92 17

NL Central

Team Record GB

Milwaukee Brewers 97-65 --
Chicago Cubs 96-66 1
Houston Astros 88-74 9
St. Louis Cardinals 86-76 11
Cincinnati Reds 81-81 13
Pittsburgh Pirates 78-84 16

NL East

Team Record GB

Philadelphia Phillies 99-63 --
Atlanta Braves 91-71 8
New York Mets 89-73 10
Florida Marlins 82-80 17
Washington Nationals 64-98 35

NL Wild Card: Chicago Cubs

There you have it, let's see what happens 159 games down the road!

The Blue Jays are actually leading their division right now, with a record of 3-1!!! Woohoo!!

Last night, I was down at the Rogers Centre for the match against the Tigers. Brandon Inge's homer in the 6th inning landed in my section, 9 seats away, but I was impeded from making an attempt at grabbing it as I was seated near the aisle, on the other side of where the ball landed.

Also met Zack Hample last night! That was real exciting! Check out his blog, if you don't know who he is. He's authored 2 books, with a third coming, and has nearly 4000 baseballs in his collection. Got him to sign my ticket stub and we had a nice conversation together. You are so cool, Zack!

I wanted to comment on the fan behaviour at the Rogers Centre on Opening Night. If you haven't read the news, the Tigers were pulled off the field in the top of the 8th inning as several baseballs were thrown at the left fielder. There were other projectiles on the field, such as paper airplanes. Jim Leyland felt that the situation was dangerous enough that he decided to pull his team. The fans, who were uninformed of the situation, became rowdy and threw even more things onto the field. It was very chaotic and extremely embarrassing. It doesn't not represent Toronto as a city, and certainly does not represent the Blue Jays fanbase. To be honest, I was shocked at how long the delay was. It was really appalling, and I never hope to see such a thing happen in Toronto, ever again. It's just so immature!

In some sad news today, 22 year old Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart passed away in a car accident mere hours after he shut out the A's through 6 innings. I read the MLB story by Tom Singer and it was very heartbreaking. Think about it. This young kid, with a well-merited spot in the starting rotation of a major league team, comes out one night, shuts down the A's. The next thing you know, he's killed in a hit-and-run. It's beyond sad. May he rest in peace!

-D