Saturday, April 9, 2011

Preseason Predictions One Week Later

Again, I'm one week late to the baseball predictions, so I will jump right into it.

The American League playoff spots: New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox. The National League playoff spots: Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants and Florida Marlins. In the World Series, the Rangers will beat the Phillies. I don't have a surprise AL team because I think there is a team that will surprise us. Despite a 1-7 start, I do think the Red Sox will come back with ease. So unless you don't grasp the concept of sample size, they might be a "surprise team." My disappointing AL team is the Minnesota Twins. My surprise NL team is the Florida Marlins, and my disappointing NL team is the Atlanta Braves.

Awards:

AL MVP: Adrian Gonzalez

NL MVP: Hanley Ramirez

AL Cy Young: Brett Anderson

NL Cy Young: Josh Johnson

Manny Ramirez's Retirement

In a surprising announcement, Ramirez announced his retirement yesterday.

Last year, I compared Ken Griffey Jr's career to Michael Jackson's career. In this analogy, Manny Ramirez has to be Lady Gaga, right?

They're both talked about for their antics but both are powerhouses in their field. Click here for a slide show of Lady Gaga's antics.

This YouTube clip shows the three Manny B. Manny moments, which include him cutting off Johnny Damon's throw and catching a ball, high fiving a fan in the stands and turning the double play.

Manny was one of the greatest hitters in the history of baseball and he has been linked to performance enhancing drugs. He also brought two World Series championships to the Boston Red Sox and created Mannywood with the Los Angeles Dodgers. All of that is part of his legacy, sure, but on this day, it's time to celebrate the funny.