Day 2 - Opening day

After the 10+ hr bus ride, I arrived in NY around 8 am. I dropped my stuff off at the hotel, and found a diner to get some brunch, then it was off to the ballpark. I arrived just as they were opening the gates. The bad news was the tarp was on the field b/c it had been lightly raining all morning. As I walked out to the field, I realized how special it was to be here where so many of the game’s greats once played. Its sad that they are moving, the stadium is still in good shape, the concourse can be a bit of a squeeze at points but other than that you can’t complain. Well, unless you are the owner and decide you need more luxury suites.

With the rain falling there is no activity on the field, so I spent my time walking all the levels of the concourse and took in several different views of the field. As game time approached they announced the bad news that the start of the game would be delayed. Fans were getting so restless for the game to start they even gave a huge ovation to Jays players. It was Downs, Tallet and Burnett who got the ovation when they came out of the dugout to play catch. After several updates still staying they would try to play the game they eventually called the game around 2:30. The funny thing about the timing was that it just stopped raining about 5-10 mins prior to the announcement. Of course they said the weather reports indicated they would not have time to fit in a game, plus I guess you could argue the OF grass would be pretty wet.

One of the many things I thought about during the rain delay was how much extra money this was generating the Yankees. Now I for one never buy concessions at the ballpark, but many do. Well you have 50,000+ at the ballpark for at least an hr and a half and the large majority had been there around 3.5 hrs, all the while drinking beers and munching on various snacks. Well once they cancel the game that just means 1 more game to sell concessions. Now whether this has anything to do with how long they took to officially cancel the game, I don’t know, but it certainly would be a wise business move.

So after the game it was back to the hotel to officially check in and then I went out for a walk and picked up some supper before calling it an early night, by my standards at least, to catch up on the sleep I didn’t get on the bus.

Day 1 - Mar. 30/08

My travels begin with an overnight bus ride to New York. Did my best to get some sleep, but wasn’t too successful.

2008 Season Preview - Part 2

2008 Awards

AL MVP: Contenders (Alphabetical) – Miguel Cabrera, Vladimir Guerrero, Travis Hafner, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Vernon Wells.
Winner: Rodriguez

NL MVP: Contenders – Prince Fielder, Matt Holliday, Hanley Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, Chase Utley, David Wright
Winner: Fielder

I’ve split the Cy Young contenders into 3 categories, C1 – The usuals, C2 – If only they could stay healthy (or are starting the year hurt), C3 – Young arms ready to break out or have yet to show it for more than one season

AL Cy Young:
C1 – Josh Beckett, Roy Halladay, C.C. Sabathia, Justin Verlander
C2 – Erik Bedard, A.J. Burnett, Rich Harden, Scott Kazmir
C3 – Fausto Carmona, Felix Hernandez, Dustin McGowan, Jered Weaver
Winner – Felix Hernandez

NL Cy Young:
C1 – Dan Haren, Roy Oswalt, Jake Peavy, Johan Santana, Brandon Webb, Carlos Zambrano
C2 – Tim Hudson, Ben Sheets
C3 – Matt Cain, Cole Hamels, Aaron Harang
Winner – Carlos Zambrano

I don’t make ROY predictions b/c I haven’t seen enough of them play to make a judgement of my own.

For manager of the year it is really based on how the team does and since the manager has little effect on that (I say + or – 5 wins net in a season) is it worth picking. Just because a team finishes in last place doesn’t mean the manager is bad. Who is to say that the manager on the worst team didn’t actually help them on a net basis win a couple games, whereas the manager on the best team may actually have cost his team a couple games.

Now for the less commonly predicted awards at the beginning of the season.

Gold Gloves – These are how I would vote for them, not necessarily who I think will win as we all know offence is taken into consideration as well as reputation.
Note: I pick my OF’s by their actual position rather than a general OF category

AL
C – Ivan Rodriguez
1B – Lyle Overbay
2B – Aaron Hill
3B – Adrian Beltre
SS – Adam Everett
LF – Carl Crawford
CF – Vernon Wells
RF – Nick Markakis
P – Shaun Marcum

Yes I have 4 Blue Jays, and I could have easily had 5 if not for Rolen`s injury, but I stick to it. Maybe it just comes from watching these guys play everyday. Of course it is hard to go wrong with any of Wells, Suzuki, Hunter, or Sizemore in CF so I side with the Jay.

NL
C – Yadier Molina
1B – Mark Teixera
2B – Orlando Hudson
3B – Pedro Feliz
SS – Jimmy Rollins
LF – Eric Byrnes
CF – Carlos Beltran
RF – Jeff Francoeur
P – Greg Maddux

Silver Sluggers
AL
C – Victor Martinez
1B – Justin Morneau
2B – Robinson Cano
3B – Alex Rodriguez
SS – Derek Jeter
LF – Delmon Young
CF – Grady Sizemore
RF – Alex Rios
DH – Travis Hafner

NL
C – Russ Martin
1B – Lance Berkman
2B – Chase Utley
3B – David Wright
SS – Hanley Ramirez
LF – Matt Holliday
CF – Carlos Beltran
RF – Matt Kemp
P – Carlos Zambrano

2008 Season Preview - Part 1

Here are my predictions for the standings this season with a few notes on each team

AL East
TOR – I’m tired of everybody saying if healthy, you can say that about every team so on paper I like the Jays to take the division
NYY – They may run out of innings at the end of the season if they stick to the limits on their young pitchers, but there offence can carry them through the regular season.
BOS – I think this team played over their heads last season (how many people picked them last year?) and when the only major addition is replacing Coco Crisp with Jacoby Ellsbury, this team will not repeat.
TB – Great young talent, finally have some quality pitching to go with the offence, should come close to .500
BAL – In this division, will lose more than 100

AL CENTRAL
CLE – Need Hafner to bounce back, and Carmona to repeat his breakout season. Have great pitching depth in rotation and bullpen
DET (Wild Card) – We all know about their offence, but the bullpen will blow way too many games.
MIN – No staff anchor to lead all the young arms, offence should be improved with Delmon Young.
CWS – Will be better than last year, but that’s not saying much
KC – Taking baby steps towards respectability

AL WEST
LAA – Injuries to Lackey and Escobar make this division race a lot closer, will need Kendrick to perform up to his abilities to improve their offence from last year
SEA – This team just screams out mediocre to me, but Bedard and Hernandez could be deadly up top.
TEX – Same old story, not enough pitching
OAK – Can Beane successfully rebuild this team yet again?

NL EAST
PHI – Really like the offence, but not sure Lidge is the answer to their closer
NYM – Santana will be up to his usual tricks, but with their starters will need to heavily rely on middle relief
ATL – Could be good enough to make it a 3 team race, but need 1 more year out of Smoltz and Glavine
FLA – Have a few nice young prospects, but when your opening day starter is Mark Hendrickson, that’s not a good sign
WAS – New ballpark is the only exciting thing about this team

NL CENTRAL
MIL – Great cast of young players ready to take the next step, need Gagne to be like he was in TEX not BOS
CHC (Wild Card) – Will have to sort things out in the bullpen. Curse will live on past the century mark
CIN – Some of the top rated prospects reside with this team, but I don’t think Dusty Baker was the right choice for this team
HOU – Rotation has too many questions beyond Oswalt
PIT – Have some intriguing arms in the rotation that could make them better than most expect
STL – Even a fully healthy Pujols isn’t enough for this team

NL WEST
ARI – Young players have another year under their belt, making this team that much better
LAD – Have a good mix of veterans and young players, if only they can get along
SD – Need to find someone to help carry the offensive load with Adrian Gonzalez
COL – Required an amazing stretch to get into the playoffs last year, well no such miracles this year
SF – At least they still get to watch Cain and Lincecum every 5 days

I’m not big on picking playoffs, but if I have to, I’ll show my bias and say Toronto over Arizona.