I've been feeling pretty good about myself lately so I thought this would be a good time to bring myself back down to earth and check out how I'm doing with my preseason baseball picks. Good news, I still suck at the predicting business.
The teams highlighted are the teams I've picked correctly. Pretty piss poor. As our old friend Jack Brickhouse used to say, "The teams leading on June first usually, usually, go on to win the title." If that is the case then I will have predicted exactly two winners.
I have Chicago beating Tampa for the American League title and as of today the White Sox will not be in the post season. It's not any better in the National League where I have Philadelphia beating Los Angeles and the Phillies are on the outs right now. Which means my White Sox/Phillies World Series will not be happening.
The door is still open on my three post season award selections however. Bobby Witt Jr. and Seiya Suzuki are still in the running for Rookie of the Year. Mike Trout and Mookie Betts are leading the MVP races. Cy Young is wide open with my Shane Bieber and Walker Buehler picks in the top five or ten.
The White Sox, Rays, and Cardinals still have a chance to make a run and end up winning their divisions but the Phillies are 12.5 games behind and have zero chance of catching the Mets. It is too early to say on the wild card slots so there may be hope there for me still.
Obviously injuries and surprise players have a hand in what is happening so far. The White Sox for example, have had almost their entire starting team on the IL at one point or another this season. That certainly hasn't helped them.
What is clear is that the beloved on the Northside are a complete mess.
I see the Cardinals, Dodgers, Rays, and Twins have competitive teams season after season and wonder what the hell are the Cubs doing? Why can't they keep rolling out sound teams season after season like these other guys? I'll give you the Dodgers spending money like drunken sailors but the others are all small market teams with limited revenue streams and yet they find a way to always have a solid ball club.
It is really discouraging and after sixty-eight years it is starting to wear me down. In fact, I will admit, that I am becoming a fan of the Padres and Angels with every game played. I actually turned off the Cubs game the other day to watch the Padres.
(On a side note. The experts in three sports all agree that the three worst teams in their respective sports are the Cubs, Bears, and Blackhawks. Finally Chicago has something to be proud of. The worst franchises in the world.)
Anyway, we'll see how this season plays out for my picks. The good news is that in spite of my poor choices baseball has some really exciting players to watch this year and the games have been very entertaining so far. Plenty of good pitching, some great defensive plays, and exciting walk-off wins.
Chicks no longer dig the long ball, they're back to what they always have loved. Young athletic men with lots of money.
And honestly, who doesn't?
Comments