So now that the Super Bowl has come and gone…(stupid Ravens)…it is time to move on to the next sport. There are just seven more days until pitchers and catchers have to report to Spring Training. And I cannot wait. Baseball is my favorite sport. For some reason, I have this connection to baseball. I just love everything about baseball. I love the rules, the sounds, the emotions. Now, 2013 is going to be a great year for baseball. First up is the third installment of the World Baseball Classic. The Classic brings together all the best players from several countries in a tournament to determine who will be the best. The best part of the Classic is that a lot of players get to play with their homelands. It is also the best chance to see the best talent the world has to offer and bring them over to America in a few years. 4 years ago, Japan won their second title in as many tournaments. The WBC begins in a few weeks and will help end the gap of seeing our favorite players playing in games that are important rather than just spring training games.
I am also looking forward to seeing what will happen in the major leagues this year. There are some new powerhouses. There is a huge drug scandal that could potentially change the game forever. But let’s leave that to the legal experts.
My predictions for the MLB 2013 Season are as follow. I will provide a more in-depth analysis over each division in the coming days:
AL East Champ: Tampa Bay
AL Central Champ: Detroit Tigers
AL West Champ: Oakland Athletics
AL Wild Card (1): Toronto Blue Jays
AL Wild Card (2): Los Angeles Angels
NL East Champ: Washington Nationals
NL Central Champ: St. Louis Cardinals
NL West Champ: San Francisco Giants
NL Wild Card (1): Atlanta Braves
NL Wild Card (2):
NL: Wild Card Winner: Cincinnati Reds
AL Champ: Tampa Bay
NL Champ: Washington
World Series Champ: Tampa Bay
That’s right. I believe that Tampa Bay has the best shot of winning the World Series. But this is not a sure bet by any means. A lot has to go right. The Rays play in the toughest division this year and I expect there to be a blood bath. But as it stands right now, they are one of the top two teams in the division. Tampa has the right mix of good pitching and their usually questionable offensive will improve a lot when Wil Myers joins the team sometime this spring.
Now for the Major League Baseball Awards:
AL MVP: Mike Trout
NL MVP: Matt Kemp
AL RoY: Wil Myers
NL RoY: Can’t really say yet
AL Cy Young: Justin Verlander
NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw
I can’t wait for this season to start. It’s been a long winter and I know things are going to get really interesting really fast.
