Thursday, April 05, 2007

2007 Baseball Preview

Baseball’s opening day is a magical day in sports; it has a certain awe about it that the others games just do not possess. Fans of each team pack their respective home fields, brimming with hope and optimism. Whether you’re local team is World Series contender or not, this day brings a sense of excitement with it. Boston and New York fans expect their clubs to be playing deep into October. If you are in Kansas City or Tampa Bay, you watch your team with gleam in your eyes due to young future stars such as Alex Gordon, Delmon Young and B.J. Upton.

For the 2007 season, the American League looks to be the unquestionably dominate league again. You have the usual powers in the East with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. In the Central, we could see a four-team battle for the division crown between the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox. Anaheim seems to be the prohibitive favorite in the West; however, I never count out Billy Beane’s A’s.

The National League does not seem to have any truly dominant teams this season which should make for very competitive races in all three divisions. The Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and New York Mets all seem poised for a run at the East crown, while in Central it should be a five team race with only the Pittsburgh Pirates lagging behind the others. Similarly, I see the NL West being an extremely competitive race with all five teams looking to make a push for first place.

As always, predictions are something to brag about if you are correct and never to be discussed again if you are wrong. In the American League, I like the Red Sox, Indians and Angels to win their divisions while the Yankees grab the wild card. In the Senior Circuit, I see the Mets, Brewers and Diamondbacks to win division titles and the Braves also making the playoffs. After all is said and done, the Cleveland Indians will finally win a long awaited World Series Championship by beating the Milwaukee Brewers.