Up since 6:00 am...

I've had a very long day which started with my best attempt at getting prettied up and ended with me regaining consciousness after a Hillsboro Jack in the Box-induced food coma. What happened between is probably worthy of three or four blog entries--at least one of which I'd love to write tonight if I weren't so goddamn tired. I can say I was witness to a New Jersey-sized team ass whoopin' of a surprising scale. Anymore would be too telling out of context. The most important post should be out there for the world to see during the day tomorrow.

Things you can be expecting soon

1. A review of the new Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds record, "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!"
2. A review of the new ('new' being a term of relativity, as it played Sundance in 2007) David Gordon Green film, "Snow Angels".
3. A recap of my first Springsteen concert experience.
4. Possibly a story about what I am going to do the morning before we leave for Dallas for the Springsteen show.
5. A brief history of my bowel movements.
6. Crying about the Royals having lost a third game.
7. More inane observations about random-ass pop culture shit.
8. Lamenting another shitty Chiefs draft.

I'd write one of these things now, but I just got off work and have to be back there in 10 hours, and I'd like to fit a trip to the gym in before I go to work at 12:00 noon.

The Royals are 6 - 2?

All right. Read that again. The Royals are 6 - 2. Go ahead, rub your eyes. Read it again. The Kansas City Royals (a Major League baseball team for those of you who weren't alive in 1985, which was the last time they made the playoffs) have won six of their first eight games. That means their record is six wins and two losses. They have played the Detroit Tigers, the Minnesota Twins (both of those series being on the road), and the New York Yankees (two games into a three-game series). At the onset of this season, most experts would have agreed that two of the three teams that the Royals have played were going to be vying for playoff spots come September.

Now I'm probably getting a little too excited about this all. I am an excitable man. The thing is, I spend most of my time as a sports fan wallowing in misery. I can't enjoy a Chiefs game. I sit there wondering how they are going to lose. And I'm probably more prone to pessimism with football than baseball, but I have never had a moment as an adult where the Royals started playing games, and I thought that maybe, just maybe this team has the depth to keep winning.

Look, I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop. I've been waiting for the pitching to blow up. I didn't start Greinke in my keeper league (keep in mind, I kept him from last year because I thought he'd continue on with what he finished off last season doing) this week because I was convinced the Yankees would destroy him just like they did last season. He shut them down. For eight innings. Seriously.

And their ace hasn't even been as good as he can be. Gil Meche has looked like a very average pitcher. He looked bad against the Twins. Yet we Royals fans find ourselves basking in the glow of a 6 - 2 start. Was one year all the young pups needed? Can Mark Teahen rebound like he seems to be doing? Can Bannister beat down all the BABIP-citing naysayers with seemingly nothing but his wits? Does Zack Greinke keep his head on straight all season?

I guess all of those questions will be answered with time, and as a long-time fan of teams ranging from underachieving to mediocre to fucking terrible, I have to tell myself that these Royals can't really be good.

But can they?

Rediscovering the Past: Brian De Palma, in one word

Hack.

That really does it.

Carrie: Does not hold up well.

Blow Out: Uninteresting, slightly masturbatory sound in film exercise.

The Untouchables: Of the films of his I've seen, this one bothers me the least, if only for the Connery Academy Award. Still fairly uneven. Once Connery is dead (and the film is 21 years old, so I can't imagine I've spoiled much there), the film loses its luster.

Casualties of War: Ugh. Setting out to make a small-scale, thoughtful war film. Does not work in his hands. Coincidentally, Michael J. Fox's worst film. Wait, MJF's worst film was a De Palma film?

Bonfire of the Vanities: Resoundingly panned. From all accounts, a poor adaptation of a well-loved book. A 5.1 on imdb, for whatever that's worth.

Raising Cain: Haven't seen it in years. Thought it was retarded when I was 15. Can't imagine my tastes have changed enough to come around on that one.

Carlito's Way: Also haven't seen it since it came out. I did not care for it. I have friends who like this film who dislike De Palma, so I can't say for sure I'd still dislike this.

Mission: Impossible: First flawed film in a series of flawed films, the second being the most entertaining.

Snake Eyes: See Mission: Impossible? Seeing this is then unnecessary, as they're the same film.

Mission to Mars: Actually saw part of this the other day. Retarded. Didn't even know it was De Palma.

Femme Fatale: There is no reason to ever see this. Trust me.

So, that was more than one word. Sorry. The first one summed it up.

Odds and Sods

Happy Birthday, Aunna. I hope you wake up without a hangover. Remind me to get "Minute by Minute" into your possession.

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Open Letter to Commenters,

If you're ripping on something I say, I get the whole posting without a moniker, but, when you come with gold like:

""Nobody leaves Baby in the corner" that line would be more bad ass if Dirty Dancing were a gangster movie, and Swayze machetes Jerry Orbach to death, then has anal sex with Jenifer Grey, in a corner no less."

I'd like to be able give you mad props. That shit is gold and is exactly the sort of response that I want from my readers. Kudos, whoever you are. Kudos.

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And finally, tomorrow I get re-CPRed. Watch out world because when I give CPR, your unconscious ass is getting the tongue.

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Addendum at 6:45 in the morning:

Scarface--yeah, that Scarface--is one big piece of shit. Pacino is terrible (and I like 70's Pacino). Pfieffer is awful (my friend, Chad, stated the other night that he's never seen anyone be as shitty in a movie as Michelle Pfieffer was in Scarface, and that pronouncement is not far off). It's far too long. It also marks the beginning of the end for Pacino. After Scarface, he still had a nuanced performance or two--Sea of Love comes to mind, but even that allowance is drawn from a vague recollection--but his career became filled with roles in which we were treated to Al Pacino yelling the entire fucking time with little room for anything but his new, loud persona. It's really a damn shame because he's so fucking amazing in the first Godfather film, and maybe I'm drunk (check) and on crack but I don't recall him freaking out and going into some screaming tirade at all in that film. So, I guess if you're reading this Al, you're at a 10, we need you at a 2.

Anachronism

Dirty Dancing is on again. Apparently, the premium channels are going to play this non-stop for as long as Swayze is back in the public eye, what with his unfortunate, on-going bout with cancer. Now I could mention how lame it is that they're not playing Red Dawn or Road House around the clock, both of which are fucking badass, but I'd rather focus on something that just started to irritate me. How the hell does a movie that takes place in the 1950's have a soundtrack largely consisting of music that was recorded in the 1980's? And it's not like these songs were recorded in the 1980's to sound like they were from the 1950's. This is a film with music that is entirely out of place in the setting, marked by the climactic scene being backed by the firmly mid-80's production of "I've Had the Time of My Life". Does this bother only me?

You can't buy class (but you sure as shit can drink it)

So, I'm sitting here watching Brewster's Millions,

as any upstanding citizen would be doing on a Monday at noon, and at one point in the film he's drinking a Miller High Life that he's poured into a glass. In a recent post, I spoke of my affinity for the Champagne of Beers, and despite its bargain basement prices I do think it's a pretty solid beer. Now, that bottle of High Life in the film looks exactly the same as it does now 23 years later. There aren't many things you can say that about. And it's a classy bottle at that. I wish everything was as classy as High Life...

Speaking of class, the little engine that could, the Kansas City Royals, sit tied atop the division one week into the season with a record of 4-2. They did drop two of three in the Dome, but Tomko looked surprisingly good, and Soria struck out the side in an inning for the second time in his four outings this season. Gordon and Teahen have been encouraging so far. Perhaps it is as they go, so go the Royals. Aside from poor outings from Meche and Bale on Friday and Saturday, their pitching has looked very good. And their bullpen has been lights out, with Mahay being the only reliever (not counting Tomko in a relief appearance in the opener) to give up an earned run, and he's pitched 3 1/3 innings. Encouraging signs all around one week into the season.

As a fantasy owner, I got screwed out of two home runs this week. One in my keeper league with the Cardinals opener getting rained out and Pujols getting a home run stolen from him; the other in my Austin league with Carlos Beltran getting robbed of a home run that was called out initially and then the umpires in the infinite wisdom decided to reverse their decision even though upon showing the instant replay their initial call was correct. The Pujols homer being negated cost me a tie in the category and a 6-5-1 win for the week. Color me unhappy, but dems da breaks, I guess.

Can you feel it coming in the air tonight?

Before I start this entry, I should note that I'm having to watch the Royals game archived on MLB.tv* (which is awesome, by the way), but I am irritated with whoever decided to schedule this entire Royals vs. Tigers series for day games. Maybe it was because it's early in the season and nights are cold (?) in Detroit in April. At any rate, I've had to work during every single Royals game thus far, which has seen them roar into the lead in the AL Central while sweeping the pre-ordained entrants to the playoffs those Tigers of the $137 million payroll.

*(Pozterisk?) Why is it that the archived games have the long break in between halves of innings? If someone at MLB.tv is reading this, as I'm sure is the case, that's something that could be fixed...

Now before I get too excited about the Kansas City Royals owning the best record in all of baseball--which is totally true, I just looked it up--I should mention I do not believe that they will go 162-0. They will probably lose a game sometime soon. I'll cry a bit. And then I'll cry some more. But until then, it's now a few days into the baseball season, and the Royals are looking pretty good.

All right, on to the game. Greinke looked a little shaky in the first but that seven pitch second inning was pretty nice. Gathright's running catch on the Clete Thomas fly to the warning track in left center in the first was very nice, too.

As I'm watching the top of the 3rd, TPJ got to a 3-0 count. Do I smell a TPJ walk here? Nope. To his credit, Bonderman did throw three straight strikes...

Now, I know the Royals offense gets going as the game progresses, but so far Mark Teahen is the only Royal to reach base.

I like the comment from the booth about how Jim Leyland believes that Clete Thomas was the most talented guy in the Tigers' minor league system. I wonder if that has anything to do with how they cannibalized that system to win now. And Clete looks foolish on a swing-and-miss on a two-strike count.

Alex Gordon crushed that ball in the 4th. He hit a Bonderman change-up (that one that he's been working on in spring training for the past three years...) pitch 410 feet to the opposite field. And Bonderman has put his third straight runner on base to start the inning. Nice first-to-third for Guillen on Gload's single to right. The Royals have been working counts, getting that pitch count up in the fourth.

Keeping in the spirit of this year's Kansas City Royals, I'm living the High Life right now in the fabled 32 ounce tall boy fashion**.

**(Double Pozterisk?) On a much mentioned road trip with two of my bros, Chad and Mark, we made a discovery of Columbian proportions. Sure, someone had more than likely already been there, and we probably didn't find what we had set out to find, but it was a happy accident without question. At a convenience store in rural West Texas--either Marfa or Alpine--we discovered that Miller High Life came not only in those classy 12 ounce glass bottles, befitting the Champagne of Beers, and those golden 12, 16, and 24 ounce cans, and those large bottles (32 ounces, I think), but it also came in these gargantuan 32 ounce cans. These are not your parents cans. They are quite possibly wider than the Fosters tall boy cans. They are certainly as tall as any 24 ounce tall boy you'll ever see. They are really quite impressive. Almost as impressive as this new Royals squad.

Now Greinke seems to be getting into a little bit of trouble in the fifth. He mishandled a grounder and ended up with Inge and Clete on first and second. He fell behind 3-0 to Polanco. He got out of the inning unscathed, but a bit of a scare there.

Man, Teahen really turned on that pitch fast. It got out in a hurry. Here's to hoping he can build on that and not get stuck with another single-digit home run season. And yes, I took a sip of the High Life there.

Greinke worked around that Magglio double off the wall in deep, deep center with aplomb. Two shallow pop flies, one of which elicited an expletive from close friend of Ugueth Urbina, Ivan Rodriguez, and a routine grounder to Gordon later, and he's out of the inning.

Why does anyone try to run on the arms of Guillen and Teahen? Sheffield looked foolish when he got thrown out trying to stretch a fly ball that dropped between a sliding Teahen and TPJ into a double. Teahen threw him out side-armed and off-balance from his knees. Embarrassing.

All right, so the Royals pitching has been very good so far. The bullpen has given up, what, one run. And while it worries me a bit that Soria has three innings pitched in three games, it does bode well for the team if they're playing close games and possessing the lead late, so I can't complain. The starters have been great so far. Bannister put the naysayers down for another start. Greinke kept the potent Tigers in check and wasn't even really lights out like he can be.

It's really hard for me to temper my excitement. Maybe it's because I know it probably won't last and when the hell else will I get to be this excited about the Royals this year, but I'm feeling like I did in the first few months of 2003.

Can someone please make sure that GMDM doesn't sign Juan Gone in an effort to put them over the top for next season?

2008 Major League Baseball Preview

As mentioned before here is my preview with predictions for this season, which is now upon us...

AL East

1. Boston Red Sox - They're balanced. Their starting pitching should be strong throughout the season, with Josh Beckett factoring into the Cy Young race, and their bullpen will once again be a key advantage for them. While they will surely see a drop-off in production from Mike Lowell and a continuation of the slow degradation of Manny Ramirez's prowess at the plate, those two things should be offset by a full season of Jacoby Ellsbury with the club along with improvements from Pedroia and Youkilis.
2. New York Yankees - Heading back in the right direction with a renewed interest in actually developing talent from within the organization rather than simply going out and buying it, the Yankees are another year away from being able to take the AL East crown back from Boston. Kennedy and Hughes will both be cutting their teeth at the Major League level this year and, as such, will go through some rough stretches. Those two, along with Joba Chamberlain, Robinson Cano, and Melky Cabrera will usher in a new era for the Yankees over the next few years, one in which the Yankees actually return to the glory they had in the late 1990's. This is not the year for them, though, and the aging and increasingly ineffective Mussina, Damon, and Giambi will prove to be even more of an albatross to the team than Jeter's defense.
3. Toronto Blue Jays - Their offense is not particularly impressive, but their starting pitching and their deep bullpen will carry them past Tampa in the standings. Barely. Halladay rebounds, Burnett makes 30 starts, and B.J. Ryan gives them a return on their investment. Dustin McGowan surprises all and wins 16, while striking out 190 with a respectable 3.40 ERA, which garners him a few votes on Cy Young ballots. Vernon Wells recovers some but not enough to get Jays' fans off his back regarding the huge contract he's hung around their neck.
   
4. Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays - Kazmir, Shields, and Garza should prove to be a formidible three, but the back end of their rotation is questionable at best, and their bullpen will experience some shaky stretches as the recently un-retired Percival visits the DL for an extended stint this season. Their offense shows drastic signs of improvement, especially starting in late May, when the Willy Aybar experiment is abandoned for the future in the form of Evan Longoria.
5. Baltimore Orioles - Bringing up the rear (and not letting anyone else get anywhere close to them), the Orioles finish with the worst record in the American League. They are abysmal in every facet of the game, especially after they trade Brian Roberts to the Cubs in early May. Adam Jones and Markakis give the fans a shred of hope for the future, but there seems to be very little to get excited about in Baltimore since the Ravens are not particularly good and The Wire is done.

AL Central

1. Cleveland Indians - Travis Hafner doesn't return to the 2006 level of production he spoiled Cleveland with, but he does right the ship a bit. The starting pitching after Sabathia and Carmona is adequate, but their bullpen carries them with Rafael Perez breaking out in a big way, relishing the set-up role after Betancourt is promoted to closer in the wake of a Joe Borowski injury. The offense picks up where it left off last year, and the Indians win the division by four games.
2. Detroit Tigers - Having decided they would forgo trying to build from within, they sold their souls to become a smaller version of the Yankees, buying talent in the hopes of buying a championship. Renteria's shrinking range causes problems for an already problem-riddled pitching staff, with Willis failing to adjust to the AL, and Rogers spending nearly two months on the DL. Bonderman continues to be inadequate, as does their suspect bullpen.
3. Kansas City Royals - I've already previewed them in detail here.
4. Minnesota Twins - Their stay near the cellar is not a long one, but this season is a rough one for Twins fans as their young pitching staff experiences many ups and downs. Delmon Young plays well but does not save the franchise as some had hoped. Carlos Gomez steals 57 and shows blazing speed but at times struggles in centerfield, costing the Twins more than a couple games with mistakes in the outfield. Joe Mauer's health continues to be a problem.
   
5. Chicago White Sox - While Orlando Cabrera proves to be an upgrade over Juan Uribe, the cost (a league-average innings eater in the form of Jon Garland) is greater than the gain. As was shown last season, they are a team that is getting older, and they have yet to address the issue in a prudent manner. As such, they continue to struggle, lacking any reliable starting pitching past Javier Vazquez or a bullpen that can get them to the 9th consistently.

AL West

1. Seattle Mariners - The tandem of Cy Young Award Winner Erik Bedard and Felix Hernandez dominate, while their remaining starters prove to be effective enough to hold off the Angels. Midseason call-ups Brandon Morrow and Wladimir Balentien prove to be integral to the Mariners winning the West. Richie Sexson manages to get his average over .240, and Adrian Beltre has his best season as a Mariner.
2. California Angels - Health issues with their starting pitchers cause the Angels to rely too heavily on unreliable young starters Joe Saunders and Ervin "Johan" Santana. Their inability to make room on their roster for Brandon Wood continues to frustrate their fans, and when he is packaged with Mathis/Kotchman to bolster their pitching staff and perhaps enhance first base, his bat is lost forever. Their lack of depth in the bullpen with Scot Shields spending a few spans on the DL proves too costly and loses them the division.
3. Oakland Athletics - Sure, Billy Beane sold off much of their talent to build for the future, but they still aren't as bad as the Rangers. Their pitching staff is by no means great, but Harden, Blanton, Street, and Foulke would each be the best pitcher in a Rangers uniform. Harden remains relatively healthy, making 26 effective starts. Their bullpen is a strength for them, and their young offense scores enough to keep them in most games. By the end of the season, the squad begins to gel and they play spoiler to the Tigers and Angels in September, while giving Seattle a scare in the penultimate weekend of the season before giving it away the next weekend.
4. Texas Rangers - Their pitching is awful. Their starters can't bring enough leads to the almost passable bullpen, and their offense--although more potent than most had imagined behind the still surprising Josh Hamilton--is substandard in the competitive AL. Only the Orioles have a worse record in the American League.

NL East

1. New York Mets - While they are not the team everyone predicted them to be with Santana and Martinez (who makes a mere 18 starts), they are still the class of the NL East in the regular season. If by nothing else than a by-product of pitching in the biggest market in the country, Santana wins the Cy Young with a season that is only arguably better than Jake Peavy's. Jose Reyes continues to swing for the fences while neglecting just getting on base. He leads the NL in steals but frustrates SABRmetricians everywhere. Injuries keep the race in the East close, but they manage to close it out with a week to spare. They do not enter the playoffs healthy, though.
2. Atlanta Braves - Francoeur's new strength and a full season with Mark Teixeira have the offense clicking all season long. Yunel Escobar proves to be as effective a table-setter as Edgar Renteria was with more speed, and Jair Jurrjens gives Bobby Cox a legitimate third-starter. Glavine remains a viable fourth starter. Hampton makes 14 starts, which is 14 more than he made last year or the year before. While their middle relief makes for a little more excitement than anyone bargained for, Rafael Soriano makes due until Mike Gonzalez returns, giving him a set-up man worthy of the effort he'd put out up to that point. McCann regains some of his 2006 form and gives them 25 home runs. Chipper is healthy enough to finish third in the MVP voting.
3. Philadelphia Phillies - They miss out on the Wild Card despite a weak September schedule when they're not playing the Braves, who finally thwart them in the final week of the season. Their inconsistent 3-5 starters and the bullpen's tendency to implode costs them when it becomes clear that no matter how good the left side of your infield is defensively, they cannot stop balls from travelling over the fence. Chase Utley proves that he is the true standout on the team, as Rollins comes back down to earth and Howard continues to show that the average he displayed in 2006 was an aberration.
4. Washington Nationals - While finishing well out of the hunt, the enthusiasm surround the new ballpark coupled with the fact that the Marlins are also in this division allow the Nationals to finish in fourth place in the NL East. Their absolute lack of starting pitching is cumbersome, but their bullpen is a true strength. Their young outfield proves to be quite good, and Zimmerman gives Craig T. Nelson and the rest of the District hope for the future of the franchise. While they may not be as talented as the Marlins, they pass them in the standings with smoke and mirrors.
5. Florida Marlins - Their stable of young, injury-prone pitchers like Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen, and Anibal Sanchez simply cannot stay healthy enough to vault the Marlins out of the cellar. Despite their microscopic payroll and their lack of an imposing power hitter, their offense does score runs behind a well-balanced attack led by Hanley Ramirez (who garners enough votes for a 6th place finish in the MVP voting even on as abysmal a team as the Marlins), Dan Uggla, Jeremy Hermida, and Josh Willingham, all of whom finish with more than 25 home runs.

NL Central

1. Milwaukee Brewers - In the division that no one wants to take, the Brewers back into the playoffs. Gallardo comes on strong in June and carries the team along with Manny Parra. Sheets is healthy for most of the second half of the season and makes almost 30 starts, which is 15 more than anyone realistically expected. Gagne doesn't last long in the closer role and after being demoted is shut down for the season with a shoulder injury, but the Brewers have nothing but depth in their bullpen, which proves to save them. Much as they have done the entire season, the offense provides them with just enough to edge out the Cubs when they meet in Milwaukee in the final weekend of the season. Ryan Braun is the NL MVP.
2. Chicago Cubs - Despite underachieving all season, the Cubs find themselves in the race for the playoffs until the final weekend, where they have the chance to catch the Brewers only to squander the opportunity. Their bullpen consistently lets them down. The starting pitching outside of Rich Hill is extremely unpredictable. Kosuke Fukudome and Aramis Ramirez are formidable all year long, but the rest of the offense struggles to score runs with any degree of consistency, despite the addition of Brian Roberts.
3. Cincinnati Reds - Dusty gets them into third place, but not without sacrificing the future of Aaron Harang, who throws 230 innings. Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto start the season well, but begin to tire as Baker rapes their arms. Violently. He manages to squander the talent of ML-ready Jay Bruce until August, when his bat can no longer be ignored. When he gets to play, Bruce tears it up, calling into question once more Baker's ability to manage young players.
   
4. St. Louis Cardinals - Much to my chagrin, Albert Pujols gets shut down in July. Colby Rasmus provides them with some considerable pop, and Ankiel manages to crush the ball when he touches it which is about one of every four at-bats. Carpenter returns and pitches well but sadly doesn't regain his Cy Young form. Troy Glaus proves to have the better season than Scott Rolen making that trade appear to work out well for the Cardinals. La Russa retires at the end of the disappointing season.
5. Houston Astros - Their offense is markedly improved from last season, but not enough to make up for having no pitching staff to speak of. Oswalt's skills continue to deteriorate ever so slightly, as his K-rate dwindles even more. Past Oswalt, their pitchers are so bad (including Jose Valverde, whose ERA barely stays below 4.50) that their offense could score seven runs a game and not finish over .500. And they don't do that.
   
6. Pittsburgh Pirates - What is there to like? McLouth improves a bit. Bay gets his form back. Gorzelanny and Snell pitch well. Their other young hurlers elicit vomitous from Pirates fans.

NL West

1. San Diego Padres - Pitching, pitching, pitching. Peavy is outstanding and finishes a close second in the Cy Young vote. Chris Young is great. Greg Maddux wins 15. Mark Prior learns much under Maddux's wing and stays off the DL upon his return. Their offense is still anemic, especially at Petco, although Kouzmanoff finally plays up to the expectations the club had of him last season when they got him from Cleveland. The bullpen fails to be as effective as last year, but they don't kill them as often as they'd have needed to to cost the Padres the division.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers - Matt Kemp steps up in a huge way, and their pitching keeps them just ahead of the very good Rockies and Diamondbacks. Jeff Kent continues to defy Father Time and produces especially well for a second baseman. Loney doesn't provide the power they'd like from their first baseman, but he gets on base and drives in runs. Andruw Jones is a welcome upgrade from Juan Pierre and is the only Dodger other than Kemp to hit more than 30 home runs. Their lack of power hurts them, as they don't have the pitching that their divisional foes San Diego have.
3. Colorado Rockies - Ubaldo Jimenez and Franklin Morales provide a nice complement to Jeff Francis. Holliday finishes second in MVP voting, with the Rockies contending for the NL West and the Wild Card until the final week of the season. Holliday finishes with 42 dingers to go along with his .319 average and 148 RBIs. Atkins and Hawpe each hit 30+ homers.
   
4. Arizona Diamondbacks - Dan Haren disappoints Phoenicians. His worth does not outweigh his cost, and while he is a solid #2 starter, he is not the #1b starter they had in mind. In any other season, Webb's season would be Cy Young worthy, but Santana and Peavy are otherworldly, making him an afterthought. The offense struggles to consistently score runs, having prolonged droughts from their young hitters, which their offense is too reliant upon.
5. San Francisco Giants - Worst offense ever? Probably. Their team is awful. If it weren't for Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum pitching every few days, they probably wouldn't sell any tickets. Or at least they shouldn't. This team is horrendous.

AL Playoffs

ALDS*
Indians over Yankees (Wild Card)
Red Sox over Mariners

ALCS
Red Sox over Indians

NL Playoffs

NLDS*
Braves (WC) over Padres
Mets over Brewers

NLCS
Braves over Mets

World Series

Braves over Red Sox

Awards

AL MVP Alex Rodriguez
NL MVP Ryan Braun

AL Cy Young Erik Bedard
NL Cy Young Johan Santana

AL ROY Jacoby Ellsbury
NL ROY Kosuke Fukudome

*matchups corrected thanks to the watchful eye of "anonymous"

One down...

So one game's in the books, and the Royals are ahead of the Tigers and White Sox in the standings. I've been meaning to write up a full-on MLB preview (in which the pitching deficient Tigers and White Sox are taken to task), and hopefully that will still happen.

On the first game in the Royals quest to get back to respectability, the Royals came back on Verlander and crew, thanks in large part to a deep homer by George Bre--I mean, Alex Gordon. He also made a great diving catch to preserve their one-run lead in the bottom of the 11th. Tomko entered the game in the 7th and pitched an impressive inning only to give up the game-tying homer to Carlos Guillen in the 8th.

The Royals also ran the bases aggressively, and while Teahen got thrown out at the plate, I like the idea of them putting pressure on the defense to perform well. We all know how pressure on the defense played out for the Tigers two Octobers ago...

Sadly, I had to work during the day, so I could only listen to the game. Not that Denny Matthews is chopped liver or anything, but it would've been nice to see the game...