Prediction '09: Toronto Blue Jays

I always predict the Jays to do better than they end up doing. They had one great season in 2006 in which they came in 2nd place. As for now, the Jays have to stick to their game. They lost pitcher A.J. Burnett to the Yankees. But I don’t feel as though this is a big lost, seeing he was hurt practically every year (10 times on the DL in his 10 seasons). Injuries to Aaron Hill and Vernon Wells also hurt their line-up. But Doc Halladay returns as one of the most dominant pitchers in the league. If the Blue Jays can find some other pitching power, they may have a chance to win a few games.

Highlights: The Jays have a great bullpen. BJ Ryan is coming into this season healthy and is backed by some superb throwers including: Scott Downs, Jesse Carlson, Brian Wolfe, and Brandon League. Roy Halladay is a workhorse that never quits. Look forward to more complete games than any other pitcher.
Question Mark: Scott Rolen is coming off a great September. But he has been plagued with injuries. Hopefully he can perform anywhere near what he used to.

Key to Success: Lyle Overbay, Wells, Alex Rios, and Adam Lind are all great players that have proven themselves before. If they can stay healthy and put up some runs for a questionable rotation, the Jays will win some games.

Prediction: 4th Place

Predictions '09: Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore Orioles- Last year was the first time the O's had been in last place in over 5 years. They had consistently out-played the Tampa Bay Rays. But now that the Rays have proven that they aren't a for sure win, the O's are in even more trouble. They definitely have the weakest team in the American League East. I'm not even accounting for how tough this division is. With the Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays alone, you are in for some trouble.

Highlights: Nick Markakis is flourishing into a yearly All Star. Watch out for his numbers. George Sherrill returns as the bullpen's closer. We'll see if last year was just a fluke.

Question Mark: The Oriole line-up features a lot of mediocre players. Melvin Mora, Brian Roberts, and Aubrey Huff are all players that need to have career years if the Orioles will want to stay out of last place.

Key to Success: The young rotation has to prove themselves. Jeremy Guthrie, Koji Uehara, Garrett Olsen, and Matt Albers are all pitchers that haven't proven themselves capable. Mark Hendrickson was signed to add a little bit of veteran presence.

Prediction: 5th Place

2009 MLB Preview Coming Soon!

March has to be one of the most exciting times for sports fans. And no I'm not talking about March Madness. I'm talking about baseball season! Predictions, predictions, predictions... Now is the time for all of us analysts to come out swinging and try and predict who's gonna win it all.

I know that when Christian and I were doing Baseball Talk, the TV show, we loved this month. So for the next few weeks, all the way up to the first pitch, BT is going to be giving you our predictions.  Each week, we'll be going through the divisions and giving you a run-down on who we think is the best and the worst.  Which players will continue to thrive? Will there be another cinderella story? Can this or that player repeat?

Look forward to the next few weeks and keep checkin back!!!

peaceloveBASEBALL

phil

Phil's Top Phive Phantasy Players, and some not so sure about...

Albert Pujols: Mr. Consistent put up another season of big numbers in 2008. After a few people doubted his return to greatness after an elbow injury, he came back to win the National League MVP. Why you should get Albert: No matter what, his numbers will be good. His average is always in the top of the NL. He hits for power but also doesn’t strikout. Last season he walked 2 times to every K. He’ll also throw in a few stolen bases from time to time. Look forward to another monstrous season from Pujols because the sky really is the limit!

Grady Sizemore: Speed, Power, Average, and the ability to drive in runners are all key factors when selecting a fantasy player. If one player contains all four categories, he’s a winner. If one player can excel at all four categories, he is a must-have threat. Grady is just that. I picked up Sizemore at the start of last season and was not disappointed. A slower start made me second guess my pick, but in the end this 26 year old proved me wrong. He is entering the prime of his career and his number (SB, HR, and RBIs) have increased over the past three seasons!

Jose Reyes: Here is another player that combines speed and some power to rack up the points. Although Jose has decreased his RBI and Run production over the past 2 seasons, he is still a threat on the bases. His SB numbers were also down in ’08. But if 56 swipes is down, then there is nothing wrong with that. Look for a bounce back season for Reyes. He will likely steal over 60 bases and score more runs than ever before. The Mets are hungry for a championship and will look for Jose to lead them off each and every game of the season.

David Wright: Another 26 yr old and another Met makes my top 5 list. Wright has consistently put up 100 RBI/ .300 avg seasons. He is the next A-Rod (minus the steroids hopefully). The Mets line-up is always a threat so David will get his share of RBIs. His Slugging Percentage is always above .500 which means more points for you. He can also steal a base. Only swiping 15 in ’08, down from 34 in ’07, David will likely be looking for more steal signals this year. Unless an injury occurs, Wright will likely be an All-Star for your Fantasy Team as well as in the Mid-Summer Classic.

CC Sabathia: I decided to give my top pitcher as my #5 guy. CC won the Cy Young award in 2007 and was almost as good last year. With 17 wins and 251 strikeouts, he clearly was lights out. We’ll see how the spotlight of Yankee Stadium affects him, but look forward to a low era 

and lots of missed swings. His ERA will likely rise a little bit from his 2.70 era last year. This is because he is back in the AL where batters tend to rough up the pitchers a little more. When looking for pitchers, you want to keep your eye on the strikeout total as well as the win total. Also, look

 out for save totals. If you can get a couple good closers on your rosters, you’ll be set for a good season.

Players that I’m iffy about:

Josh Hamilton: we’ll see if there’s such thing as a sophomore slump for this break out stud.

Tim Lincecum: Don’t go spending all your hard-earned money on this young pitcher. I’d wait until next season to see if he lives up to his first real season.

BJ Upton: His numbers have gone up and down like a roller coaster over the past 3 years.

Ryan Braun: Two great seasons, will there be a third.

2009 Season: Here We Come!

Hey everyone! Whatsup baseball lovers from across the world?!

Is everyone excited about the new season of Baseball. I know I am. Not only do we have another season coming up, but we also have the 2nd edition of the World Baseball Classic.

I'm not going to ramble on too much. But I do want to say that I will try and get back to blogging more often. I know Christian and I kind of dwindled out at the end of last year.  But we are energized and ready to go again!

Look forward to more posts including:

A preview of the 2009 Season

A look at Fantasy '09

Whats going on in our lives...

And Much More!

Check back and spread the word!

PeaceLoveBaseball

Phil

Angels Clinch

So its been a while since my last post. I guess thats what college does to you. I've been busy trying to juggle work, classes, different clubs, PeaceJam, and hanging out here at LMU. Its been a wild ride the past few weeks watching the Angels. 

They were the first team in the MLB to clinch a post season spot doing it the earliest ever, in their history. A week later, Frankie "K-Rod" Rodriguez finally surpassed Bobby Thigpen as the saves record holder, single season. He just got his 58th save two days ago.

Now we look towards the other divisions where not one team has yet clinched. A lot of people have been wondering if this is a good thing for the Angels, who may lose some of that momentum going into the post season. But I have faith that this will be a good break for the Angels. They will be rested up, their pitchers will have their arms fully healed, and they can come up with a plan to get to and win the World Series. Post-season starts in October! Get ready for some action. 

Congrats to Carlos Zambrano and his no-hitter this past week!

PeaceLoveBaseball

Phil

Labor Day Dodger Game

First weekend back at college! Wooh! It is a common thing that occurs each year: freshmen expecting parties up and down the neighborhood streets of Westchester every day. But this doesn't always happen. Thankfully all the Frats and other groups eased us college kids into the 2008-2009 college year. 

But us sophomores (oh yah) and upper class students learned that doing our own thing is usually better than trying to squeeze into a Kappa Sigma Alpha Beta Theta Pi Lacka Cacka party rampant with freshman looking for a taste of college life. So I hung out Friday night, went for a skate with some friends. Saturday we explored the halls of McCarthy. Sunday morning I road 55 miles home on my bike. And Monday, I went to the Dodger Game with 40 other LMUians. 

I don't know about your college, but when I took a tour here at LMU, back in my senior year, they promoted the place like no other. Parties, clubs, events, school trips, fun, fun, fun, oh and a good education. But once I got here, I was a little

 bummed to not see all of those things that got me to enroll here. Really, you just have to take a look around. I went to Cirque du Soleil last year, and it was amazing. This year, when I was moving in, I saw a sign that read "Dodger Game, Labor Day, 7 bucks."

Now I am no Dodger fan. But 7 bucks for transportation and a ticket into the game. Now that's a deal. So my friends James, B

rian, Garrick, Chelsea, and a few others snagg

ed some tickets and looked forward to seeing a Manny Ramirez for the first time in a person, as a Dodger. The Game itself was pretty exciting in the first few innings and then slowed down as Greg Maddux and Chris Young of the San Diego Padres began to settle down. It was 5-2 by the 4th inning.

I snapped some pictures with my cell phone to show you where our seats were. Heck Yah MAN! Bleacher seats! If you sit anywhere in Dodger stadium, if you want the full experience, its all about the bleacher seats! I can remember my mom taking my sisters and I to a Dodger/Angel pre-season game when I was about 6 or 7 years old. Back then, seeing the true Blue Dodger fans banging their wooden bats on the benches and yelling at the opposing players, was a little frightening. But now, it was quite fun. It kept my attention to the game anyways. The beach balls and cat calls were fun to watch. Especially seeing all the fans play keep away from the poor usher. The fans get really into it out there in the bleachers. They booed the Padres fans, they yelled at the one guy who wore an Angel hat (later in the game, he had removed it), and called to the point of harassment at the Padres left fielder, Headley. I saw at least 4 groups of fans get kicked out of the game by LAPD. We did the wave once, started by one guy with a rolled up poster. But after that, 4 guys tried to start it almost every inning and failed every time.

*Just a not of advice from a baseball fan. Try to do the wave once, if it doesnt work, at least wait 2 innings before trying again. I don't want a relaxing game to turn into a buns and thighs work out.

I enjoyed the game and the Dodgers won. I haven't called myself a Dodger fan since the days of Mike Piazza. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the game at one of base

balls most fun stadiums. But now I turn back to the Angels, on the verge of clinching the Western Division. K-Rod is almost at 57 saves, currently with 53. Injuries are a question, but their pitching is unstoppable. Saunders needs a win, stuck on 14 for far too long. Wish we had gotten Eckstein back in red. YAH!

First week of college is done! It is awesome! Come visit! Email us! Thanks for voting on our poll, a new one will be up shortly!

Phil