Opener’s eve predictions

The Phillies were kings of the baseball world in 2008. Who will de-throne them in 2009?

Fans across the country got their first glimpse of regular season baseball tonight with Atlanta’s 4-1 victory over World Champion Philadelphia and tomorrow, the season will arrive in full swing for everybody. But following tomorrow’s games, teams will have played just one of 162 games.

When all is said and done, when the final pitch has been thrown and when summer turns to fall turns to winter again, who will be the triumphant ones, the dejected ones, the ones who take home the accolades, the ones who take home one more year of championship hunger. These are my predictions:

National League West Standings:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

2. San Francisco Giants

3. Arizona Diamondbacks

4. Colorado Rockies

5. San Diego Padres

National League Central Standings:

1. Chicago Cubs

2. St. Louis Cardinals

3. Milwaukee Brewers

4. Houston Astros

5. Pittsburgh Pirates

6. Cincinnati Reds

National League East Standings:

1. Philadelphia Phillies

2. New York Mets (wildcard)

3. Atlanta Braves

4. Florida Marlins

5. Washington Nationals

American League West Standings

1. Texas Rangers

2. Anaheim Angels

3. Oakland Athletics

4. Seattle Mariners

American League Central Standings:

1. Detroit Tigers

2. Minnesota Twins

3. Cleveland Indians

4. Chicago White Sox

5. Kansas City Royals

American League East Standings:

1. Boston Red Sox

2. Tampa Bay Rays (wildcard)

3. New York Yankees (yeah, I said it)

4. Baltimore Orioles

5. Toronto Blue Jays

Divisional Series Matchups:

Dodgers def. Mets

Phillies def. Cubs

Rays def. Tigers

Red Sox def. Rangers

League Championship Series Matchups:

Red Sox def. Rays

Dodgers def. Phillies

World Series:

Dodgers def. Red Sox (Note: all bias was put aside in making this selection)

Now onto your hardware…

MVP’s:

Ryan Braun (MIL) and Miguel Cabrera (DET)

Cy Youngs:

Jair Jurrjens (ATL) and Jon Lester (BOS)

Rookies of the Year:

James McDonald (LA) and Matt Weiters (BAL)

Managers of the Year:

Bruce Bochy (SF) and Ron Washington (TEX)

Ringelberg fends off defeat, downs yours truly

How many times have you been sitting on your leather armchair recliner —  a bag of chips in one hand and a can of soda in the other — watching your favorite sports team? Someone makes a terrible blunder, an obvious fundamental lapse.

“Come on,” you scream through a mouthful of mini-donuts, careful not to drop crumbs on the carpet or spill on your sweatpants. “Even I can do better than that!”

Umm, sorry. No you can’t.

Not that I have ever had such a moment with Emmilee Ringelberg, the former Pierce College forward who came within a single vote of the Western State Conference North division MVP award in 2008. In fact, quite the contrary. In my limited time covering Pierce basketball, she has been one of the most talented players I have seen take the court. So I decided to see how I measured up in a little game of one-on-one.

Final score: Ringelberg – 5, George – 4.

I’ll be honest. I had no faith that I would even get a shot off without it being swatted to the floor. One of Pierce’s assistant coaches even questioned my sanity in making the challenge. He claimed that I should consider it a victory if I got just one point. I agreed.

Yes, it’s true that that I jumped out to the early 2-0 lead, but under strict instruction from assistant coach Ralph Wesson to not hurt herself, she wasn’t about to go all-out until she had to. When I laid the ball up for the 4-2 lead (she wasn’t guarding me because her sandal fell off), it was on. Try as I might, I could not keep her away from the hoop. She muscled past me for three straight layups and came away with the victory.

We shook hands like classy competitors always do and as she walked out the door, she offered some parting words:

“You’re a better shooter than you think,” she said.

So let’s break down the matchup by each facet of the game:

Shooting:

According to Ringelberg herself, I was actually the better shooter. Most of my shots were taken from the vicinity of the free-throw line, and while four went in, the rest landed somewhere around Bob Lofrano’s office. For some reason, however, the outside shots didn’t seem to fall for her. Most of hers were taken from underneath the basket and due to a significant height advantage, those layups usually went in.

Rebounding:

Umm…next.

Defense:

My only defensive strategy was as follows: try and guard Emmilee without getting leveled. The latter worked and so did the former for a short amount of time, but when she turned it on, there was no stopping her. If she wanted at the basket, she was getting at the basket. Not exactly like I’m going to get a block in the paint. Her defense was a little more solid. The only time I got inside the paint was when I stepped on her foot and she had to tend to her shoe. Other than that, she was in lockdown mode. If I was going to get the best of her, I was going to have to do it with jumpers. Even though current Brahma Mikala Pride taught me the basics of shooting a basketball, it was not enough to put me over the top.

So what have I learned today? Probably that I can beat somebody my own age while they’re going at 100-percent, but playing somebody at the next level, hell, she could have just rolled out of bed and the result would have been the same. I tip my cap to Emmilee for a game well-played.

When’s the re-match, Em?

Do you smell what the Sheff is cookin’?

Kicked out of Detroit, where will Sheffield land?

He’s one of the most feared hitters of the current era, even at age 40.

He’s one home run shy of the prolific 500 mark.

He’s finally healthy again.

He has $14 million left on his contract.

And now he’s unemployed.

Answer me this: How many people did Gary Sheffield have to alienate to actually have the Tigers release him? A perennial power hitter complimenting Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera on the verge of history and taking up a significant amount of payroll space, and they cut him?

Sure he’s a horriffic clubhouse presence, and we saw how unloading the “bad guys” in Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes worked out for Tampa Bay last year, but Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes didn’t carry $14 million in baggage. They didn’t even carry $1 million in baggage.

Sure he’s got the steroid era working against him, but with a new name coming out seemingly each passing day, everyone’s a suspect now. If teams released every tainted (or supposedly tainted) player, Curt Schilling would be the last man standing and he just announced his retirement.

You can’t make the argument that the Tigers are in the process of a salary dump because the team that picks him up is only obligated to pay him the minimum, Detroit assuming the remainder. So unless Sheffield said something dirty about general manager Dave Dombrowski’s mother or Marcus Thames paid off the front office to send Sheffield packing, there is absolutely no reason to make this move.

But now that the Sheff is a free agent, where can he wear out his welcome next? He has expressed interest in joining either of the Florida teams, but Tampa already signed their right-handed bat in Pat Burrell and are generally unwilling to take on players with Sheffields…er…persona.

The Marlins could be a decent fit. If Jeremy Hermida or Cody Ross go down or Cameron Maybin falters, Sheffield could be a valuable addition to the outfield if the team feels his body could hold up. He could also provide depth at the corner infield spots (now composed of Jorge Cantu at first and Emilio Bonafacio at third). The only problem is that with a young team, Sheffield may not be considered the ideal mentor for arguably the National League’s top young talent. The Marlins are reportedly more interested in Geoff Jenkins than they are in Sheffield.

Jenkins was of course relesed by the Phillies, who may now have a need for a fourth outfielder (assuming they are only using Matt Stairs in the “situational-left-handed-hit-the-ball-900-feet-in-the-NLCS” role). Sheffield could fit there as a fourth outfielder or at the best, a platoon partner with Jayson Werth, but with the production Werth put out last season, it’s likely that Philly won’t want to platoon him again. They’ve shown minimal interest, but it appears to be a longshot.

Other candidates: Cincinnatti generally has an obsession with old, over-priced, slugging outfielders and Atlanta may need one as well (but we’ve been there and done that already).