Opening Day 2010 – MLB Predictions

Enough about Donovan McNabb and the Eagles. Baseball is back and the Phillies look better than they have to start a season in either of the past two years. They’re starting off with a certified ace and an even better lineup than before.

So here are my predictions for this season:

NL Division Series: Phillies over Rockies, Giants over Cardinals
NL Championship: Phillies over Giants

AL Division: Red Sox over White Sox, Mariners over Yankees
AL Championship: Red Sox over Mariners

World Series: Phillies over Red Sox

Let the Kolb Bashing Begin

The old adage states that the most popular player in town is the backup quarterback. Only time will tell if the trade of Donovan McNabb to the rival Redskins will be looked back as brilliance or incompetence. For many years Philadelphia fans dumped on the best quarterback to play for this franchise. His five NFC championship games are four more than this organization has without him. To believe it gets better from here is optimism not warranted by the history of this team.

All that said, The Eagles needed to trade McNabb. This team is rebuilding even if they won’t admit it. To bring McNabb back to this young a team would be a problem.

Andy Reid has a proven ability to build a team from scratch. All we can do is trust that he can do it again, because if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t get better from here. Think about those Buffalo Bills – four Super Bowls and nothing since.

I’m not sure I believe this team is good enough to even hold their own next year. The Kevin Kolbs and Lesean McCoys haven’t shown me anything yet. Futhermore, outside of the the receiving corps, every other position on this team has holes: O-Line, D-Line, linebacker, secondary, all are problematic.

Next year won’t be pretty, and remember this – the Redskins are now better than the Eagles. Let’s hope that doesn’t last too long, because the fans of Philadelphia will run Kolb out of town at first sign of trouble.

NY Post eats a little crow

Yesterday it was Shane Victorino in a skirt – today it’s “Bronx Bummers”. Maybe now Reggie Jackson (the Phillies are playing varsity), Keith Olbermann (the Phillies won’t be able to handle Sabathia), and all the other pundits that predicted an easy series for the “mystique and aura” are paying attention. Maybe they weren’t – I did notice a lot of empty seats as the game went on.

World Series Game 1: Dependab-Lee

One of the biggest things in sports is being dependable. Knowing your offense will always put up runs; in football, knowing your team can run; knowing your team plays defense. Being able to count on something in sports is a key to winning. Cliff Lee is exactly that, dependable. Should we be surprised that he shut the vaunted Yankees down when that’s what he’s done in every big game since he’s come to the Phillies?

Let’s also give credit to the Phillies offense – they did what they did against all of the teams prior to the Yankees. The Dodgers (twice), the Rockies, the Rays, and the Brewers – each series the Phillies won game one and in each series the Phillies offense made those teams pay. They outlasted C.C. Sabathia, got to the Yankees’ bullpen (a bullpen that seems to be more of a concern than the Phillies’ bullpen), and exposed them.

Onto Game 2. Wondering what we’ll see from Pedro. The dispassionate observers want a good series – I want the Phillies to destroy the Yankees. Let’s hope this is the beginning.

Phillies NL Champs – bring us the Yankees

I am getting used to having a winner in town. We were at the game on Wednesday and seeing your team clinch is got to be one of the coolest things for a sports fan. The poor Dodgers didn’t know what hit them – after Monday’s crushing loss – the win on Wednesday was a formality. Now I want the Yankees.

The Angels are a good team, and if they come back to win the series, they would have big momentum on their side. My choosing the Yankees has nothing to do with that though. I want the Yankees because beating them with make the rest of the league stand up and take notice. I have no doubt that the Phillies are the best team in the majors. We have what everyone else wants, even the Yankees. They have a couple of guys that were around in 2000, but most of them weren’t. The Phillies walk with a swagger and a confidence that reveals a true champion.

Bring on the Yankees. Let’s see if the Phils can bring “mystique and aura” down a peg.