Kings of Prognostication v2.0

In keeping tradition, here are my predictions for the upcoming MLB season:



AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Angels
AL Wild Card: Tigers

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Astros
NL West: Diamondbacks
NL Wild Card: Dodgers

World Series: Angels over Dodgers

AL MVP: Grady Sizemore, Cle
NL MVP: Carlos Lee, Hou
AL Cy Young: Johan Santana, Min
NL Cy Young: Carlos Zambrano, ChC
AL RotY: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Bos
NL RotY: Stephen Drew, Ari

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Kings of Prognostication

We here at Game Four have been anticipating the start of the MLB season for months now, so naturally, we felt the need to share our end of the year predictions...


Conor

AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Athletics
AL Wild Card: Yankees
NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Giants
NL Wild Card: Cubs
World Series: Cubs over Athletics
AL MVP: Manny Ramirez, Bos
NL MVP: Albert Pujols, StL
AL Cy Young: Rich Harden, Oak
NL Cy Young: Jake Peavy, SD
AL RoTY: Kenji Johjima, Sea
NL RoTY: Prince Fielder, Mil


Pawtucket Pat

AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Angels
AL Wild Card: Yankees
NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Card: Mets
World Series: Indians over Cardinals
AL MVP: Mark Teixeira, Tex
NL MVP: Albert Pujols, StL
AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez, Sea
NL Cy Young: Roy Oswalt, Hou
AL RoTY: Francisco Liriano, Min
NL RoTY: Jeremy Hermida, Fla


JJ

AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Athletics
AL Wild Card: Indians
NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Giants
NL Wild Card: Cubs
World Series: Cardinals over Athletics
AL MVP: David Ortiz, Bos
NL MVP: Albert Pujols, StL
AL Cy Young: Rich Harden, Oak
NL Cy Young: Carlos Zambrano, ChC
AL RoTY: Ian Kinsler, Tex
NL RoTY: Matt Murton, ChC


Jose

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Athletics
AL Wild Card: Red Sox
NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Card: Mets
World Series: Cardinals over Indians
AL MVP: Grady Sizemore, Cle
NL MVP: David Wright, NYM
AL Cy Young: Johan Santana, Min
NL Cy Young: Roy Oswalt, Hou
AL RoTY: Kenji Johjima, Sea
NL RoTY: Prince Fielder, Mil

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In Maryland We Trust

Three consecutive league titles and one state championship. 26.6 points per game as a four year starter. McDonald’s All-American. 2004 Naismith Award finalist. Drafted 13th overall right out of high school.

Does that sound like Steve Blake’s backup to you?

If you missed “Through the Fire,” the documentary of New York basketball star Sebastian Telfair’s final season at Abraham Lincoln High School, you missed one of the best ESPN originals in a long time. You don’t have to be a basketball fan to appreciate the Hollywood-worthy story of a poverty-stricken youth from Coney Island, playing his senior season in the shadow of LeBron James’s $90 million shoe contract. He, along with seven other 2004 high school All-Americans, decided to skip college and go directly to the NBA.

The movie depicts Telfair’s “struggle” with deciding whether he should attend Louisville, with whom he’d already signed a letter of commitment, or go straight to the NBA. As previously mentioned, the seventeen year old chooses to go pro, but at what cost?

Even just one year under Head Coach Rick Pitino would have improved Telfair’s game immensely. Not only that, but imagine him on the 2005 Louisville team that advanced to the Final Four, playing alongside Taquan Dean, Francisco Garcia, and Larry O’Bannon. We might not have been able to celebrate North Carolina Coach Roy Williams’s first NCAA Championship, but instead we would have had it gift-wrapped and delivered to Pitino. Instead, the kid from NYC spends most of his time on the bench these days, nibbling at the bits of playing time he can manage to pilfer on a struggling Portland Trail Blazers team (20-42 as of 3/14).

One thing Sebastian Telfair won’t have to nibble on, however, is food. At least, not until his 6 year, $15 million contract with Adidas runs out. So I'll ask again: Does that sound like Steve Blake’s backup to you? Yeah, me neither.

And that makes us both very, very wrong.

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