Within a few minutes of meeting me, it becomes pretty clear that I’m a big sports fan. I love football. I love college basketball. Pro basketball and hockey are fun too. While all of these sports are entertaining and stimulating, they all fail in comparison to the ultimate sport: baseball.
Above all things, I am a baseball fan. There are just certain qualities of the game that make it the best: from the untimed nature of it (you can’t rush perfection, people), to the hot dogs and Cracker Jacks, to the little guy who takes his glove to his upper deck seats in hopes of snagging that home run ball. Baseball is king, and there are many things to look forward to this season.
One of the biggest question marks in the entire league heading into the season is whether or not the Toronto Blue Jays can do what last year’s Miami Marlins couldn’t: create a winning product with an all-star lineup. The funniest part about the situation is that the Blue Jays acquired most of those failed Marlins (Jose Reyes, Emilio Bonafacio, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson) in a single off-season trade. They also added Melky Cabrera and NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey. Can the Jays put it together and win the AL East? Smith says yes. Second place goes to the Rays, and the Yankees come in third unless Brian Cashman makes a big move, which we all know is a possibility.
Something else I’m looking forward to is the way the NL East will play out. Everyone seems to be in love with the Nationals. I know they are a good team, but they’re young. I think the Braves are the most dangerous team in the division. Their starting outfield of the Upton Super Smash Bros. and Jason Heyward is enough to carry a ball club. Throw in a strong infield and a good, young pitching staff, and that tomahawk chop becomes a little more intimidating. My hometown Phillies are a mystery, and a lot depends on whether or not they can stay healthy, but I think they’re a third place team. I hope they prove me wrong. To all the Mets fans out there, I say there’s hope. Despite losing Dickey, I think the Mets may finish a few games better than last year. They have a very similar lineup to last year, and the young guys get another year of experience. Plus, they got rid of the black hole in left field that was Jason Bay.
Finally, something I am not looking forward to is interleague play all the time. Now that there are 15 teams in each league, there will always be at least one interleague matchup at all times. I was never a big fan of interleague play to begin with (it should be saved for the World Series), and it creates matchups that people don’t care about. Bud Selig strikes out looking again.
By the time this article hits the printing press, baseball’s regular season will be well underway. I won’t offer any predictions because I tried that with my NCAA bracket and that turned out horribly. But, here’s to all the failed ceremonial first pitches, infield flies and passed balls that will consume our summer. Play ball.
— Alex Smith
