Cincinnati-Reds

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Baseball is BACK!”] [/caption] Games start at 1300 today, so I’m still pre-season. This is also a much shorter prediction post than years past, but that’s what you’re getting. NL Playoffs: East: Braves Central: Reds West: Giants Wild Card: Dodgers I love Philadelphia’s rotation, but their offense has too many holes. No Utley, no RF, Ibañez is not great, Howard is getting figured out and has no protection…it just leads me to the Braves because they don’t have any huge issues, but are solid. ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“375” caption=“It’s only been done once before in MLB Playoff History”] [/caption] Roy “Doc” Halladay joins Don Larson as the second pitcher to ever throw a no-hitter in MLB postseason history. Halladay’s 104-pitch outing featured only one walk and eight strikeouts and a lot of intimidation. If you’re Cincinnati how the hell do you come back from this? ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Time to check out my prediction score”] [/caption] Another season is now behind us and the playoffs begin this afternoon at 1330 EST in Tampa Bay. How did I do in my projections? Who do I predict for the World Series? Let’s check it out! ...

It’s All-Star game time again! This year the game is being played in sunny Southern California, down in Anaheim. Thanks to the peculiarities of baseball scheduling and the east coast focus of television, the game is actually being started in daylight hours, 1700 PST. The liveblogging experience of the year is about to begin yet again! Expect updates throughout the evening and night. Time: 1944 My cable woes are keeping me from watching the MLB Network this year (I hate you Comcast!), so instead I’m watching ESPN’s coverage, which has been somewhat interrupted with news about George Steinbrenner’s death by massive heart attack. It’s an odd thing to not have him around the Yankees anymore, even if he hasn’t really running things for two or three years. Despite my dislike for the Yankees, he will be missed as a figure in baseball. ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“The old Shea home run apple. I hate this thing.”] [/caption] My friend Lee has somehow got his girlfriend into baseball, probably by pure force of will. This would be great, except she’s a Mets fan now and she loves to trash talk each time the Mets beat the Marlins. Thanks, Lee. 4 June NPB Softbank Hawks (4) at Hiroshima Carp (5). A huge fourth inning, including two RBIs by Eric Stults, puts Hiroshima just far enough ahead to win the game. ...

Yesterday was the anniversary of the day that Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and made his MLB debut. Per usual and in honor of the event, baseball had every player taking the field adopt Jackie Robinson’s uniform number for the day, 42. It makes for confusing baseball if you don’t recognize the faces of the players, but it’s a great gesture that always brings a smile to my face. ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“It was pretty cold that night”] [/caption] 14 April NPB Yakult Swallows (3) at Hiroshima Carp (6). I’m not sure, but this might be the first series the Carp have won this year. Their record rises to 6-10-0, but they’re still sitting in last by about half a game. Rakuten Eagles (5) at Seibu Lions (6). 7-12-0 keeps the Eagles in fifth as they drop the entire series to the Lions. ...

I’ve been watching tons of baseball and going to a lot of games, which is great for my sports posts, but kind of terrible for blog updates. I’ll try and get some writing done this week, but until I do, here are the scores. 12 April NPB Off-day MLB Washington Nationals (4) at Philadelphia Phillies (7). I expected a little better from the Nats, but it was still a relatively solid effort. They’ve got an off-day today, but they’ll go up against Philly tomorrow and they’ll hopefully notch another “curly W”, as they call it. Their record drops to 3-4, but they’re still a half game up on the Mets in the East. ...

Another year, another season! 2010 looks to be another good one. The Marlins don’t look like they’re about to run away with their division, but the Rays have a fighting chance this year. I’m getting ahead of myself, so let’s back up and go through this division by division like we do every year. AL East After a (glorious) season where the Yankees didn’t make it to the playoffs for once, the Bronx Bombers came back with a vengeance and took it all. The Yanks may have lost Damon and Matsui, but they’re still in a strong position in the AL East and look poised to make the playoffs in the division. Players are getting older on that team and the pitching isn’t as strong as they’d like, but, barring some kind of major injury, I stand by that prediction. ...

It’s time for Wednesday Morning Quarterback, your weekly sports round-up. This year’s hall of fame class included Joe Gordon, Ricky Henderson, and Jim Rice, a fairly solid class inducted without much controversy. It seems like the controversy will only increase as the years continue to go by. Already the HoF voters seem to be softbanning Mark McGwire from the Hall by simply not voting for him on the basis of the steroid allegations made against him and the Hall of Famers are certainly starting to speak up and become vocal about this point. Both Hank Aaron and Jim Rice were quoted last weekend as condemning the steroid era and the numbers and players they represent. While some don’t mind them entering the hall, it’s universally accepted that those numbers need to have some sort of caveat to indicate the shady methods from which they were obtained. ...