Play Ball! (Already?)

^
Opening day snuck up on me. I really didn't know the regular season began tomorrow until I opened this morning's sports section and saw the TV listings. (For all the kids out there, a newspaper is something you read when the router is balky.)

I guess that's what happens when you go from being in a town with 2 MLB teams to a town with none.

As I said in a post a while back, even though I'm neither a White Sox fan nor a Cubs fan, I will miss having big-league ball in my town. Oh, and I'll miss the Cubs, too.

I'll miss Ozzie Guillen's daily silliness and the sports soap opera that is the Cubbies. I'll miss classy Paul Konerko and wacky Cra-Z Zambrano. I'll miss Jake Peavy's injury du jour and the ascension of Starlin Castro. And as long as I'm being honest here ... I'll miss that steady AP freelance paycheck I got for showing up at the ballpark and taking my own hacks a couple times a week.

I'm sure I'll watch plenty of baseball on TV - I mean, how can I help it? There pretty much is a game on some channel 24/7 - but it won't be quite the same.

All that being said, I still will follow the game. And, like everybody else, I still have opinions. So here's my quick 2011 forecast ...

DIVISION CHAMPS

AL East: Red Sox. They made all the right moves over the winter and figure to be quite hungry after starving last year. The Yankees? Freddy Garcia made their rotation and Bartolo Colon is in their bullpen. Nuff said.

AL Central: Twins. Especially if Justin Morneau is healthy (and Jay Mauer stays healthy). But I do like most of what the White Sox did during the offseason and would expect an extremely close race. If that's the case, the Twins usually take advantage of the Sox choke instincts and prevail.

AL West: Angels. This division really is anybody's guess, so this anybody will guess Mike Scioscia.

AL Wild Card: White Sox. (Or Twins if they get edged in division).

NL East: Phillies. I'm trying to figure out a way they don't win it. And I'm failing.

NL Central: Reds. Should be an interesting race. The Cardinals almost always contend but have injuries galore and that whole Pujols Contract Thing hanging over their heads. The Brewers will score lots of runs ... and give up more. The Cubs often fail when expected to succeed and vice versa, so maybe they'll fool everybody. Dusty Baker clubs have trouble winning two years in a row, but I think the Reds have most of what good teams need.

NL West: Giants. Though I certainly could see the Rockies or Dodgers winning this, too.

NL Wild Card: Rockies.

PLAYOFFS

AL: Red Sox over White Sox; Twins over Angels; Red Sox over Twins.

NL: Phillies over Rockies; Giants over Reds; Phillies over Giants.

World Series: Phillies over Red Sox. Too much pitching. Darn good hitting, too.

MVP

AL: Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox. We'll see how he performs with the pressure on. And with a great lineup around him.

NL: Roy Halladay, Phillies. He probably won't win it because voters don't like starting pitchers, but his dominance has a domino effect on the NL's best rotation - and best team.

CY YOUNG

AL: Jered Weaver, Angels. A very good young pitcher becomes an outstanding veteran.

NL: Roy Halladay, Phillies. Duh.

HEADLINES WE'LL BE SICK OF BY MIDSEASON

5. Cubs' Quade Benches Soriano Again for Not Running Out Flyball.

4. Last-place Pirates Look To Trade Top Players.

4. Steinbrenner Blasts Yankees; Threatens Sweeping Changes.

2. Selig Blasts Union; Union Blames Owners.

1. Pujols Says It's About Respect, Not Money.
^

From Lou's lament to Tiger's favorite number

^

Today's high-5:

5. Late in spring training, Lou Piniella asked us media mopes what we thought of the squad he'd be taking north. After a few guys answered with mostly encouraging words, Lou looked at me and I said: "We'll see what happens when the lights go on."

I chuckled as I finished my sentence, realizing I was paraphrasing something Lou had said just a few days earlier. Piniella didn't laugh with me, but he didn't seem even the slightest put-off by what I said. He merely nodded his head and moved on to the next writer's opinion.

Later on, a couple of my sportswriter buddies playfully gave me crap for being cynical, sarcastic and negative.

Then the lights went on ... and the Cubs started losing. Their hitters squeezed their bats into sawdust and their their young relief pitchers peed down their pantlegs.

Said Lou: "Remember what I said in spring training? 'Everything was fine when we were in afternoon, single-deck stadiums. Now all of a sudden, it gets a little different, and we'll have to see.' Well, we haven't see what we'd like to see, let's put it that way."

Jeesh. What a cynical, sarcastic, negative guy.

4. In the 11th inning the other night at The Cell, Hawk Harrelson was whining about a strike call White Sox reliever Tony Pena didn't get. The whining got louder after Pena promptly gave up J.J. Hardy's go-ahead hit.

In the bottom of that inning, Twins closer Jon Rauch threw what appeared to be a strike right down the middle to Mark Kotsay but it was called a ball. Rauch fanned Kotsay on the next pitch.

It's an athlete's job to control what he can. Rauch did. Pena didn't. Which is why, Hawk, the game soon was "ova."

3. The Bulls pulled off a big win at Toronto on Sunday, which means only one thing: There's still plenty of time for them to find other ways to humiliate themselves anew.

This team has suffered countless embarrassments on and off the court this year. None was as unique as Joakimgate - with Vinny Del Negro insisting he was under an edict to not play a rehabbing Joakim Noah more than 35 minutes Friday and Not-Quite-GM Gar Forman insisting the mandate had been modified. Vinny kept Noah on the bench and the Bulls managed to lose to the Nets for the second time this year.

I'm still trying to figure out why D-Wade and other marquee free agents would want to come to Chicago when they could get as much or more money playing for franchises that have a clue.

2. Cubbie fans shouldn't get too upset at Alfonso Soriano. I mean, only about 95 percent of beer-league softball players would have caught that ball he dropped in left field Sunday.

1. OK, so Tiger Woods didn't win the Masters. At least he scored another 69.

Unlike U.S. pucksters, Marquette wins on road!

Can't believe the Olympics are over already. Why, it seemed like I started ignoring them just 2 1/2 weeks ago.

Did you see the BIG game yesterday? That's right: I'm talking about Marquette's win over Seton Hall, the Golden Warrior Eagles' third straight Big East overtime road victory. I'm starting to think Final Four. Of course, I'm also starting to think I'll win Powerball.

Click HERE for my latest from Cubbie camp, on the outfield brigade.

Later.

Sweet Lou, the Sweet Shrink

^

The Bald Truth

Anybody who thinks Lou Piniella is slowing down upstairs must have missed the way he totally played Carlos Marmol the last week or so.

Sweet Lou gently "joked" that it would be all well and good if Marmol chose to play in the World Baseball Classic ... but new Cubbie Kevin Gregg would be back in Arizona throwing 98 mph BBs.

Marmol, who desperately wants the glory and cash that go to top big-league closers, made the wise decision to skip the idiotic WBC. He opted to work for the team paying his salary and to compete head-to-head against Gregg.

Now, if only Piniella could have convinced Alfonso Soriano to play in the WBC, which would have let somebody else win the leadoff job ...

THE BALDEST TRUTH

I've probably walked 50 rounds with Tiger Woods while covering him over the years, so I can just imagine how daunting it must be to golf with (and against) him.

Writers and photographers are tripping over each other. TV cameras follow his every move. Hundreds (or thousands) of fans start walking away after Tiger finishes a hole ... even as the other golfer is trying to concentrate on making a putt. All of the positive crowd energy is focused squarely on Tiger. If interviewed by the media after a round, the opponent is expected to talk only about Tiger.

In other words, Tiger always has a major home-course advantage.

Now, multiply the circus atmosphere times 10 Wednesday because it was Tiger's first round in eight months.

Put it all together and Aussie Brendan Jones deserves several large cans of Foster's for the way he competed in his match-play loss to The Greatest of All Time.