Some real bald baseball predictions

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The Bald Truth

For all those who somehow missed that Wednesday was Bald and Free Day - really; you can look it up! - I, as Grand Pooh-bald, have extended the event through the end of the week.

So now that you have several more days, feel free to hug your favorite bald dude ... or dudette, if Natalie Portman, Sinead O'Connor or Demi Moore happen to be around.

The Balder Truth

Wow, I remember the Rams' Rush Limbaugh Era as if it were just yesterday.

Wait ... it was just yesterday.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

For all the talk about a possible Freeway Series out in La-La-Land, why do I get the feeling we're going to see a Nothing-Free-About-It I-95 Series instead?

Well, because the Yankees and Phillies are better than the Angels and Dodgers, that's why.

Of course, that doesn't always matter. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to see the fundamentally sound, motivated-by-tragedy Angels nibbling CC Sabathia until he weighs only 300 pounds and shutting down A-Roid & Co. Nor does it take much imagination to see Manny being vintage Manny and the good Dodgers pitching making life tough on the Phils.

But I'm not letting my imagination run wild here. I'm going with chalk.

This just feels like the Yankees' year. They have more great players than any other team, and those great players have been playing especially well lately. Yankees in 6.

And as much as I want to see Jim Thome do some DH-ing in the World Series, his Dodgers simply will not be able to keep up with the balanced Philly lineup. I'm going to put a little caveat out here: As long as Brad Lidge isn't terrible, Phillies in 6.

Of Dontrelle, CC, Gibson, Kid K and an expensive Blackhawks mistake

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The Bald Truth

Nice to see Dontrelle Willis winning - and smiling - again. 

When one of the sport's most charismatic and entertaining players is doing his thing, baseball is better for it.

Just Asking

Wow! Did you see the way the Cubs flailed away at those amazing pitches being thrown by the Cardinals' great Bob Gibson?

I don't care how many times you say that was Joel Pineiro. I'm saying it must have been Gibson.

The Balder Truth

Remember all that hand-wringing in New York over CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira? 

Well, don't look now, but CC won again Tuesday and has a 3.43 ERA to go with his 4 wins - as many as White Sox season-opening No. 2, 3 and 4 starters Gavin Floyd, John Danks and Jose Contreras combined. And Teixeira has 11 HRs (2 more than the combined total of Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Geovany Soto) and 30 RBIs (more than the aggregate output of Soto, Milton Bradley, Reed Johnson and Aaron Miles).

Then again, the Yankees do have slightly higher standards than their Chicago counterparts.

The Stat Line

2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 HR, 1 BB, 0 K ... blown 5-2 lead in the 9th ... season: 1-2 record, 8.31 ERA.

Hmmm. Maybe the Cubs don't miss Kerry Wood after all.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

The Blackhawks have been such a feel-good story in Chicago this year, it's easy to overlook their shortcomings. Well, here's a big one: Brian Campbell.

They gave an 8-year, $56.8 million contract to the allegedly offensive-minded defenseman who, it turns out, rarely scores.

Campbell was trying to make something happen in OT Tuesday when he gave away the puck, fell down, watched helplessly as the Red Wings took off on a 3-on-1 break and basically handed Detroit a 2-0 lead in the series.

He turns 30 on Saturday. And did we mention he still has 7 years left on that contract?

As great as the season has been, not everything is perfect in Hawkeyland.