Look, It's Baseball...A Note on the Breast Cancer Walk...Duke vs. Butler or Why On Earth Didn't West Virginia Use the Full Court Press?

Oh, baseball, where have you been?  It's been a long a brutal winter without you.  Football was an interesting stop-gap, sure, but lets be honest now, even a Saints Super Bowl victory didn't make us forget that you, beloved baseball, were in full-on hibernation mode.  The Olympics, NBA and NHL spent their time trying to make us all forget you, but we're smarter than that.  So now, on this opening night of the 2010 season, Victrola Cola will now offer you a team by team run down, starting with the...

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL

Cincinnati Reds

This team is perplexing, isn't it? They have so much talent and yet still nobody thinks that they are capable of overcoming the Cubs, Cardinals and Brewers (nobody except Sean Casey, which, like, swoon). Given, everything about them is a huge question mark. Will Joey Votto have the breakout season everyone is expecting? Will Scott Rolen stay healthy? Can Orlando Cabrera be as sound defensively as he once was? Will Aroldis Chapman be effective on the major league level? Can Homer Bailey continue his growth on the mound? Can Harang somehow figure out how to convince people to score runs when he's starting? I mean, the list goes on and on and on. It's a mystery wrapped inside of an enigma, a true 'IF THEY CAN THEN THEY WILL' story. As a fan, I certainly hope that they will, I definitely think that they have the pieces to make it happen. Their starting pitching is solid from front to back and will become even scarier once Edinson Volquez returns after the All-Star break. Their bullpen is steady and actually managed to improve by putting Micah Owings in the long reliever spot. The only real problem spot is in left field. Sure, Jonny Gomes might be the solution this year, but there is a definite need to get the young slugger Juan Francisco to figure out how the hell to be more patient at the plate. The kid can mash, but he also swings at everything and cannot, for the life of him, hit left handers. His defense isn't amazing, which is why his hitting needs to level out, because otherwise he's gonna be another life long AAA All-Star.

I'm projecting the Reds to come in third in the Central this year, but if (if!) all the pieces come together, they might be a team that can really challenge the Cardinals reign.

St. Louis Cardinals

Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter. Those four players are the main reason the Cards will be riding in the pole position all season long. They might also be the reason they crash and burn. Allow me to extrapolate: if any one of those players gets hurt (and lord knows Carpenter has a history) then this team becomes drastically different. Pujols will have his usual numbers and I don't really see him having injury problems and Holliday only seemed to get better as the year went on last season, but if either of those two ace pitchers goes down, the weight will fall to a pitching staff that, without the two headed beast, becomes pretty tame. Kyle Lohse has been pitching out of his mind, but he's Kyle Lohse, and as any Reds fan can tell you, he is not reliable. Brad Penny is a fairly steady guy, but can he reach the 12-15 wins the team needs him to get? If Carpenter goes down, which guy fills his role? It gets a little sketchy, doesn't it? Ryan Franklin isn't really a lock down closer, but he's consistent and won't make the kind of mistakes that will oust him from the spot. There is no doubt, the Cardinals are tough and they are the favorite, but again, watch out for the injury bug, it might hit this team hard.

The Cardinals will finish first in the Central, but I don't have to like it.

Chicago Cubs

First of all, fuck the Cubs. Outside of Red Sox nation, this team's fanbase is maybe the worst in all of sports. The sheer level of douchebaggery that is irreversibly embedded in Wrigley Field makes the cast of Jersey Shore look like middle school bullies. Also, everyone seems to think that this is the year that the Cubs will figure out how to win with the talent they have, which is gut wrenchingly hilarious. So this is the year that Alfonso Soriano is going to actually be worth the insane money the Cubbies are paying him? What exactly has he done as a Cub that makes you say that? Has he won an MVP as a Cub? No. Has he won a batting title as a Cub? No. Has he improved his defense as a Cub? No. He's only getting older, folks, and at 34, his hay day is getting further and further away in his rear view. Aramis Ramirez is a legitimate threat in the middle of that lineup, but he's gotta stay healthy. Derrek Lee may or may not be a threat, he seems to be one of those 'every other season' guys that wows you one year and then drops a .255 batting average on you the next. Zambrano is iffy in the ace spot. At times he can be utterly dominating, but in between those times he's losing his temper and trying to beat the shit out of his teammates. The guy is more emotionally unstable than a sorority girl during pledge week. Carlos Marmol has the talent at closer to dominate, but he's erratic and can't seem to have two perfect ninth innings in a row.

The Cubs are rolling into fourth place this year, behind the Reds.

Milwaukee Brewers

Yeah, I know, Yovani Gallardo isn't proven and Trevor Hoffman is old, but this team is still scary. Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun are maybe the most electric one two punch in the division and their surrounding offensive cast has the potential to be extremely entertaining to watch. Rickie Weeks will be looking to build upon a disappointing and injury shortened 2009 and Jim Edmonds will be looking to prove that he is still a viable player in the league. All told, this team has yet to really fulfill its potential, but I think this is the year that things kind of almost maybe come together for them.

They'll be second in the Central and be one of the few teams fighting for a Wild Card spot.

Houston Astros

Offensively this team is very, very dangerous. They better be, because their pitching staff is fucking terrible. Wandy Rodriguez does not an ace make and Roy Oswalt seems to have lost something over the last two years that makes him very vulnerable. Who else is there, Brett Myers? Jesus H. Christ in a chicken basket, that's no way to set up a pitching staff, son. Especially when you're going to be handing the ball to maybe the worst bullpen (next to the Pirates) in the division after five or six innings. Brandon Lyon will not be making it through this season healthy and Matt Lindstrom, though serviceable, will be pitching a lot of 2 inning games, which will destroy his stamina as the season wears on. Again, their offense is very strong. Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee will be bashers in the middle of the lineup and Michael Bourn may be the best all around player in the division right now that no one is paying attention to (much like Nyjer Morgan was last year when he was with the Pirates).

They'll come in fifth this year, but don't be surprised if you see some rebuilding-minded trades happen after the All-Star break that make this team a contender for years to come.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Ho boy, where to start. Well, lets start with the good: Andrew McCutchen is primed to become one of the best players in baseball this year. I have no doubt that he will get thirty homeruns and snag thirty stolen bases with ease. Zach Duke and Ross Ohlendorf are a decent combo in the pitching rotation, but they are going to have to rely heavily on a bull pen that is shaky at best. Octavio Dotel is their best reliever, and...well...Octavio Dotel is their best reliever.

The Buccos are heading in the right direction (just as long as Bobby Crosby isn't driving the bus), but they still aren't ready to contend in the Central. They'll finish last, but with fists!

I'll hit up the NL East next, be ready.

Potpouri! So I was riding the subway this morning on my way to work and saw an ad for the upcoming NYC Breast Cancer walk in October. The tag line for the walk was 'In It To End It', which seems like a strange thing to be saying to men and women who are suffering from a life threatening disease. Why not just say 'Walk Towards The Light' or some shit like that. I don't like it. I don't like it one bit.

Where was West Virginia's full court press last night? Did they not realize that they were down ten for pretty much the entire second half and needed to maybe...oh...I don't know...try to get turnovers? Also, they DID realize that every single fucking player on Duke can shoot threes, yes? ALSO ALSO, Zoubeck (Duke's center) should have been called for over the back five or six times but wasn't. He was the first player I've seen who has been able to continue playing with twelve personal fouls. Now, I know everyone thinks that Butler winning would be awesome (I do!), but lets be honest; these underdog fairy tale stories never work out like that. You're going to hear about the movie Hoosiers, you're going to hear about the home crowd advantage in Indy and then you're going to see the Duke Blue Devils wipe the floor with them. It will be sad and you will turn off your television before CBS starts cumming all over Coach K's face while he lifts the trophy. Blech.

Stay strong. Go Reds.

-Terrence Adams