Tilt your head up in the air. Yeah, right now, sitting at your computer. Lean back, get your nostrils nice and high. Inhale. I mean REALLY inhale. Get the air moving through that shnozz of yours. Do you smell that? No...? Inhale again; with gusto this time! Breathe it in. You smell it now, right? Yeah you do. You smell it. It smells like crisp cut grass and fresh april rain. The scents of pine tar, ash wood, and leather oil surround you. No, you're not in Michael Jackson's bed room. That smell - that glorious aroma - is baseball season.

And you've got to love baseball season.

Every year, 30 teams in 27 cities set out for the ultimate goal of conquering the Major League ranks and winning a World Series. And, unlike the NFL, NBA, and NHL fans, every baseball fan in America is blessed with the delusion that after 162 games, their team could well be the Champion of the World.

Except those in Kansas City.

Take me, for example. I've been a Tribe fan since birth. Baseball and I have been very fond of one another for some time. Sure, she was kind of a tease during my little league, youth league, and high school playing days, but what girls weren't during those years? Well, the sluts weren't, but baseball is no slut. After 150 years, it looks like she's in it for the long haul.

Right now, I'm convinced the Tribe is going to make the playoffs. They won 78 games last year and scored more runs than anyone not playing home games in New York. Their putrid bullpen lost 27 games last year. 27!!! This past offseason, GM Mark Shapiro went to work on the 'pen like Kobe on an Eagle County concierge. The Tribe added Roberto Hernandez, Aaron Fultz, and Joe Borowski to compliment the solid Rafael Betancourt, Matt Miller, Fernando Cabrera, Jason Davis, and Tom Mastny. If the Indians increase their saves from 24 to 40 (very possible considering it would put them only at the league average), that's 16 more victories! 16 + 78 = 94. 94 wins! That's a playoff team!

There are stories like this for every team. This is what makes baseball so great. No matter who you root for, if the chips fall the right way for you this year, you could be watching a lot of baseball come October. Unless you're a Pirates fan...

Let's get to the American League portion of my Baseball Preview:

American League East

Best Offseason:

Boston Red Sox

Best Pitcher:

Roy Halladay, Blue Jays

Best Hitter:

David Ortiz, Red Sox

Best Addition:

Daisuke Matsuzaka, Red Sox

Best Manager:

None

I'm sorry, I just can't give a best manager award to this division. The two best teams in this division have payrolls over $150 million. I have pre-teen cousins that could win pennants with that kind of support. At the end of the day, Joe Torre and Terry Francona are average managers. John Gibbons (Blue Jays), Sam Perlozo (Orioles), and Joe Maddon(Devil Rays) can get consideration when their teams don't reek of incompetence. Gibbons is on his way up, but I'd still pick Leo Mazzone (Orioles pitching coach) and Lou Pinella (former Devil Rays coach, now with the Chicago Cubs) over him.

The Yankees have won this division 9 years in a row. Like the Braves before them, I won't pick against them until they lose. They've got a fearsome lineup with Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada, and Doug Mientkiewicz. You know what that does to a pitcher? Knowing you're going up against that lineup is like being the groom at Jenna Jameson's wedding - you can't sleep the night before because you know you won't be impressing anyone. The rotation is not as good as Boston's, but it is certainly capable with Chen Mien Wang as the ace and the addition of Andy Pettite. If Carl Pavano is what he should be, there's no reason the Yankees shouldn't take the East in a long season.

The Red Sox will be right there. Their rotation could be as feasome as the Yankees' lineup with Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield and cancer survivor Jon Lester. However, their lineup is certainly not what it once was. If Manny and Papi are healthy, they'll score enough runs. I won't pull the trigger on the Sox until they prove they can consistently beat the Yankees. This means no more 5 game sweeps.

Watch for the Devil Rays to pull themselves out of the gutter, and for Orioles fans to start wearing brown paper bags to the ballpark.

Team to watch:

Toronto Blue Jays

Player to watch

Delmon Young, Devil Rays

Predicted Finish:

1. New York Yankees
2. Boston Red Sox
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
5. Baltimore Orioles

American League Central

Best Offseason:

Cleveland Indians

Best Pitcher:

Johan Santana, Twins

Best Hitter:

Travis Hafner, Indians

Best Addition:

Gary Sheffield, Tigers

Best Manager:

Jim Leyland, Tigers

You could throw darts at a board and do an ok job of picking this division. Even the Royals are on the rise! The Kansas City Royals! But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Royals fans should stay in the closet and continue rooting for the Cardinals in public. Yeah, I saw all you "Cardinals fans" at Royals-Indians games last year, you're not fooling me.

The Tribe had the best offseason of the bunch by fixing that terrible bullpen and filling the hole at 2nd by trading for Josh Barfield. The only departures of note for the Tribe are Aaron Boone(hah!) and Kevin Kouzmanoff. Kouz was good, but our minor league outfield is loaded with the likes of Shin Soo Choo, Franklin Gutierrez, and Ben Francisco waiting to come up. Trading from a position of depth for a position of weakness seems like a good practice. Perhaps the other 29 teams in the majors should consider this. The Indians made room for Ryan Garko on the big league team (he only had 45 RBI in 50 games last year). He'll be either a first baseman or a DH on any given day this year. This is what the Tribe looks like on paper:

Lineup

1. Grady Sizemore, CF (Led AL in extra base hits)
2. Jason Michaels/Trot Nixon, LF (High OBP guys)
3. Travis Hafner/Ryan Garko, DH (High Avg, Hr, RBI guys)
4. Victor Martinez/Ryan Garko, C/1B (Martinez high Avg guy)
5. Casey Blake/Ryan Garko, 1B (Casey Blake underrated, great all around athlete)
6. David Delucci/Casey Blake, RF (Dellucci high avg against righties)
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS (Lasik surgery, look for him to be closer to 2005 than 2006)
8. Josh Barfield, 2B (Great rookie season, excellent pedigree with major league Dad)
9. Andy Marte, 3B (Great glove, the bat will come around, won HR Derby in AAA)

Rotation

1. C.C. Sabathia (Potential Cy Young)
2. Jake Westbrook (One of the game's great sinker ballers, needs good defense)
3. Cliff Lee(mark him down for 17 wins)
4. Paul Byrd(Vet w/ something to prove)
5. Jeremy Sowers(Sophmore sensation, the next Greg Maddux)

Add in the afformentioned bullpen, and this team looks really really good. Manager Eric Wedge has the most difficult job in the American League filling out the lineup card everyday, but if he does a good job with it, this is the best team in the AL Central. Adam Miller and Fausto Carmona are big league pitchers waiting in Buffalo for their opportunity, so the rotation can bear injuries. Sabathia is a Cy Young candidate and Hafner is an MVP candidate. Look for Westbrook and Sizemore to finally win the Gold Gloves they've been denied the last two seasons.

With that said, the Tigers are no slouch. They were certainly one of the best teams in the league last year, and things haven't changed much in the offseason. They didn't improve as much as the Tribe, but they could still win this division. Gary Sheffield could add the pop they need to finally get over the hump. Justin Verlander could suffer a sophmore slump, and Kenny Rogers may struggle with injury troubles. But other than that, there's not a lot to hate about the Tigers right now.

Chicago and Minnesota both had horizontal offseasons. The White Sox are getting older every year. Their youngest asset is closer Bobby Jenks, and that's the position where experience is the most important. Kansas City is at least a few years away. If your GM has a good couple of years, you Royals fans can take the bags off your heads in 2009. The Twins will need a lot of help from their young pitchers because Johan Santana is the only show in town. They will also need Mauer and Morneau playing above their abilities again. I don't see them both having career years again.

Team to Watch:

Cleveland Indians

Player to Watch:

Josh Barfield, Indians

Predicted Finish

1. Cleveland Indians
2. Detroit Tigers
3. Minnesota Twins
4. Chicago White Sox
5. Kansas City Royals

Note: I will never pick agains the Tribe if there's any type of argument for them to win the division. However, until the city of Cleveland gets over the Curse of Jim Brown and somebody wins a championship, don't look for me to pick them to win it all either.

AL West

Best Offseason:

Los Angeles Angels

Best Pitcher:

Francisco Rodriguez, Angels

Best Hitter:

Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners

Best Addition:

Gary Matthews Jr., Angels

Best Manager:

Mike Scioscia, Angels

The AL West gets to be the YAWN division of baseball this year. I blame ESPN. All the way over there in Bristol, they seem to care more about the fact that Alex Rodriguez prefers cherry flavored jock straps to chocolate than the fact that the 120 lb Ichiro can hold a bat in his mouth and hit it 450 feet.

The Angels had the best off season with the aquisition of Gary Matthews Jr. They will lead the pack in a division which doesn't really have much of an identity. Texas has an excellent offense, despite the departure of Matthews Jr., and the A's always move in right direction.

You've got to take the Angels in this division. Despite the A's making an excellent addition in Mike Piazza as their DH, their pitching has become questionable with the departure of Barry Zito - their most dependable starter this decade. If Rich Harden and Danny Haren are healthy, the A's will contend. However, if Jered Weaver gets and stays healthy and K-Rod is K-Rod, the Angels will run away with this division. An outfield of Garret Anderson, Vlad Guerrero, and Matthews is a force to be reckoned with.

Team to Watch:

Texas Rangers

Player to Watch:

Jered Weaver, Angels

Predicted Finish

1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Oakland Athletics
3. Texas Rangers
4. Seattle Mariners

American League Wild Card Winner:

Boston Red Sox

American League Playoffs

Divisonal Series

Cleveland Indians over New York Yankees

Boston Red Sox over Los Angeles Angels

American League Championship Series

Boston Red Sox over Cleveland Indians

The Tribe will probably limp into the playoffs in a strong central division which will undoubtedly cannibalize itself. This would match them up against the Yankees whom they'll beat with better pitching in a short series.

The Red Sox will beat the Angels of Anaheim because the AL West representative will probably be the 6th best team in the league.

I like the Sox experience and pitching in a series against Cleveland, which will probably be happy just to be there. Plus, I expect 4 of these games to be in Fenway. Hafner will probably hit 12 doubles off the monster, but the Red Sox will win in the end. You can bet I'll be rooting otherwise.

Awards

American League Most Valuable Player:

Travis Hafner

American League Cy Young:

Roy Halladay

Rookie of the Year:

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Manager of the Year:

Eric Wedge

American League Golden Gloves

• P, Jake Westbrook, Indians (should have won last two years)
• C, Ivan Rodriguez, Tigers
• 1B, Mark Teixera, Rangers
• 2B, Josh Barfield, Indians
• SS, Derek Jeter, Yankees
• 3B, Mark Lowell, Red Sox
• LF, Carl Crawford, Devil Rays
• CF, Grady Sizemore, Indians (See above)
• RF, Delmon Young, Devil Rays

The American League is definitely the more powerful of the two leagues. While the National League has made strides to bring parity, and the Cardinals won the World Series (mostly because the Tigers had their hands around their throats), the American League remains more talented then the Senior Circuit.

Tomorrow I will try to get around to the National League, but you really don't care about the National League, do you?

Tschüs!

Ah, ESPN. Looks like you're going on hiatus for a while. It seemed like things were just starting to get good. You and I were getting along. I was watching Baseball Tonight almost every night, and small ball chatter was at the center of every broadcast. Sure, it was a little rough having to hear about the Yankees and A-Rod every 30 seconds. And sure, there's almost no reason at all to talk about a team that has been floundering at best for most of the season, but I don't blame you. New York is a big market, there's as much money to be made there when the Yankees are playing boring, pathetic baseball as there is when they're winning World Championships (It's been nearly 8 years since they've done that, by the way). But at least you were finally talking about baseball.

The NBA season is over, the NFL draft is long behind us, and I felt like you and I were going to be able to snuggle up and enjoy the rest of the MLB season together. And then......there was Michael Vick....

Throw Tim Donaghy in there, and the best baseball season in 10 years seems like it's going to fall by the wayside. NFL Training Camp is opening up, and ESPN baseball coverage is closing.

I guess I'm going to have to take it upon myself to get people interested in baseball again.

Let's take a look at the standings...

AL East Boston Red Sox New York Yankees Toronto Bluejays Baltimore Orioles Tampa Bay Devil Rays	57 - 39 49 - 46 47 - 50 43 - 52 38 - 58
AL Central Detroit Tigers Cleveland Indians Minnesota Twins Chicago White Sox Kansas City Royals	57 - 37 57 - 39 50 - 46 43 - 52 42 - 53
AL West Los Angeles Angels Seattle Mariners Oakland A's Texas Rangers	56 - 39 54 - 40 45 - 51 41 - 55
NL East New York Mets Atlanta Braves Philadelphia Phillies Florida Marlins Washington Nationals	54 - 42 51 - 46 48 - 48 46 - 51 40 - 56
NL Central Milwaukee Brewers Chicago Cubs St. Louis Cardinals Houston Astros Cincinnati Reds Pittsburgh Pirates	54 - 42 51 - 45 44 - 49 41 - 55 41 - 56 40 - 55
NL West San Diego Padres Los Angeles Dodgers Arizona Diamondbacks Colorado Rockies San Francisco Giants	53 - 42 54 - 43 51 - 48 49 - 47 40 - 54

So let's consider a few things:

1. The NL West is the best division in baseball

   You had no idea, did you? Matt Holliday, Chris Young, Eric Byrnes, Jake Peavy, Brad Penny, and Brandon Webb are the stars of this powerhouse division, but you probably didn't know that unless you're a west coaster. It's true that outside of Coors Field it's impossible to hit a homerun in the NL West stadiums, but that shouldn't take away from the amazing pitching out there. Young and Peavy are 1 and 2 in the league in ERA respectively, AND THEY'RE ON THE SAME TEAM! Brad Penny of the Dodgers is third. A few years ago, this was easily the worst division in baseball, but now they've turned it all the way around. Gotta love baseball.

2. The AL East is the worst division in baseball

   That's even more suprising, isn't it? The Yankees are boring and overpayed, the Blue Jays have about as much heart as a botched transplant patient, the Orioles don't have any reason to walk out onto the field unless Erik Bedard's pitching, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays provide juxtaposition to the Yankees - they're cheap and stupid, as opposed to being spendhappy and stupid. The Red Sox are the shinning light of the division, and they just lost a series to the Royals. Go figure.

3. The Milwaukee Brewers have been in first place for most of the season

   The 2006 Detroit Tigers were the biggest suprise in baseball. The 2007 Brewers have taken on that distinction this year. Led by First Baseman Prince Fielder, Shortstop J.J. Hardy, and Closer Francisco Cordero, Milwaukee is starting to prove there's more reasons to go to the ballpark than beer and sausage. They're young, and they're exciting. Watch them when you get the chance. It may be 25 years before they're good again.

4. Jose Reyes is the most exciting player in New York. He's also the best shortstop.

   Forget about Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. Jeter hasn't been able to win a World Series since Paul O'Neal - the true leader of the 90s Yankees - retired. Reyes has 47 stolen bases, routinely turns singles into doubles, and has amazing range at shortstop. He is a speed freak. Only Grady Sizemore and Ichiro Suzuki provide as much pure baseball entertainment.

5. For the 3rd year in a row, the World Series will not feature an East Coast team

   The Cubs, the Tigers, the Indians, the Angels, the Mariners, the Brewers, the Padres, the Dodgers. Take your pick, because that is the pool of teams from whence the World Series contenders will come. The worst part about all of this is that the best 8 teams in baseball aren't all going to be in the playoffs this year. The top 4 teams in the NL West could be good enough to represent the National League in the playoffs, but only two of them can make the playoffs.

6. The Kansas City Royals aren't as bad as you think

   The Tigers, Twins, and Indians are sitting atop the AL Central right now with Detroit and Cleveland being the best two teams in baseball. Any team that has to play each of those teams 19 times is going to have a pretty crappy record - and they're actually threatening to come out of the gutter! Right now, they're only a game behind the White Sox, and like I said, they just beat the Red Sox in a series. Put the Royals in the AL East, and they're easily better than Blue Jays.

7. The Cleveland Indians are better built for October than they have been since the 1950s

   You didn't think you'd get through this post without me chatting up the Tribe, did you? Dominant starting pitching? Check. C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona are 1-2 in baseball in wins. Playoff experience? Check. David Dellucci, Paul Byrd and Trot Nixon have all played in the World Series, and Josh Barfield played in the playoffs with the Padres last year. Star Power? Grady Sizemore is the best all around player in the game, Travis Hafner mashes, Victor Martinez is the clutch, switch-hitting catcher. Watch out for the Tribe in October.

8. The Philadelphia Phillies have lost their 10,000th game

   Ok, so a lot of you have probably been considering this, but how does this math possibly work? The Indians were the biggest joke in baseball for 3 decades, and they've only lost 7,000 games. It would take 100 losses a year for 100 years to get to 10,000! The only number to come out of Philadelphia more perplexing than that is Wilt Chamberlain banging 20,000 women! That's 1000 women a year - 3 broads a day - for 20 years! Only an NBA player could manage that kind of output. Or is it input? In any case, Philadelphia has provided some mathematical mind benders over the years.

The best thing about all this? There's still a delectable 65+ games left, depending on who you're watching. If you're a Yankee fan, my condolences, your season is over. If you're a Brewers fan, live it up, who knows when this is going to happen again?

If you're a Tribe fan, get ready. I just bought a commemorative Beer Stein displaying the names of the 1948 World Series Champion Cleveland Indians. 10 months from now, I plan on buying another one with the 2007 team on it.

Tschüs!

Well, that's it. It's time to close the book on the 2007 MLB regular season. I guess I'll just go into my hole and wait for basketball season to start....

Wait, what? You say the Tribe made the playoffs this year? They won the central?!? You mean my sports prediction was right? Again?

Let's see how well I did at the beginning of the season...

American League East
Predicted Finish: New York Yankees Boston Red Sox Toronto Blue Jays Tampa Bay Devil Rays Baltimore Orioles	Actual Finish: Boston Red Sox New York Yankees Toronto Blue Jays Baltimore Orioles Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Predicted Performances: Best Offseason: Boston Red Sox Best Pitcher: Roy Halladay, Blue Jays Best Hitter: David Ortiz, Red Sox Best Addition: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Red Sox Best Manager: None Team to watch: Toronto Blue Jays Player to watch: Delmon Young, Devil Rays	Actual Performances: Best Offseason: Boston Red Sox Best Pitcher: Josh Beckett, Red Sox Best Hitter: Alex Rodriguez, Yankees Best Addition: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Red Sox Best Manager: None Team to watch: None Player to watch: Delmon Young, Devil Rays

What I was expecting was for the Red Sox to get off to a hot start, and then eventually choke at the end of the year and cede the division to the Yankees. I was pretty close on that. What I wasn't expecting was that the Blue Jays would be completely inept. They had almost no bearing on how the division turned out at all. All they really did was attempt to play spoiler the last few weeks of the season. To me, that's disgraceful. They had a better rotation and a better bullpen than the Yankees, and their lineup was not outclassed by the Red Sox. I blame John Gibbons, that guy is club house poison.

As for my individual accolades at the beginning of the season, I wasn't totally off there. Though Dice-K didn't end up being the baseball Jesus, he did win the Red Sox 15 games. I ask you, Red Sox fans, where would you be if you didn't have Dice-K? That's correct, twiddling your thumbs with the Blue Jays watching the Tigers play the Yankees in the ALDS.

And I was right about Delmon Young. He had 93 RBI on a team that routinely had sub-Mendoza Line hitters in the lineup. He also blew up on an ump at the end of the year. I'm calling it now, he's the next Albert Belle. Look for him to hit 50 Home Runs and run down St. Petersburg Trick-or-Treaters with his car in the next 10 years.

American League Central
Predicted Finish: Cleveland Indians Detroit Tigers Minnesota Twins Chicago White Sox Kansas City Royals	Actual Finish: Cleveland Indians Detroit Tigers Minnesota Twins Chicago White Sox Kansas City Royals
Predicted Performances: Best Offseason: Cleveland Indians Best Pitcher: Johan Santana, Twins Best Hitter: Travis Hafner, Indians Best Addition: Gary Sheffield, Tigers Best Manager: Jim Leyland, Tigers Team to watch: Cleveland Indians Player to watch: Josh Barfield, Indians	Actual Performances: Best Offseason: Cleveland Indians Best Pitcher: C.C. Sabathia, Indians Best Hitter: Curtis Granderson, Tigers Best Addition: Joe Borowski, Indians Best Manager: Eric Wedge, Indians Team to watch: Cleveland Indians Player to watch: Fausto Carmona, Indians

As both the standings and my heart show, the Indians totally dominated this division in 2007. Yes, I said it would happen, but I'm a homer, I always think it's going to happen. And hey, I called the standings exactly! So, I was a little wrong in my thinking. I thought this was the best division in baseball. It didn't turn out that way.

Looking at the personal accolades, every category is dominated by a Tribesman. Joe Borowski pulled in 45 saves for what was previously the worst bullpen in baseball, Eric Wedge kept his players playing at an extremely high level all year, and if you tell me you saw Fausto Carmona winning 19 games and finishing second in ERA, you're lying.

Only Curtis Granderson keeps the Tribe from sweeping those awards. He batted .302, scored 122 runs, stole 26 bases, hit 23 homers, roped 23 triples, and had 38 doubles. That is a historic season. He joins Jimmy Rollins on the 20-20-20-20 (HRs,2Bs, 3Bs, SBs) list this season along with four others......ever. That's right, only four people in MLB history have ever done that. Props to you Curtis. It's too bad your decrepit veterans couldn't give you a full season to get the Tigers into the playoffs. Granderson also blogged for ESPN.com this year. He wasn't especially insightful, but it's nice to give back to the fans.

American League West
Predicted Finish: Los Angeles Angels Oakland Athletics Texas Rangers Seattle Mariners	Actual Finish: Los Angeles Angels Seattle Mariners Oakland Athletics Texas Rangers
Predicted Performances: Best Offseason: Los Angeles Angels Best Pitcher: Francisco Rodriguez, Angels Best Hitter: Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners Best Addition: Gary Matthews Jr., Angels Best Manager: Mike Scioscia, Angels Team to watch: Texas Rangers Player to watch: Jered Weaver, Angels	Actual Performances: Best Offseason: Los Angeles Angels Best Pitcher: John Lackey, Angels Best Hitter: Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners Best Addition: None Best Manager: Mike Scioscia, Angels Team to watch: Seattle Mariners Player to watch: Kelvim Escobar, Angels; Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners

Much like I said in this column, I blame ESPN for all of my bad predictions and all of my lack of information concerning this division. I'm not even sure who the best addition is, because I don't know enough about the performances of offseason aquisitions. Why is this? Because of the shameless East Coast Bias and how out of control it has gotten at ESPN this summer. If you consumed 8 hours of ESPN TV, Radio, and website everyday like I did, all you really knew was that the Yankees play in New York and A-Rod wants a new contract this year. That is absolutely unacceptable! That's why I have swore off watching ESPN all together. But that's a whole different column.

As for the Mariners, they were a huge suprise to me and just about everyone else. After reading every major sports prognosticator last spring, I drank the kool-aid and decided the Mariners would be the worst team in the league. So much for that. I'm going to blame ESPN for that one too.

The Indians were fortunate enough to split a 10 game season series with the Angels this year. In those 10 games, I discovered that Mike Scioscia is one of the most refreshing baseball minds in the game. He manufactures runs like nobody's business. He's got all kinds of speed. The Angels steal bases, routinely go from first to third, they grind out infield hits, and stretch singles into doubles and doubles into triples. Just excellent, agressive, fun baseball. If he didn't have a payroll north of 100 million (which should be the case, considering his talent makeup), I'd say he was manager of the year no problem.

As for Player to Watch, Escobar is deserving after his break out year, but did anyone see Ichiro in the All-Star game? Victor Martinez hit a game-saving homer, but I'd still give the MVP to Ichiro. Did anyone see his first hit? He looped a ball off the end of his bat into the opposite field just out of the reach of David Wright. It's impossible to explain what this tiny, Japanese man can do with a baseaball bat. If you haven't been watching Ichiro over the last 7 years, you've done your self a horrid injustice.

Awards
Pre-Season Prediction:	Updated Prediction:	Who Should Win:
American League MVP:	Travis Hafner, Indians	Alex Rodriguez, Yankees	Victor Martinez, Indians
American League Cy Young:	Roy Halladay, Blue Jays	Josh Beckett, Red Sox	C.C. Sabathia, Indians
American League ROY:	Daisuke Matsuzaka, Red Sox	Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox	Delmon Young, Devil Rays
American League Manager of the Year:	Eric Wedge, Indians	Joe Torre, Yankees	Eric Wedge, Indians

Basically, this section is my protest against the East Coast bias. Does Alex Rodriguez have MVP numbers? Absolutely. Did he have a better season than his other two MVP wins? Unquestionably. Should he do it because he makes $30 million a year? Undoubtedly.

But, let me, for just a moment, make an argument for Victor Martinez. He led the American League Central winning Cleveland Indians in RBI, he hit .356 with runners in scoring position, and he seemed to come up big in situations for the Tribe time and time again.

AND...

He played the most difficult position in baseball and played it well. 32% of base runners were caught stealing. That's a better percentage than Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Varitek, Jorge Posada, and A.J. Pierzynski. He managed a pitching staff that produced two viable Cy Young candidates (Sabathia, Carmona) and the AL Leader in saves (Borowski). A year earlier, the bullpen got only 24 saves and had a 4.66 ERA. This year, the bullpen had 48 saves and a 3.75 ERA. With the exception of Borowski, that bullpen was exactly the same, and Borowski's ERA was 5.07.

On top of all this, the Cleveland Indians went from fourth place in the AL Central last year to being the best team in baseball this year. No player is more responsible for that than Victor Martinez. You can give the MVP to A-Rod if you want, but the Yankees won fewer games than they did in 2006, and they didn't win their division.

I'd love to write about the National League, but it seems that I just don't have that in me. Except to say this: Go Rockies!

I'll leave you with my prediction for the AL Playoffs from the beginning of the season...

American League Playoffs

Divisonal Series

Cleveland Indians over New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox over Los Angeles Angels

American League Championship Series

Boston Red Sox over Cleveland Indians

The Tribe will probably limp into the playoffs in a strong central division which will undoubtedly cannibalize itself. This would match them up against the Yankees whom they'll beat with better pitching in a short series.

The Red Sox will beat the Angels of Anaheim because the AL West representative will probably be the 6th best team in the league.

I like the Sox experience and pitching in a series against Cleveland, which will probably be happy just to be there. Plus, I expect 4 of these games to be in Fenway. Hafner will probably hit 12 doubles off the monster, but the Red Sox will win in the end. You can bet I'll be rooting otherwise.

Tschüs!

Remember last spring when the Cavs were in the playoffs and I was writing about nearly every moment? Have you asked yourself why I haven't been writing about the Indians nearly as much?

It's very simple. I love the Indians. They are my baby. The emotional weight I carry with this team is on par with a mother and her child. And I don't even mean a Hollywood mother who's trying to resurrect her shattered career by getting preggers - sired by some teen beat flavor of the month.

If the Cavs would have won the Championship last spring, I would have gotten really excited, jumped up and down, gotten really drunk for a whole weekend, and then shrugged the whole thing off a few days later and watched the Tribe finish off the month of June.

Now, if the Indians were to ever win the World Series (this year, next year, 50 years from now), I would break down and cry. Not just slumping over my couch, a trickle of joy running down my cheak. No. I would be hysterically sobbing on the ground in the fetal position, part laughing, part crying, part speaking in tounges like a pentacostal church service.

This emotional weight, combined with the fact that I drank the Kool-Aid like the rest of the country and dared to believe that the Yankees had even the slightest shot in the series against the Tribe, is why I haven't been near my computer. I was just too amped up to write.

But now, the Wahoo Warriors are going to the American League Championship Series, and there really wasn't a doubt about that happening. I mean, the Yankees were reliant on Chien-Ming Wang to be their stud! Let's take a look at his two lines in this series...

Game 1:4.2 IP 9H 8 ER 4 BB 2K 2HR 15.43 ERA 3.09 WHIP
Game 4:1 IP 5H 4 ER 0 BB 0K 1HR 19.06 ERA 5.00 WHIP

So much for being a stud. I'm confident that I could go out there and put up similar numbers. And then there was Andy Pettitte, man, what a performance on Friday night....until you consider this...

Game 2 Line: 6.1 IP 7 H 2 BB 1.475 WHIP

The best pitcher they sent out there let nearly one and a half men on base per inning! It was only by sheer luck that some of those hits weren't strung together. You don't let 9 men on base over six innings and call it a dominant performance. I went to that game, and Pettitte did absolutely everything he could except pitch to keep himself in the game. He walked around the mound, talked to Jorge, washed Jeter's hair, pierced A-Rod's left ear - I mean, the guy worked slower than an intern at an investment bank coming off a 3-day bender (for the record, I have no idea what that is like).

I can't believe I was taken. I should have trusted myself. I mean, I said it would happen! Way back in April!

So now we're sitting on the brink of a true baseball phenomenon: Joe Torre may lose his job. Seriously, that's the head story on ESPN.com today. I mean, the East Coast bias has reached shameless proportions. Let's go through the story lines that would be more appropriate...

Beckett vs. Sabathia
These are the starters for Game 1 of the ALCS. THE BEST TWO PITCHERS IN BASEBALL!!! When is the last time that the absolute best two players at their position went head to head with so much on the line? Forget baseball for a second. In any sport, when is the last time the two most dominating prescences in the game went head to head in a playoff semifinal? There should be 5 or 6 days worth of analysis to consider here. Unfortunately, all we'll get is 20 minutes on Baseball Tonight between the funeral for Joe Torre's job and speculation about whether A-Rod will make 35 or 40 million dollars next year.

The Young Blood
Fausto Carmona, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Grady Sizemore, Dustin Pedroia, Rafael Perez, Manny Delcarmen, Franklin Gutierrez, Jacoby Ellsbury, etc etc. I have never in my life seen an abundance of young talent in a series so big as this one. Why isn't this being talked about more? We droll over Roger Clemens, who on Sunday looked like the old lions on the Discovery channel that get evicted from the pride after a young lion tears him apart, but what of this young talent? This is one of the biggest stories of the year. And what about Indians manager Eric Wedge? The guy is 39 years old and his team just soundly defeated 67 year old Joe Torre's team.

Mark Shapiro and Theo Epstein
Say what you will, but there are no two men who are better at building a baseball team than these guys. And after Epstein traded away Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez and signed J.D. Drew for $70M, I feel pretty good about my team's GM. At the end of the day, these two guys put together the most post-season ready teams in the big leagues. Shapiro did it for a scant $61 million! These men are masters of their craft, and neither will be talked about as much as the inept Brian Cashman.

And that's really what this series comes down to. It is the battle of the GMs. Neither Wedge nor Francona are exceptional in-game managers. I don't think anybody fills out a lineup card like Eric Wedge, and Francona probably creates the best clubhouse atmosphere in baseball, but the positioning and bargaining Epstein and Shapiro have conducted over the past two years will determine more than anything who wins the World Series. Let's take a look at the rosters...

Lineup

Cleveland Indians		Boston Red Sox
Name Grady Sizemore Asdrubal Cabrera Travis Hafner Victor Martinez Ryan Garko Jhonny Peralta Kenny Lofton Franklin Gutierrez Casey Blake	BA/OBP/HR/RBI .277/.390/24/78 .283/.354/3/22 .266/.385/24/100 .301/.374/25/114 .289/.359/21/61 .270/.341/21/72 .283/.344/0/15 .266/.318/13/36 .270/.339/18/78	Name Dustin Pedroia Kevin Youkilis David Ortiz Manny Ramirez Mike Lowell J.D. Drew Jason Varitek Coco Crisp Julio Lugo	BA/OBP/HR/RBI .317/.380/8/50 .288/.390/16/83 .332/.445/35/117 .296/.388/20/88 .324/.378/21/120 .255/.367/17/68 .266/.318/13/36 .268/.330/6/60 .237/.294/8/73

The Red Sox are not nearly as overpowering as the Yankees, but they are far more top heavy. For example, we're not going to be seeing Dustin Pedroia lead off any games with a HR a la Johnny Damon. However, we can expect that Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz won't have their hands around their throats for the entire series like Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter, and Bobby Abreu did.

The Indians have a more complete lineup. Case Blake at the number nine spot produced as many RBI(78) as Grady Sizemore at the number one spot. Both were more than their Red Sox counterparts. However, Ortiz, Ramirez, and Lowell combined for 325 RBI. The Indians 3-4-5 hitters, Hafner/Martinez/Garko, combined for 275. Both of those numbers could have been significantly higher if Hafner and Ramirez wouldn't have fallen off so drastically from better years.

In any case, the Red Sox lineup is not nearly as imposing as that of the Yankees. If the 2-6 hitters from Boston perform like the 2-6 hitters of New York, expect to see this thing finished in Cleveland early.

Rotation

Cleveland Indians		Boston Red Sox
Name C.C. Sabathia Fausto Carmona Jake Westbrook Paul Byrd	ERA/WHIP/Ks 3.21/1.14/209 3.06/1.21/137 4.32/1.41/88 4.59/1.39/93	Name Josh Beckett Curt Schilling Daisuke Matsuzaka Tim Wakefield	ERA/WHIP/Ks 3.27/1.14/194 3.87/1.25/101 4.40/1.32/201 4.76/1.35/110

Here is where the Indians become top heavy. Carmona and Sabathia are machines at the top of the rotation. Not only did they dominate with the numbers shown, but they also combined to throw 456 innings pitched this year. Compare that to 404 from Dice-K and Beckett.

Terry Francona has positioned the Red Sox rotation craftily. Beckett and Daisuke will be staggered around Curt Schilling, and Tim Wakefield will be pulling anchor. Schilling will be empowered by the Fenway Faithful, and that allows the Japanese import to pitch in the unfriendly confines of Jacob's Field.

These rotations are pretty even. Both clubs have crafty veterans who have done it before in Byrd and Schilling. However, both those guys could have an off-night executing and give up 6 runs. The same goes for Wakefield and Westbrook, with a slight advantage to the knuckleballer because he's been here before. Of course, he has done this before too...

(Note: that was the best video I could find of the occasion. How crappy are Yankees fans that they don't have a hundred crisp versions of the actual homerun on youtube?)

Bullpens

Cleveland Indians		Boston Red Sox
Name Joe Borowski Rafael Betancourt Rafael Perez Jensen Lewis Aaron Fultz	WHIP/Kper9/S 1.43/7.95/45 0.76/9.08/3 0.92/9.20/1 1.23/10.43/0 1.32/6.81/0	Name Jonathan Papelbon Hideki Okajima Manny Delcarmen Eric Gagne Javier Lopez	WHIP/Ks/S 0.77/12.96/37 0.97/8.22/5 1.02/8.39/1 1.88/10.61/0 1.33/5.75/0

This series really is the battle of arms. How does Eric Gagne have 10.61 Ks/9 AND a 1.88 WHIP? How is that possible? How does Joe Borowski have a 1.43 WHIP and 45 saves?

Then there is Jonathan Papelbon. Tribe fans, if you're seeing his face, then it's not a good thing. The goal for the Indians in this series is to not see Jonathan Papelbon. The Tribe just had trouble with Mariano Rivera on short rest. There is no way in hell they're hitting Papelbon.

Also, if Aaron Fultz is in the ballgame for any other reason then to pitch to a left handed part of the lineup, then feel free to curse Eric Wedge's name.

After watching the Yankees nearly get through the series with just two above average relief pitchers, it seems likely that the Borowski-Lewis-Betancourt-Perez and the Papelbon-Okajima-Delcarmen-Lopez combos are more than enough to get through a seven game series.

Whoever gets the early lead in these games is most often going to win. I know Red Sox Nation is used to late inning heroics, but you can throw that one out in this series. The bullpens on both sides are far too dominant. Whoever gets to the starter first is going to win the ballgame.

Let's look at a few more facets of the series.

Player Tribe fans are afraid of, but shouldn't be: David Ortiz

Ortiz is a big swinging lefty. He's got a good eye, but is susceptable to the low strike in the dirt. C.C. Sabathia is a big pitching lefty, Fausto Carmona and Jake Westbrook are sinker ball specialists, and Aaron Fultz and Rafael Perez eat lefties for breakfast.

Player Tribe fans will boo unmercilessly, and pay for it severely: Manny Ramirez

This is kind of the other side of the coin. We have the pitching to shut down Ortiz. We do not have the pitching to shut down Ramirez. Maybe we can convince him this is 1997 and he's playing for the Indians. We need a big fat helping of Manny being Manny for the next 11 days in every way but at the plate.

Stuff Red Sox Nation understands about the Indians or Baseball: Nothing

Are these not the worst fans in baseball? 14 million strong and I bet if you asked 12 million of them to name the entire starting rotation of their favorite team, they couldn't do it. Last friday there was probably 1 Yankee fan for every 15 Indians fans. When the series comes back to the Jake after the first two games in Boston, you can expect that the ratio will be down to 1:10 or 1:8. And not one of them will understand why Big Papi isn't hitting or why they don't bring Jonathan Papelbon into the game after the 6th inning.

Key for the Tribe: The 3-run homer

A buddy of mine turned me on to Earl Weaver a few weeks ago. He was basically the same manager as Eric Wedge. Weaver believed in big innings rather than organizing a hit and run or bunting to give up outs. Wedge believes similarly (although his bunting of Asdrubal Cabrera in big situations makes me think he's softening to small ball). In any event, the way the pitching stacks up in this series, Tribe fans can expect to win any game that invovles a 3-run homer by one of their hitters.

Key for the BoSox: Getting to Papelbon

For most of the season, the Red Sox bullpen seemed unstoppable. Okajima was inhumane in the early going. As things went along, however, and Eric Gagne became relevant the way no one wants to be relevant, the BoSox bullpen has seemed more and more susceptable to blowing leads. The Sox will need their starters to go deep, and they will need solid outings from Delcarmen and Okajima to get to the man who currently defines the word closer in the American League.

Prediction

Look for Beckett and Sabathia to each go 1-1 in this series pitching against each other. I expect Carmona will beat Schilling soundly. Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd will unlikely be able to get around Red Sox hitting for too long. It's very strange that Tim Wakefield becomes the wild card in all of this. Game 4 will be the most pivotal of the series, and Byrd vs. Wakefield could go many different ways. This is how I see it going...

Game 1: Red Sox, 4-1Beckett has another strong outing and Sabathia can't find his slider in Fenway. Patient Tribe hitting gives Beckett the boot in the 7th despite not giving up a run. The Tribe rallies against Delcarmen in the 7th and Okajima again in the 8th, but is unable to get more than 1 run. Papelbon comes in with one out in the 8th and pitches a 5-out save.

Game 2: Indians, 6-4 The Tribe rolls against Schilling, putting up 6 runs in 5 innings as Francona refuses to go to his bullpen early. The offense cools off in the late innings, but Carmona pounds through the Red Sox lineup. Victory seems assured until Carmona tires late and gives up two runs in the 8th. Joe Borowski comes in after Betancourt for the ninth inning. Borowski gives up two runs and nearly surrenders the game before JD Drew flies out to right with the bases loaded to end the game.

Game 3: Red Sox, 10-8 The series goes back to the Jake where neither Westbrook nor Matsuzaka have their best stuff. They are belted all around the ballpark as the high wall in left field begins to resemble the cratered surface of the moon. Grady Sizemore makes 3 great plays in center countered by similar acrobatics from Coco Crisp. The game is tied at 8 late in the game. David Ortiz draws a walk from Rafael Perez and Manny Ramirez takes him deep because he doesn't understand he's not suppposed to be able to hit Rafael Perez. Papelbon rushes in to silence the Tribe bats.

Game 4: Indians, 1-0In a shocking pitcher's duel, Paul Byrd and Tim Wakefield each don't surrender a run for 7 innings. Wakefield tries to sneak a fastball past Casey Blake in the top of the 8th, and Blake hits it out of the park. Joe Borowski loads the bases in the 9th, but gets JD Drew to ground into a double play.

Game 5: Indians, 1-0In a not-so-shocking pitcher's duel, C.C. Sabathia finally finds his slider and pitches a 9 inning, 12 K, complete game shutout. Beckett is equally as impressive, but gives up a homer to Franklin Gutierrez early to cost him the game.

Game 6: Red Sox, 4-2Carmona looks like he's going to shutdown the Red Sox yet again until he surrenders 4 runs in the 5th inning before finally getting JD Drew to ground out and kill the rally. Jensen Lewis, Rafael Perez, and Rafael Betancourt come in to stop the bleeding, but Schilling has finally found his stuff. Despite a 2-run homer by Victor Martinez off Gagne after a Hafner walk in the 8th, Papelbon comes in again to end it with a 6-out save.

Game 7: Indians, 5-4In a shocking turn of events, Alyssa Milano and Dane Cook inadvertently burn Fenway Park to the ground while they're driving to the game. Cook runs a gas truck off the road on the Massachusetts turnpike while he and Alyssa Milano fight over the rear-view mirror to adjust their pink Red Sox hats. Game 7 is moved back to Cleveland where the Indians faithful will their team to a win in a game that sees C.C. Sabathia and Paul Byrd come out of the bullpen. JD Drew pops up to Jhonny Peralta for the last out.

Sorry, Red Sox Nation, but this is the start of a new era. I will leave you with this...

Be prepared for plenty of this...

Go Tribe.

Tschüs!