Entertainment: Baseball '06.

Baseball is back again! I have always been a big baseball fan and every year I look forward to the boys of summer as they try to entertain a very impatient sports culture here in the good ol' US of A. Here are a few thoughts on this baseball season....

Florida Marlins - This is my team. Mostly because it's geographically the closest Major League team and I'm a firm believer in local team support. Unfortunately, they will be awful this year. I'm expecting 100+ losses. Ouch! At least we get to see a couple guys (Hanley Ramirez, Josh Willingham and Jeremy Hermida) break into the league and set themselves up for future fortunes else where.

Chris Carpenter - I hope he has another year like last year so I can keep bragging to everyone about playing little league with him. Yep, that's right, I played little league with last years NL Cy Young Award winner! We called him Topha' and his brother Robbie was a much better pitcher than him. It's amazing how a kid from a little town in New Hampshire can grow up to be such a force at this level. Topha' for Cy Young!

Barry Bonds - I hope he will NOT pass Babe Ruth and definitely not pass Hank Aaron on the home run list. I believe this record is reserved for the legends and Barry is NOT a legend. He's a self-centered, steroid shooting, jerk. I think of Hank Aaron and his class, he deserves the honor of the most cherished of all sporting records, not a cheater like Bonds!

Red Sox & Yankees - I know its taboo to talk about both in the same sentence but that's ok, its my blog and I can write what I want. So here we go......I, being a former Red Sox supporter (because I lived in New England at one time, see Florida Marlins above) and current Yankee hater, believe that neither team will win the American League Pennant, but Cleveland, yes the Tribe will win the AL. Here's why: 1. They are pretty young (Martinez, Peralta, Hafner, Sizemore, etc.) so they should get a lot of miles out of these guys. 2. They have a great closer in Bill Wickman. 3. Good young arms (Sabathia, Westbrook, Lee).

Pete Rose - For crying out loud put the guy in Cooperstown! They call it the Hall of FAME! Dude was the most famous player of his time and his stats are unreal. So what if he's a bad guy. This isn't the Hall of Good Guys. Put him in the Hall!

Predictions
NL MVP: Albert Pujols (duh!)
AL MVP: Vlad Guerrero
NL Cy Young: Topha'!
AL Cy Young: Johann Santana
Biggest Bust: AJ Burnett (he's a head case!)
Best Free Agent Pickup: Reggie Sanders (just a random pick)
Yankees Mid Season Pickup: Barry Bonds (why not George, it would make for great headlines!)
NL Champs: St. Louis Cards (sorry Mets, you can't buy a Championship!)
AL Champs: Cleveland Indians (sorry Sox, Yanks, you can't buy a Championship!)
World Champions: Cards (I'm an NL guy, sorry.)