Loge Level

OK, I apologize for the winter of inactivity. Of course, plenty of transactions, trades, and prospect happenings that I live for occurred over the five months since Moxie’s previous post, but I found myself more capitivated by a certain basketball team than a relatively quiet offseason for my favorite baseball team.

But I promise nearly as frequent Moxie posts the next six months, from the resurrections of Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez to the decline of Miguel Tejada and Jason Giambi. Super prospects Jay Bruce, Johnny Cueto, Jacoby Ellsbury, Phil Hughes, Evan Longoria and Colby Rasmus will be discussed. Hopefully, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens will not.

A new baseball season begins Tuesday in Tokyo at 6 p.m. local time – at the break of dawn in the eastern United States and closing time on the west coast — with the defending champion Boston Red Sox taking on the Oakland A’s. So, I’ll have a bowl of Cap’n Crunch instead of a bottle of Bud to accompany the first pitch.

Opening Day is a Holy Day for Moxie Legion. Most years it’s a day-long event. Grill some burgers, drink some beer. Watch the Cincinnati Reds on one TV, the Red Sox on another, maybe a third game afterward. Then, the NCAA national championship follows in the evening.

But the NCAA Tournament is running a week behind this season and the Sox are starting the season overseas. So, I’ll watch with interest alone on Tuesday and Wednesday. But before Dustin Pedroia takes the first pitch of the season from Joe Blanton, check out some predictions after the jump.

American League

East
1. Boston
2. M.F. Yankees
3. Toronto
4. Tampa Bay
5. Baltimore

Central
1. Detroit
2. Cleveland
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Minnesota
5. Kansas City

West
1. Seattle
2. L.A. Angels of Anaheim
3. Texas
4. Oakland

Wild card: Cleveland
AL champs: Cleveland
MVP: Miguel Cabrera
Cy Young: Felix Hernandez (oops, edit: Justin Verlander, with King Felix runner-up)
ROY: Evan Longoria

National League

East
1. N.Y. Mets
2. Atlanta
3. Philadelphia
4. Washington
5. Florida

Central
1. Chicago Cubs
2. Cincinnati
3. Milwaukee
4. Pittsburgh
5. St. Louis
6. Houston

West
1. Arizona
2. L.A. Dodgers
3. Colorado
4. San Diego
5. San Francisco

Wild card: Atlanta
NL champs: Chicago Cubs
MVP: David Wright
Cy Young: Brandon Webb
ROY: Colby Rasmus
World Series champs: Cleveland

For the record, last year was the first year since 1995 that I predicted the eventual World Series champ in Spring Training. So, sorry Cubs and Indians fans, but the last time the Red Sox won a World Series a team broke an 88-year curse the following year, so who knows?

And, a final prediction: Sox 7, A’s 4 on Tuesday.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 24th, 2008 at 8:11 pm and is filed under Fantasy Sports, MLB, Moxie Legion Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.