Yogi Berra once said, "In baseball, you don't know nothing."
Truer words had never been uttered by the man who once said, "Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical." I mean honestly, do any of us really know anything about this game? If you were the one guy who on a drunken limb told your buddy that midseason rookie call-up Anibel Sanchez, who started the season in AA, would be the guy to break the longest no-hitter drought in Major League Baseball history, well, hell man, give me a call, we need to find some real estate!
With that said, here are three predictions I am making for the 2007 season.
1. Daisuke Matsuzaka is worth the hype.
For those who don't know, Matsuzaka throws what is being known as a "gyro ball," which has a certain epic ring to it that you just don't get through saying, "he throws a mean fastball!" The fact that nobody can really agree as to what the pitch does, kind of makes it even more cool, as like the stealth fighter program the U.S. used in the '80's, some people are arguing if the pitch even exists. This is a very good thing for baseball, as arguments over a pitches existence is always a better thing for the game, than arguments over who's on the "juice."
From my initial YouTube assessments, I have gathered that the gyro ball is a pitch where Matsuzaka winds up dips the ball close to the ground, and then does a overhead release that sends the ball spinning rapidly while dipping to the ground. It is certainly a unique pitch, but as Hideo Nomo showed us, uniqueness doesn't always equal consistency, as Nomo was not able to improve his pitching, to keep up with the fact that the novelty of his "tornado wind-up technique" was gone after two years. From all I've read though, Matsuzaka is someone who is known to change things on the fly, and from this year forward, he is probably someone you can count on for 15-plus wins if you're a fantasy baseball fiend like me.
2. The Nationals will be even worse than predicted.
I was listening to the Nats game yesterday when the announcer recounted this little jewel (which to me will be a microcosm of this year's team): "Routine ground ball to Dmitri Young, it takes a hop and - oh no! It goes off his shoe! Two runs will score, as the ball slowly rolls into the outfield!"
Still, in a way I enjoy the low expectations, because every victory - like the one yesterday, where the Nats came back after being down six runs - feels like a playoff series clincher. In fact, if you saw the game, and the celebration afterward, it really did feel like the Nats knew that it had to enjoy the moment for all its worth.
Oh, and the guy who had the winning hit yesterday? That would be one Dmitri Young, hardly surprising when considering that, "in baseball, you don't know nothing."
3. World Series prediction: Cleveland Indians over New York Mets, 4-2:
This one will be a major upset, as the Indians (like the Cardinals and White Sox before them) will rise up from previous mediocrity and grab the title. The Indians offense is backed up by power designated hitter Travis Hafner, who is one of the finest batters in the game, as well as from guys like Grady Sizemore and Victor Martinez who are increasing their averages every year. All three of these guys, hit not only power but gap doubles, and shortstop Jhonny Peralta should come back from a disappointing year on offense. Combine that with one of the most underrated pitching staffs in the game, and you get a surprise world champ coming out of Cleveland.
