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The Inaugural Column
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April 8th, 2004 - by John Strougal
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"It's Baseball season."
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Those few words to me are about as sweet as they come. Right up there with (but behind, of course) "It's a boy!". Those two phrases together mean that beginning this summer and hopefully continuing the next 50+ years, I will have a someone to play catch with.
I'll inevitably have to explain to little Benjamin why our beloved White Sox just can't get over the hump. I'll get to tell him that I saw Frank Thomas in his prime-- when he could take an unhittable pitch and flair it into right field for a single.
I'll be able to tell him about Esteban Loaiza's magical 2003 season. And about how exciting it was when the Sox clinched the pennant in '83. I'll tell him how Sammy Sosa didn't always play on the north side of Chicago. How the Sox used to out-draw the Cubbies. He'll ask me to buy him a Ryan Sweeney jersey. Or ask if we can do down to the park to get Jeremy Reed's autograph.
And we also know he'll ask me how in the world Sandy Alomar Jr. is still catching for the White Sox at age 50. All those things I look forward to. But looking ahead is reserved for the months between October and March. It's April.
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"It's Baseball season."
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It seems like only yesterday that pitchers and catchers were reporting to their respective spring training camps.
The Yankees traded for Alex Rodriguez. The Orioles, Angels, Red Sox, Cubs and Astros all made big free agent signings (as did the Yanks). Some new faces made their way into various teams. Kaz Matsui left Japan
to play American baseball for the New York Mets. Joe Mauer, the only player picked ahead of Mark Prior in the 2001 draft, broke camp with the Twins as their everyday starter. Old faces in new places were also found in abundance around the
league. A-Rod, Vladimir Guerrerro, Curt Schilling, Javier Vazquez, Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Billy Wagner, Greg Maddux, Bartolo Colon, Alfonso Soriano, Keith Foulke and Ivan Rodriguez lead an impressive group of players
all playing for new franchises in 2004. Now let the games begin!
A season's first article wouldn't be right without predictions. Since this is coming out with most teams having played about three to four games already, I certainly have a distinct advantage. I mean, where else are you going to get a prediction
of the Detroit Tigers and the Milwaukee Brewers winning their respective divisions (they are a combined 7-1!). Where else will you read someone predicting that Ellis Burks and Paul Konerko will have more stolen bases than Ichiro Suzuki? OK, OK... we all know
that 2% of the season is nothing to base predictions on, so I guess I still have time to give mine out this year without being too late. So, without further adieu...
| Division | My Pick | Reason |
| AL East | NY Yankees | Great hitting, great pitching, great uniforms... what else do you need? |
| AL Central | Chicago White Sox | Good hitting, underrated pitching in a weak division |
| AL West | Anaheim Angels | Complete team in every facet of the game. |
| AL Wild Card | Boston Red Sox | Like Anaheim, pretty solid throughout the roster. |
| NL East | Atlanta Braves | No Javy, no Sheffield, but plenty left to put these guys back on top again. |
| NL Central | Houston Astros | Cubs slight edge in pitching (arguable) offset by Astros hitting and more dominant closer. |
| NL West | SF Giants | Do I have to choose one? I could make a case for why each team will not win. I'm picking the Giants in hopes of Robb Nen and Jason Schmidt staying healthy. |
| NL Wild Card | Florida Marlins | Team shows last year was no fluke and beats out the Cubs in a tight race. |
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| Astros over the Yankees in the World Series. |
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Other predictions... |
| AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez |
| NL MVP: Barry Bonds |
| AL CY Young: Curt Schilling |
| NL Cy Young: Roy Oswalt |
| AL ROY: Joe Mauer |
| NL ROY: Kaz Matsui |
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A Closer Look at each division... |
| My list of AL Central's best players for 2004. These rankings are based solely on projected 2004 performances. |
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| AL Central |
| Position | My Pick | Reason |
| C | Ivan Rodriguez | Experience factor. Would have loved to put Victor Martinez's name here. Martinez might hit for a higher BA, but Pudge's arm and power put him at the top. |
| 1B | Mike Sweeney | One of the best pure hitters in the AL. Paul Konerko can get hot and mash for weeks at a time, but I'll take Sweeney's consistancy at the plate. |
| 2B | Fernando Vina | Not much competition at this position. Vina is the only one here with a career OBP over .350. |
| 3B | Corey Koskie | Solid bat and glove. Joe Crede ready to surpass Koskie as division's best third sacker. Should come close to doing that this year. |
| SS | Jose Valentin | The numbers tell me to say Angel Berroa. I want to see him hit one more year before ranking him first. Omar Vizquel has the best glove in the Central. |
| LF | Carlos Lee | Dmitri Young will hit for a higher average and get on-base more often, but Lee will do a lot more damage to opposing pitchers. Look for another 30 HR, 100 RBI season from El Caballo. |
| CF | Carlos Beltran | One of the game's best center fielders. Numbers speak for themselves. |
| RF | Magglio Ordonez | Is a career year away from an MVP title - if the Sox can win the division in that same year. |
| DH | Frank Thomas | AL Central HOFer |
| SP | Mark Buehrle, Esteban Loaiza, C.C. Sabathia, Brad Radke and Johan Santana |
| RP | Ugueth Urbina | This newcomer to the AL Central has the best resume... and a championship ring to boot. |
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