Jessica Vo is the Sports Director at KSBY. One of my favorite things to do on the podcast is to get to know people who aren’t from San Luis Obispo and see the area — especially the sporting landscape — through their eyes. Jessica Vo is someone I’ve interacted with on the sidelines for more than a year. She’s always been friendly and engaging. We talked about what growing up in the Bay Area was like, what her favorite sport is and why, and she told an awesome story about Bill Murray at Pebble Beach. 

On Tuesday afternoon, UCSD announced that the students had approved a measure to increase student fees in order to start the process of moving to Division I. It was a long time coming.

After multiple failed attempts over the past decade to make the move, the time was right. Of the over 8,000 students who voted (35 percent of the student body), about 70 percent of the voters said “Yes.”

“Division I will help extend the entire university’s culture of excellence, align us with peer academic institutions, improve the student experience, strengthen our brand, increase alumni engagement and further our community connection. This move will impact the entire campus in a multitude of ways,” said UCSD Director of Athletics Earl Edwards in a release from UCSD Athletics.

Excitement

People were pretty pumped on social media today.

UCSD students overwhelmingly pass the DI referendum. DI here we come! Go @UCSDtritons !! pic.twitter.com/V7UMGIOafs

— Brad Kreutzkamp (@UCSDcoachK) May 24, 2016

Got chills watching the announcement all said and done UCSD is D1 bound #tritonsrising

— Justin Donatella (@jdonatella9) May 24, 2016

UCSD IS NOW GOING DIVISION 1!!!! So proud to have taken part in the pro side of this referendum ??? #UCSD #Tritons

— Kelly Weldon (@kellyweldon20) May 24, 2016

Not D-1 yet

Many were tweeting on Tuesday that UCSD was now “officially Division I.” That’s actually not the case. The vote was provisional and dependent on the University finding a Division I conference.

Enter the Big West, which we are quite familiar with here at Fansmanship. The conference currently includes Cal Poly, UCSB, UC Davis, Hawai’i, CSUN, Long Beach State, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and Cal State Fullerton. UCSD could be the tenth team –it makes so much sense from an outsider’s perspective — but including the Tritons will still take a number of steps on the part of the Big West and the UCSD administration.

@BigWestMD @Ghizal_Hasan Thanks Steve!

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) May 24, 2016

So, there’s still clearly some work to do, and the concept that UCSD is already rubber-stamped is one the Big West doesn’t seem to like very much.

In the end, UCSD seems to make way too much sense not to be the 10th Big West Conference school.

A proud alumnus

Hey, in case you haven’t heard, I did my undergraduate studies at UCSD. While I never voted in an election like this between 1999 and 2003, students before me voted to fund projects like the Price Center and RIMAC, adding tons of value to my college experience and that of thousands of other students over the years.

In terms of what matters to me about on-campus life, UCSD basically had everything I could want — except Division I athletics.

Over the past week, 6,137 students paved the way to change the future of UCSD. For that, I couldn’t be more proud. Way to go Tritons.

In an impromptu conversation from last Friday, Owen and Andy discuss the Divisional round of the playoffs, who a sleeper team could be, and what real chances the Dodgers might have. Hours later, Owen was looking for a bridge to leap from, but in the mean time, here’s a glimmer of optimistic hope for the Dodgers getting to the world series for the first time in over 25 years.

As is often the case when I interview someone in an impromptu, over-the-phone setting, the sound quality leaves something to be desired. Hopefully it’s still listenable — I assure you it’s no more than 20 minutes — and I hope you enjoy it.

One thing that has remained consistent this season is the dominance of Miguel Cabrera. By Cbl62, via Wikimedia Commons

Back in January, about three months prior to the start of the 2013 Major League Baseball season, I wrote an article claiming my predictions for the upcoming season. Now that the All Star Game is upon us, that means the season is a little over halfway finished and my perception of the teams and players has changed over the course of the year from what it was before the season even started. So here are my updated predictions on what will transpire over the next few months of the season:

But first, here are my pre-season predictions:

Teams I picked to win their divisions:

AL East: New York Yankees

AL Central: Detroit Tigers

AL West: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

NL East: Philadelphia Phillies

NL Central: Cincinnati Reds

NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers

Wild Card Teams:

American League: Baltimore Orioles and Oakland A’s

National League: San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals

CY Young winners:

American League: Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners

National League: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

MVP:

American League: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

National League: Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers

Best record in each League:

American League: Detroit Tigers

National League: Cincinnati Reds

Manager of the Year:

American League: Jim Leyland, Detroit Tigers

National League: Don Mattingly, Los Angeles Dodgers

Moneyball will finally find a World Series ring in 2013. By Leaders Event from London, United Kingdom, via Wikimedia Commons

Updated Predictions (Stats are up to the All Star break):

Teams I picked to win their divisions:

AL East: Boston Red Sox

AL Central: Detroit Tigers

AL West: Oakland A’s

NL East: Atlanta Braves

NL Central: Pittsburgh Pirates

NL West: Arizona Diamondbacks

Wild Card Teams:

American League: Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers

National League: St Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds

CY Young winners:

American League: Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners (10-4, 2.53 ERA, 140 Strikeouts, 1.10 WHIP)

National League: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers (8-6, 1.98 ERA, 139 Strikeouts, 0.91 WHIP)

MVP:

American League: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers (.365, 30 HR, 95 RBI, .458 OBP)

National League: Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks (.313, 21 HR, 77 RBI, .395 OBP)

Best record in each League:

American League: Oakland A’s

National League: Pittsburgh Pirates

Manager of the Year:

American League: John Farrell, Boston Red Sox

National League: Clint Hurdle, Pittsburgh Pirates

I’m usually pretty stubborn about my predictions, but I will admit that I have changed some of mine from the preseason. I was totally off about both the Dodgers and Angels, even though both can still make some sort of run at the playoffs — especially the Dodgers.

Staying in the National League West, Paul Goldschmidt is my new pick for National League MVP. Many people view Yadier Molina as the favorite but I think otherwise. Goldschmidt has better numbers than Molina in every category other than batting average and he isn’t that far behind him in that.

Before the season started, I said that the Angels would meet up with the Dodgers in the World Series creating a “Freeway” World Series, but the Angels have woefully underperformed and I have changed my World Series prediction on its head. I predict that the Arizona Diamondbacks and Oakland A’s will be the final two teams standing.

Let that sink in for a second and actually consider this scenario. Both of these teams are good enough to make it. I don’t have a winner from these two teams because in my mind, they are evenly matched. Since the American League won the All-Star Game and has home field advantage, I’ll go ahead and pick Moneyball to finally come through in the postseason.

Brian Milne was in the middle of this scrum and talked about it on Podcast 71.

What’s it like to kayak at McCovey Cove during an All Star Game? Why would Bruce Bochy leave Tim Lincecum in for 148 pitches? And what do you do when an All Star Game is bereft of a true hero?

Brian and I explored these and other issues on the most sports-bereft day of the year – the day after the Major League Baseball All Star Game.

Here’s a link to the Detroit Free Press article about Brian kayaking in McCovey cove during the 2007 All Star Game.

Podcast can be played under the YouTube clip.

Much has been made of pitching in baseball over the past few seasons. The game has seen a shift from more dominant power-hitters to more shutdown pitchers since the “steroid era” “ended.”

While there are still many bona fide power hitters in the majors (Miguel Cabrera, Jose Bautista, Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, Robinson Cano, etc.), building a strong pitching rotation has become more of a prominent priority for successful teams. Just last season (2011), baseball had a pitcher, Justin Verlander, win both the MVP award and the CY Young award in the American League. Pitching has always been important to America’s pastime but now it’s more crucial than ever.

Here is my third installment, breaking down each team’s potential starting rotation for the 2013 season with the average Earned Run Average (we know averaging an average isn’t scientifically sound, but we’re doing it anyway…): This time, the spotlight is on the AL West…

Oakland Athletics:

1. Brett Anderson (4-2 2.57 ERA, 25 Strikeouts)
2. Jarrod Parker (13-8, 3.47 ERA, 140 Strikeouts)
3. Tommy Milone (13-10, 3.74 ERA, 137 Strikeouts)
4. A.J. Griffin (7-1, 3.06 ERA, 64 Strikeouts)
5. Bartolo Colon (10-9, 3.43 ERA, 91 Strikeouts)

Average Combined 2012 ERA: 3.25

Texas Rangers:

1. Yu Darvish (16-9, 3.90 ERA, 221 Strikeouts)
2. Derek Holland (12-7, 4.67 ERA, 145 Strikeouts)
3. Matt Harrison (18-11, 3.29 ERA, 133 Strikeouts)
4. Alexi Ogando (2-0, 3.27 ERA, 66 Strikeouts)
5. Martin Perez (1-4, 5.45 ERA, 25 Strikeouts)

Average Combined 2012 ERA: 4.12

Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim:

1. Jered Weaver (20-5, 2.81 ERA, 142 Strikeouts)
2. C.J. Wilson (13-10, 3.83 ERA, 173 Strikeouts)
3. Tommy Hanson (13-10, 4.48 ERA, 161 Strikeouts)
4. Joe Blanton (10-13, 4.71 ERA, 166 Strikeouts)
5. Jason Vargas (14-11, 3.85 ERA, 141 Strikeouts)

Average Combined 2012 ERA: 3.94

Seattle Mariners:

1. Felix Hernandez (13-9, 3.06 ERA, 223 Strikeouts)
2. Hisashi Iwakuma (9-5, 3.16 ERA, 101 Strikeouts)
3. Erasmo Ramirez (1-3, 3.36 ERA, 48 Strikeouts)
4. Blake Beavan (11-11, 4.43 ERA, 67 Strikeouts)
5. Hector Noesi (2-12, 5.82 ERA, 68 Strikeouts)

Average Combined 2012 ERA: 3.97

Houston Astros:

1. Lucas Harrell (11-11, 3.76 ERA, 140 Strikeouts)
2. Bud Norris (7-13, 4.65 ERA, 165 Strikeouts)
3. Jordan Lyles (5-12, 5.09 ERA, 99 Strikeouts)
4. Phillip Humber (5-5, 6.44 ERA, 85 Strikeouts)
5. Alex White (2-9, 5.51 ERA, 64 Strikeouts)

Average Combined 2012 ERA: 5.09

Felix Hernandez will be the best pitcher once again in the American League West. By Keith Allison on Flickr (Original version) UCinternational (Crop) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Don’t forget, the A’s (not the Angels or Rangers) are the reigning champs of this division after shocking the baseball world and making a historic run to enter the postseason. But I think that the lack of a “star” pitcher will hurt the A’s this season, as they will no longer be running under the radar like last year. But as for the Angels, I believe that although they may have lost three fifths of the starting rotation they put on the field last year, they did a pretty decent job filling the holes. Tommy Hanson and Jason Vargas are good alternatives for Zack Greinke and Ervin Santana. Joe Blanton had his moments with Greinkes’ new team, the Dodgers last year after being dealt. Look for them to all have decent years.

As for the rest of the division, I do believe that the AL CY Young winner will come from this division in the form of Mariner pitcher Felix Hernandez. He will be the bright spot in what is shaping-up to be another disappointing season for Seattle. The division will be a three team race between the Angels, A’s and Rangers, ultimately with the Angels coming out on top, but I wouldn’t be surprised if either the Rangers or A’s sneak into one of the wild card spots. The Angels have had huge spending off seasons consecutively and this will be the year that it pans out and they reach the postseason.