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.

Could the Rangers have actually gotten better without former MVP Josh Hamilton? By Keith Allison on Flickr, via Wikimedia Commons

Ideally, on any team in any sport, there is always a “best” player. This is the face of the franchise and much responsibility is put onto that player. In recent years, we have seen many franchise’s best players leave their team to go play for another, but few have actually been successful. The two main ones that come to mind are LeBron James, who left the Cavilers to join the Heat, and Albert Pujols, who left the Cardinals to join the Angels. LeBron has had success so far with the Heat, winning a title. But Pujols and the Angels have yet to make the playoffs and aren’t playing up to their potential for the second year in a row. At the same time, two smaller market franchises have lost their face of the franchise but have actually gotten better or stayed up to the same level of play. Both the Memphis Grizzlies and Texas Rangers have done this.

The Grizzlies made a trade back in January with the Toronto Raptors, sending former all star Rudy Gay away. Gay had been their face of the franchise since 2006. The Grizzlies weren’t very relevant until 2010, when they returned to the playoffs and ended up making it to the second round despite Gay’s absence due to injury. Many questioned whether or not the Grizzlies were better off without Gay playing but that just seemed outrageous because of his unique skill set. They gave the core of Gay, Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley another year to see what they could do as a healthy team and the Grizzlies ended up losing in the first round to the Los Angeles Clippers and the whispers about Gay started looming. Finally the Grizzlies decided it was best to move Rudy Gay and his huge contract and did so. In return, they got some decent pieces including Ed Davis, Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye. The Grizzlies were looked at as crazy for this trade and were expected to drop in the Western Conference but they did the exact opposite. As of right now, the Grizzlies have reached the first Western Conference Finals in team history and are competing for the chance to represent the West in the NBA Finals.

Rudy Gay was the face of Grizzlies basketball for a long time. Not anymore. By Game Face, via Wikimedia Commons

The Texas Rangers and slugging outfielder Josh Hamilton had success over the last few years — making it to two straight World Series. But after a disappointing season in which the Rangers failed to qualify for the playoffs after a heartbreaking wild card game loss, Hamilton and the Rangers decided it was time to part ways. Hamilton, in a shocking signing, joined Albert Pujols in Anaheim as a member of the Angels. With Hamilton and Pujols in the middle of the lineup, the Angels were supposed to shred records and were a top pick to make the World Series. Thus far, though, they are at the bottom of the standings, and many of their players aren’t playing to potential. The post-Hamilton Rangers, on the other hand were viewed in the preseason as still a good team but no where close to what they were with Hamilton. Much like the Grizzlies, the Rangers have succeeded, earning the best record in baseball so far, not seeming to miss Hamilton one bit.

Both the Grizzlies and Rangers management and fans have seen a lot of success after losing their face of the franchise. It is yet to be seen if the good play translates into a championship like in LeBron’s case, but they both look pretty good. Normally I wouldn’t say that losing the best player on your team is a good thing but for the Grizzlies and Rangers it just might have been true.

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.

Week 7 of the NFL isn’t pretty. Let’s get that out of the way. In fact, there is not a single game that features two teams with winning records. That said, we found a few gems that might provide some entertainment. Don’t forget the World Series Picks too.

Luke focused on the Atlanta upset of the Lions in Detroit. The Chargers throw too much for him as they go on the road to the East Coast and is banking on Houston’s defense shutting down the Titans running game.

Andy’s most controversial pick is his choice of the Cardinals to beat the Rangers in the World Series. The National League winning the All-Star Game to secure home field advantage played heavily into Mr. Stevens picking the underdog Red Birds.

One other bold prediction from Andy this week was regarding the Raiders-Chiefs game: ” Raiders win the field position battle over and over. Sebass kicks 900 field goals.”

While 900 may be a lot, the Raiders’ kicker often kicks several in a game.

Owen’s boldest prediction was that the Chiefs will beat the Raiders at home. The Raiders have been pretty emotionally drained over the past two weeks and may overlook the Chiefs. If Carson Palmer starts, he will be rusty. If he doesn’t start, who will play quarterback for the Raiders? Exactly. While they might still win the AFC West, Owen’s prediction is that things finally catch up with the Raiders in week 7.

As I stare off tonight, starry eyed–ala Joey “Blue Sky” Harrington–into the planetary space of the abnormal, my wife is faithfully paying the bills and deciding whom to socially network with this week.  She is the planning operator, the assassin, the Nancy Kerrigan of the union. I, on the other hand, am a self-confessed Tonya Harding.

My only form of social networking is spinning over a few cold ones in a rundown pub–talking with middle-aged, divorced, unemployed conspiracists. They usually view professional baseball as a relative to marriage–systematically dead and broken, absorbed in its winner, less in its faceless building blocks. “Every winner needs a loser,” these men mutter, with overgrown hair hitting their eyelashes.

“Pre or post 18 Britney?” I ask to change the subject, counting the freckles on my left arm. My father called them war wounds in the womb. “Damn right,” I think (thirteen to be exact) turning one eye toward the TV, where an ESPN announcer blankly spits on my beloved Angels for overpaying  a thirty-two-year-old loser from Toronto. I always liked Vernon Wells… just not for eighty six million over the next four.

The pause is timely, allowing our intoxicated minds to find meaning in the topic at hand. “Pre” he says, slamming the frothing stout on the greasy bar top, with a Reagan-like head nod.  A belly the size of a ten pound bag of potatoes with black fuzz and poor complexion smiles from the creased top of his pants.

“Pre…nah,” I say shaking my dog mane hair, stepping a bit back,  examining him closer…world spinning.

“Another on me,” he slurs, pointing to the empty glasses glimmering in the dim-lit bar.

I like the whacked out Spears, like a rock conniseurewould like the Beatles drug induced psychedelic jams. Things need to be frayed, in disharmony, boundless, outside the box. Not collected, perfect, take home to your mother kind of stuff.

When I decided on the California Angels in 1987, I was five, and they were losing a game to the Minnesota Twins 21-1. Chuck Finley, who had pitched the day before, had to spell the Angels’ final relief pitcher in the 6th inning. My father was a fan of Wally Joyner, but growled with disapproval at my penitence of faith in arguably the worst franchise in league history. He had raised me on the greats of his generation: Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Sandy Koufax. His interlink between coach and fatherhood ransacked my father’s ability to see clearly when it came to giving his growing son real advice (he once told me marriage is like hanging yourself by your nads). But in this instance, learning the hard way was learning the best way of all. My father saw this, and went with it. “Oh yea…” he said, chopping some hash on his lap,”better get used to the pain of losing, then.” And I did.

My marriage to the California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim is now in its twenty-fourth year of union. For seventeen of those I got used to losing and being the laughing stock of any sports or barbecue gathering. Most of my friends growing up were die hard Giants or Dodger fans. They idolized popular names like Barry Bonds, Orel Hershiser, Francisco Valenzuela, Matt Williams, Will Clark, and Mike Piazza. In 1988, the Dodgers won a World Series, and in 1989, the Giants played in the famous earthquake series against the A’s. Loving the Angels was like dating their ugly adopted sister. Which is why to this day I can still hear the faint laughter of my friends chewing on a dripping piece of tri-tip.

I knew growing up that the Angels would finish dead last in the division nine times out of ten. So losing took on a meaningful life of its own. Each “L” accrued night in, night out, gave me a sense of pride that I, unlike so many of my friends, could be true to an organization no matter how bad they were (yes I am speaking to you Clipper fans). I idolized Wally Joyner–“Wally World”–the 1986 American League Rookie of the Year. Had it not been for various injuries, the lifetime .289 hitter with 204 home runs and 2,060 hits, would have landed himself in the baseball Hall of Fame. But like  “Wally World” was a rust riddled park in Chase’s famed “Family Vacation,”  so was Joyner’s body. It did as an Angel should do: fall apart.

Which reminds me of our famous collapse in 1995. For the first time in ten years, my Angels, who consistently lost 90-100 games a year, were flirting with the postseason.  On August 6th, the Angels had a 10 1/2 game lead on the Texas Rangers and an 11 1/2 game lead over the Mariners. But a nine game losing streak from August 22nd to September 3rd, and one from September 13th to September 23rd, found the Angels one time gargantuan lead whittled to a tie breaker game with the Mariners to decide who made the postseason. The Mariners ace Randy Johnson hurled a one run, three hit effort, obliterating us 9-1.

From 1987-2002, the Angels missed the postseason. So in order to find pride in things, I had to fall in love with the faces of their losing tradition. Each one of them, like me, was a stalwart ballplayer who played more for the love of the game than he did to experience a winner’s glory.

Remember Chili Davis,  the Angels starting left fielder from 88-90, 93-96? Davis enjoyed an eighteen year career that saw him quietly finish with 350 home runs, a .279 batting average, and 2,355 career hits. More known for the hilarity of his first name, Davis was a rock for the Angels clubhouse in the mid-90’s.

How about Luis Polonia, the 5-8  145 pound gremlin lead-off hitter from 90-93′? Most of Polonia’s thirteen year career was littered with injury. But from 90-93′, Polonia played in 90% of his games and celebrated a .297 batting average. He had the keen ability to slap the ball the other way, and steal bases to set up runs for the Angels big hitters.

Big hitters like the famous Kelly Gruber. Gruber’s forgettable ten year career was predominately played in Toronto, till he finished even more forgettably in 93′ with the Angels. He played eighteen games with three home runs and nine RBIs. Let’s just say Gruber is a favorite of mine when playing “name that random athlete.”

Or how about a big overweight piece of you know what in first baseman Mo Vaughn? Vaughn, the poor man’s Big Papi, signed a record size contract at the time–80 mill over six with Anaheim in 1999. The supposed savior for a franchise with no big names, struck out one hundred eighty times in 2000, and missed all of 2001 with a torn ankle ligament, after slipping in the dugout.

Gary DiSarcina played all eleven (’89-’00) of his big league years with the Angels.  A myriad of injuries created a sort of cult following for the hardworking DiSarcina, which was odd, considering he was only a lifetime .258 hitter. For much of my young life I believed DiSarcina was a near .300 hitter who had played in numerous all-star games.  It was not until last year, that the rose-colored glasses of Angel fandom were ripped from my eyes, showing me just how bad DiSarcina was for most of his career.

As we all know, you can’t win games without great pitching. Which was exactly what the Angels did not have. Besides Chuck Finley and Mark Langston, the Angels starting rotation mimicked that of a little league team. John Farrel, a true workhorse, always made me feel secure when he was on the mound. In 1993, the stud finished 3-12 with a 7.35 era.  It must of been the lack of run support for guys like Farrel or Kirk McCaskill (yeeeaaa riggghhhhhttt). McCaskill’s stunning performance in 1991 left quite a legacy for Angel pitching, finishing the season 10-19 with an amazing 1 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio.

On the eve of the 2002 season I made a bet with my father. I told him the Angels would make the playoffs for the first time in sixteen years. He took the bet and gave me three to one odds. As the season progressed and the Angels got better and better, my father found himself rooting for them as I did. He took a sense of pride in knowing that his son was the kind of man who had stuck it out with no-name failures. When the Angels wrapped up the wild card and a season of 99-63, my father and I reminisced on all the past Angel greats (or “not so greats”). We chuckled remembering Mark Langston’s high leg kick, and Devon White’s inability to hit a change up.

When the Angels shocked the world and won the World Series, I lamented a bit in the celebration. I now had an expectation that they would win year in year out.  No longer could I use their losing as an excuse for my languished faith or diligent grit. “Welcome to the big leagues,” my father said jokingly, during the World Series celebration. Slapping a hundred in my hand (original bet was thirty bucks, which means with my win he owed me ninety), he continued, “take the extra ten dollars as a tip for being so damn faithful all these years.”

As the 2011 season fast approaches, I am unamused or concerned with our 80-82 campaign in 2010. For many of the new era fans, the people who hopped on after our 2002 World Series, winning is everything. From 2002 to present the Angels have developed into a perennial power with five division titles and six playoff births. But winning is just a speck in the eye of my love for Angel baseball, and does not deter me from celebrating a lifetime of appreciation for players who paved the way for our recent string of success. My love for the unexpected is far stronger than a insecure need to be crowned champ every year.

In fact, with all this winning I am beginning to get a bit uncomfortable. Which is why the Kansas City Royals are sounding pretty damn good right now.