MLB Preview: NL Central

BITE-SIZE BREAKDOWN:

HOW THEY'LL FINISH:

1. St. Louis Cardinals

2. Cincinnati Reds

3. Milwaukee Brewers

4. Chicago Cubs

5. Pittsburgh Pirates

6. Houston Astros

Division Player of the Year: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals. Duh.

Division Pitcher of the Year:  Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals.

Difference Maker:  Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds. 

Phillips is the key to the Reds' lineup and playoff chances this year. If Phillips can give Cincinnati a repeat of his 2008 All-Star season, the Reds will have the offense and the pitching to have a chance to compete for a Wild Card spot in the National League. 

Biggest Surprise:  Cincinnati Reds pitching.

For the first time in years, the Reds have the horses to reach the playoffs. They don't have a true ace, but young guns Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez have the stuff to deliver like one. Volquez has to prove he is healthy after missing most of the season last year due to elbow problems. Cincinnati also signed Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman, who should be with the big club sooner rather than later. Chapman throws upwards of 99 mph and should be a welcome addition to a talented young staff. 

Biggest Letdown:  Houston Astros

BOTTOM LINE: The Cardinals have the Central's best player, best pitcher, and best lineup protector in Matt Holliday. If St. Louis doesn't run away with the Central, it will be a shock. 

MLB Preview: NL East

BITE SIZE BREAKDOWN:

HOW THEY'LL FINISH:

1. Philadelphia Phillies

2. Florida Marlins

3. Atlanta Braves

4. Washington Nationals

5. New York Mets

Division Player of the Year:  Chase Utley, 2B, Philadelphia Phillies.

Division Pitcher of the Year:  Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies.

Difference Maker: Cole Hamels, SP, Philadelphia Phillies.

Biggest Surprise:  Washington Nationals not finishing last.

How's this for going out on a limb: The Nats won't finish last in the N.L. East in 2010. Washington has made itself better with the additions of Jason Marquis and Ivan Rodriguez, and the Nats have recieved a much-needed boost with the drafting of P Stephen Strasburg. Combine that with the fact that the Mets are in the midst of a face-first divebomb, and Washington has enough to climb out of the cellar.

Biggest Letdown: New York Mets pitching. 

The Mets have Johan Santana, but the rest of their staff is below average. John Maine and Mike Pelfrey are inconsistent, often terrible, and not worthy of sniffing Santana' jock strap. The Oliver Perez signing might be the most egregious of a long line of mistakes made by GM Omar Minaya.

BOTTOM LINE: This division is all about the Phillies. Unless the entire team comes down with polio, Philadelphia is going to win the N.L. East and challenge for a National League title for the fourth straight year. 

Blumenthal For Connecticut Senator

Richard Blumenthal is the man to replace Chris Dodd as Connecticut senator. If there is one candidate that can move beyond the political jargon and say that he has actually done remotely as much for the state of Connecticut as Dodd has, it is Blumenthal. 

As attorney general, Blumenthal attacked a cornucopia of issues facing the state, from antitrust issues to animal rights concerns to even whether or not the ACC violated NCAA rules in stealing teams from the Big East. 

Blumenthal cares about the issues facing the people of Connecticut, and unlike the other four candidates, he has experience righting wrongs. 

If there's anyone who can go to Washington and fight for the people of Connecticut, it's not Peter Schiff. It's not Rob Simmons and it's certainly not Linda McMahon. It's Richard Blumenthal.  

MLB Preview: AL West

BITE SIZE BREAKDOWN:

HOW THEY'LL FINISH:

1. Texas Rangers

2. Seattle Mariners

3. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim California America Earth

4. Oakland Athletics

Division Player of the Year: Chone Figgins, 3B, Seattle Mariners.

Figgins is such a unique player and has had such an impact on the A.L. West that his departure from the Angels immediately helps swing the balance of power in the division. Figgins is the prototypical leadoff hitter, getting on base, tearing up the basepaths, and scoring a ton of runs. If the Mariners are going to compete for a playoff spot, Figgins will have to have a monster season. Here's betting he will.

Division Pitcher of the Year: Cliff Lee, Seattle Mariners.

Difference Maker: Nolan Ryan, President, Texas Rangers.

Ryan has made a bigger impact on the entire pitching staff of the Rangers as team president than he did when he was pitching. And that's saying something. Ryan is old-school, and is heading a revolution of sorts with his pitching staff. Instead of being more careful with his talented young arms (and the Rangers have some in Derek Holland and Neftali Feliz,) Ryan wants them to work hard, throw a lot, and develop more arm strength. If his old-school approach works, Ryan may be responsible for stealing some clients from the notorious Dr. James Andrews.

Biggest Surprise: Texas Rangers Pitching.

Biggest Letdown: Seattle Mariners Power Bats.

BOTTOM LINE: If the Rangers young pitching comes around, Texas will be the team to beat in a depleted A.L. West. The Angels are facing the departures of SP John Lackey, 3B Chone Figgins, and DH Vladimir Guerrero, and the Mariners just don't have enough power in the lineup to compete. Texas will win a watered-down version of the A.L. West this year.

MLB Preview: AL Central

BITE SIZE BREAKDOWN:

HOW THEY'LL FINISH:

1. Detroit Tigers

2. Minnesota Twins

3. Chicago White Sox

4. Kansas City Royals

5. Cleveland Indians

Division Player of the Year: Joe Mauer, C, Minnesota Twins.

Division Pitcher of the Year:  Jake Peavy,

 Chicago White Sox.

Apologies to Zack Greinke, but he can't possibly be as good as he was last year. If he is, we may have a modern-day Sandy Koufax on our hands. Peavy holds the key to the ChiSox season, and gives manager Ozzie Guillen a legit No.1 starter for the first time since Jose Contreras died. (Oh wait, he's still alive??? Wow.)

Difference Maker: Johnny Damon, Detroit Tigers.

Biggest Surprise: Detroit Tigers Starting Pitching.   

The Tigers will win the division this year because of pitching. Sure, nobody is going to be surprised when Justin Verlander wins 20 games, but it may startle some fans to see just how good young guns Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer are. The Tigers have the chance to turn back the clock to 2006-- and reach the playoffs because of their talented young staff.

Biggest Letdown: Chicago White Sox Offense.

BOTTOM LINE: Despite being the third-most talented team in the Central, the Tigers will wind up winning this division. Things probably would have been different if not for the injury to Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan, who has the second-best closer in baseball behind the great Mariano Rivera over the past five years. The Twins still have what it takes to win 90-plus games and reach the playoffs, but they will need to add depth to the bullpen to do so. 

MLB Preview: AL East

BITE SIZE BREAKDOWN

A.L. East

HOW THEY'LL FINISH:

1. New York Yankees

2. Tampa Bay Rays

3. Boston Red Sox

4. Baltimore Orioles 

5. Toronto Blue Jays

Division Player of the Year:  Mark Teixeira, 1B, New York Yankees. 

Teixeira isn't your everyday big-time free agent signing in New York. Tex lived up to the hype, handled the ridiculous pressure, and won a championship in his first year in the Bronx. Now, Yankee fans will love him forever. Or at least until he goes 0-for-4 in Game 1 of the ALDS.

Division Pitcher of the Year:  C.C. Sabathia, New York Yankees.

Difference Maker:  Carl Crawford, OF, Tampa Bay Rays.

Crawford is in a contract year and, due to baseball's unfair economic system, probably won't be back in a Rays uniform. That means the greatest player in franchise history will be traded before the July 31 deadline if Tampa Bay isn't in the race. That's why Crawford, who has always been a loyal and hard-working player, is going to will the Rays to the playoffs.

Biggest Surprise: SP Jeff Niemann, Tampa Bay Rays.

Biggest Letdown: SP Josh Beckett, Boston Red Sox.

BOTTOM LINE: The Yankees simply have too much money and too many players not to win this division. If Tampa Bay can get 2008-type production out of its young pitchers, the Rays have a chance to upend Boston and improbably reach the playoffs for the second time in three years.

Still Heartbroken after Butler Loss

The ball was on its way. Gordon Hayward, hometown kid from Brownsburg, Indiana, had just released it into the tension-filled Indianapolis air, which none of the 71,000-plus people in the building could breathe at that moment. 

I was sitting in a leather chair in Thomaston, Conn., praying that, before it hit the ground, it would somehow pass through that net that seemed a million miles away, and punctuate the greatest basketball story in the history of the sport with the greatest championship-winning play in the history of sports. 

It almost did. 

They were almost immortal.

Gordon Hayward's desperation heave almost went in. 

Photo: Sam Riche/Indianapolis Star

If you were going to write "Hoosiers II", and make it a cinematic success, you wouldn't have needed much imagination beyond what nearly took place in Indianapolis that Monday night. Butler, a small school five miles away from Lucas Oil Stadium, took out blueblood after blueblood on their march to the National Championship game. 

They had people who aren't even basketball fans sitting on the edge of their seats, rooting like their son was the starting point guard. (Shelvin Mack, by the way.)

My mom was even rooting like I played on the team. 

Now, I'm going to admit this right now: I'm a basketball junkie. I love the sport more than anything else in the world. I love playing it. I love watching it.  I even love the smell of a well-used ball. (Wait, that might have come out wrong. But you get my drift.)

If you put me on a deserted island and told me I could only take three things, they'd be a ball, a hoop, and a private jet to get the hell off of the island so I can watch March Madness. (Unless they go to 96 teams in which case I might replace the jet with NCAA president James Isch, and show him what it feels like to get punched repeatedly in the jujunum.)

So, to me, this Butler run was more than just a cool story to keep me occupied for a few weeks in March. It was a mission. It was a crusade. It was an impossible dream. 

 

If Gordon Hayward's shot had found its way through the basket, life would have been different. Just for a brief, fleeting moment, everything would have been right in the world. 

If only moments like this came around more often.

If only, for once, we never had to wake up from the dream.

If only that shot went in.