Ripe with Anticipation

The 2009 MLB season will commence with the reigning World Champion Phillies host the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, April 5th. The time has come for my long awaited 2009 season predictions.

STANDINGS
AL East
1. Boston Red Sox
2. New York Yankees
3. Tampa Bay Rays
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Toronto Blue Jays

AL Central
1. Cleveland Indians
2. Minnesota Twins
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Kansas City Royals
5. Detroit Tigers

AL West
1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Oakland Athletics
3. Texas Rangers
4. Seattle Mariners

NL East
1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. New York Mets
3. Atlanta Braves
4. Florida Marlins
5. Washington Nationals

NL Central
1. Chicago Cubs
2. St. Louis Cardinals
3. Cincinnati Reds
4. Milwaukee Brewers
5. Houston Astros
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

NL West
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Arizona Diamondbacks
3. San Francisco Giants
4. Colorado Rockies
5. San Diego Padres

AL Wildcard
New York Yankees

NL Wildcard
New York Mets

World Series
Red Sox defeat Dodgers in 5 games

Awards
AL MVP: Grady Sizemore
NL MVP: Manny Ramirez
AL Cy Young: Jon Lester
NL Cy Young: Dan Haren
AL ROY: Matt Wieters
NL ROY: Cameron Maybin
AL Comeback: Carl Pavano
NL Comeback: Chris Carpenter
AL Manager: Bob Geren
NL Manager: Joe Torre

AL All-Star Starters
C - Victor Martinez
1B - Mark Teixeira
2B - Dustin Pedroia
SS - Derek Jeter
3B - Evan Longoria
OF - Ichiro
OF - Josh Hamilton
OF - Grady Sizemore
SP - John Danks

NL All-Star Starters
C - Brian McCann
1B - Albert Pujols (Howard should get it but the game's in St. Louis)
2B - Chase Utley
SS - Hanley Ramirez
3B - David Wright
OF - Manny Ramirez
OF - Ryan Braun
OF - Carlos Lee
SP - Cole Hamels (Charlie Manuel is the skipper for the NL)

Bold Prediction: At least 7 of these players will go 30/30 this year.
1. Hanley Ramirez
2. Grady Sizemore
3. BJ Upton
4. Alfronso Soriano
5. Brandon Phillips
6. Nate McLouth
7. David Wright
8. Nick Markakis

The Darkest Day

The city of Philadelphia lost a great man yesterday. A man with more heart, spirit and dedication to the city than anyone before him. The Philadelphia Eagles, who are roughly $47 million under the salary cap, declined to re-sign safety Brian Dawkins. Dawkins signed a 5-year, $17 million contract with the Denver Broncos.

Earlier this week, Donovan McNabb said he would not consider signing an extension with the Eagles until he saw a commitment to improve the team around him by the front office. How did Andy Reid respond? With a disrespectful and down right pitiful one year offer to the heart and soul of the Eagles for the last 12 seasons. As sad as I am to see Brian go, I'm glad he's going to a team who wants him. The Eagles should be ashamed of themselves.

Anyone who has ever attended an Eagles game knows the effect Dawkins has even when he's not on the field. His optimism and encouragement is unparalleled. The tenacity and all-out effort he exerts on every play has left him suffering self inflicted wounds from his bone crushing hits. He did that for the other 52 guys on the team, for the coaching staff that put in brutal hours to prepare the team and for every member of the city of Philadelphia.

Brian Dawkins wasn't just an athlete in Philadelphia, he was Philadelphia.

As stated by sportsonbroad.com:

Enjoy your cheesesteak tonight Andy. I hope you choke on it.