Right seeing as the new 2006 season has started just interested in seeing who you guys think will win it in each division, Wild Card and come October the World Series.

AL East:
AL Central:
AL West:
AL Wild Card:

NL East:
NL Central:
NL West:
NL Wild Card:

AL East: Yankees; Probably the most talented team in baseball, may not have a great pitching staff, but they don't really need it.

AL Central: Indians; Chicago got worse in offseason whereas the Indians got better. The only thing that'll stop them is their rotation.

AL West: Angels; Just a solid all-around team everywhere on the field. Just edge it out over Oakland.

AL Wildcard: A's; Arguably the best pitching in baseball.

NL East: Braves; Who's going to beat them? The Mets, come on..

NL Central: Cardinals; They'll dominate the NL

NL West: Dodgers; Revitalized Nomar, a healthy Gagne, adding Bill Mueller, advantage Dodgers.

NL Wildcard: Mets; Yes, the NL is that bad.

Whooo Baseball.

AL East: The Yankees. The Jays will end up in a dissapointing third place.
AL Central: The White Sox. Best pitching in baseball, that'll get you places.
AL West: The Athletics. Did you see how they came from nowhere last year to make it interesting at the end?
AL Wild Card: The Indians. Will probably beat out the Red Sox on the last day.

NL East: The Braves. I dont even have a reason anymore, its been what? 14 years?
NL Central: The Cardinals. The Astros were a fluke last year and the Cardinals winning the div by 25 games will prove it.
NL West: The Padres, because they're my team and Piazza just homered and we have Peavy.
NL Wild Card: The Dodgers, I wanna see the Dodgers in the playoffs and I dont know why.

Seeing as i forgot to add mine i'll do it now

AL East: I want to say the Jays after all the moves that JP did this past off season but when it comes down to it its always gonig to between Boston and the Yankees, and the Yankees taking it.

AL Central: Whitesoxs plain and simple.

AL West: Angles will take this one.

AL Wild Card: The Jays

NL East: Braves will take it yet again

NL Central: The Cards nuff said

NL West: Padres (just for you Uuan ) ....but i think the Dodgers will win it

NL Wild Card: The Cubs

Haha fuck knows. I just want the playoffs to roll around so we can have a pool.

4 hours sleep the night before last watching White Sox - Indians. Good times again indeed

AL East: Yankees, strengthened more than the Sox, indeed by taking the Sox's most consistent hitter.

AL Central: White Sox and their rotation. Not to mention the strongest bullpen in the Majors.

AL West: Oakland. Zito to pick up his form from 3 years ago and get the Cy Young.

AL Wild Card: Mariners, long shot.

NL East: Losing Furcal to the Dodgers hurts, but after Andruw's 2005, we'll have it wrapped up by August

NL Central: Cards pissing on the rest again.

NL West: Dodgers.

NL Wildcard: Cubs.

Tbh i think the AL east is going to be exciting to watch this year i know most of you will dissagree with me but it gets boring year after year with the BoSoxs and Yankees taking everything.

On paper the Jays have by far one of the strongest rotations and a 1-2 combo of Halladay and Burnett (who the Jays paid to much for) that can rival the likes of Schilling / Beckett , Johnson and Mussina.

Now add in B.J Ryan our first 'real' closer since Koch or Henke we now have someone to close out the close games which do add up at the end of the season. A real power threat in Gluas and someone who Juan hates , i expect him and Wells to have a good season throw in Overbay which is a major upgrade from Hinske and theres a solid 3-4-5. Bengie Molina a solid catcher who will help settle the likes of Chacín and Towers

Mix together with 'rookies' Hill , Adams and Ríos and the Jays have something.

Oh yes what a game by the Jays 6-3 beating the Twins and taking Santana out of the game around the 5/6 inning.

I love B.J Ryan already comming in and throwing strikes, Molina hit a bomb of a homer just missed the 5th deck at the Skydome sorry Rogers Center. Halladay pitched a good game gave up 3 runs 2 of them Homers which cant be helped.

over all A+

who unpinned my baseball topic and pinned two cricket topics and a hockey?!

Braves recovering after a stuttering start, but Mets are the hottest team in the majors at the mo. Losing Chipper's gonna hurt us defensively, but the kids are alright

Pujols has 10 homers already, so he's on track to hit it out the park 123 times in 2006

Surely only a meteorite can stop him getting Aaron's record within 10-12 years. I mean 211 already in only the start of his sixth season? Fuck.

Maybe it'll be Rodriguez's record to beat by then..

The braves always start slow, I was watching the game the other day and there was a stat about how they'd only led the division once going into May, in the last 5 years... If they keep pitching the way they have been they'll win the division for waht ther 156 year in a row



Pujols is ridiculous, he's only 27 too, and apparently isnt on the juice.

I think you're right about it being A-Rods record by then

How about Bronson Arroyo out-homering Bonds, Beltre and Manny Ramirez

Just turned 26 I think. Even more frightening.

The Phillies looked ominous last year but still managed to catch 'em with some fine stuff, especially after the WS.

This season we're looking good aside from the (non-Smoltz) rotation, which just has to improve. Mets aren't allowed to win the division, simple as.

Pujols is just a freak, Hall of famer for sure, but tbh if there is anyone in baseball who can break the single season HR record my money is on him.

Also he tied Todd Helton for the second-fastest active player to reach 1,000 hits Pujols and Helton needed 3,003 at-bats. While Ichiro Suzuki is the fastest to the milestone, requiring 2,977 at-bats.

Lastly who wants to bet that he (Pujols) will break Joe DiMaggio's hit streak some day.

I'd take it, Pujols' consistency is simply frightening. Career average of .332, never hit below .300 and an average of 40 homers a season so far, almost definitely to carry on rising. Immense player.

That Ryan Howard of the Phillies has a bit of the Sosa about him, he hit 22 in 88 games last season and 5 already this, and his physique reminds me so much of Sammy in his Cubs days from a few years back.

And lastly a shout out for my favourite all-time pitcher Greg Maddux. The guy turned 40 recently yet is already 4-0 this season with 0.99 ERA. Phenomenal player - he proves, along with little Pedro at the Mets, that heat doesn't make a pitcher. The way he's painted the black so efficiently on his way to well over 300 wins is exemplary. He hasn't had chalked up more losses than wins in a season since 1987

I agree with you on Pujols the numbers he puts up each season is amazing, imo its only a matter of time before Steinbrenner (spl?) and the Yankees come calling and then you would have quite possibly the best 3-4 combo in in MLB history with A-Rod and Pujols.

As for Maddux it just shows that you don't have to throw 95+ mph to be a hell of a pitcher, to come to think of it when was the last time Maddux threw over 90 in a game?

Theres one thing about him in that over the course of his playing career he has an ERA of just 3.00 oh an hes only 28 wins away from 350.

No way, A-Rod has just as good of a chance if not better because of his head start. He's hit 430 something in about 6000 AB's (Aaron had 12k). He's a .300 hitter and has averaged 40 HR's over the course of his 10 years. He's 31, give him another 8 odd years (Bonds is 42) at the same rate, which doesnt look to be slowing down and he's fine.



All the American analysts keept bigging him up and calling him the next slugger and all that. But he's older than Albert, so a bit of a late bloomer. He's a decent power hitter I guess, but I seriously doubt he's going to be anywhere near as good as Sosa, although he probably doesnt cork his bats

By the way, its nice to see a European (Im assuming) appreciate baseball. I have an English roomate right now that moans about baseball all the time because its "boring" yet his favourite sport is Cricket...



After Damon moving I wouldn't rule it out. But I think that Georgie is going to sort out his pitching before he looks to bolster their bats. Mr October, A-Rod, Giambi and Matsui is enough for now.. at least I hope he thinks so.

When i meant 'single season' i was refering to Bonds 72 HRs in a season, not the all time record. But yeah A-Rod does have a chance in getting the All time record if he stays healthy.

My bad, I read pretty well

Dont worry as they say shit happens.

Bonds got 73 in 2001 didn't he? Can't see Pujols beating that, even in this form, hitting 11 only three weeks in, although with that said, I think in that season Bonds had a quite similar start and had a ridiculous May/June, hitting them for fun.

Well cricket's my second sport so choose your words carefully

I'm born and bred Mancunian, but I went to Turner Field in April 2001 and watched them beat the Marlins. Wasn't a particularly great game itself, but it got me hooked all the same for some reason and have been watching ever since.

I face the same problem as North/South Americans or Antipodeans watching European football though - we get live feeds from ESPN Sunday Night Baseball (and Wednesdays now) on our Channel 5 but first pitch is at 1.00am usually. Not good when you're getting up for work at 8.00am

Ive got nothing against cricket, I just dont see how someone who watches and likes test cricket could call baseball boring.


What do you guys think of, if anything, of this young gem of a pitcher we have (the Mariners, "my team") by the name of Felix Hernandez? The kid is unreal, he's 18, and in three starts, while going 0-3 with a huge ERA I think, he has something like 25 K's. He's got great stuff as they like to say. If you havent seen him pitch, try to, definantly one for the future.

how about my pirates, yo?

So far Pujols has 11 Hrs in 60+ at bats (i belive) and if he continues at this rate he will have over 100 Hrs in a season the thing is i can prolly see him do that


I heard about him a bright star for the Mariners, although the article i read about him was that he is pissed that they wont allow him to throw a cruve ball as his 'arm' is still growing.

Funny that becasue when i used to umpire i saw kids that were 10/11/12 throwing cruve balls.

http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...layer_id=433587

^ Just turned 19, but at that age, a 4.57 ERA is not to be sniffed at. 26Ks in 21 Innings pitched is pretty impressive, and Wins/Losses are more indicative of a good team than a good pitcher if anything.

He was 4-4 last year with 2.67 and 77Ks at the age of 18 as well

That's some prospect.

On the topic of Pitchers has anyone seen Gustavo Chacín lately the Toronto pitcher, he won his 4th game of the season (in 4 tries) last night against the Orioles and pitched a gem of a game imo allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings. So far he leads all Toronto pitchers in wins hes beating Halladay (which isnt easy) in everything.

Seeing as Pujols hit his 13 Hr of the season today, i am asking can he get any better than he already is?

Also Maddox (5-0) is turning back the clock this early in the season with his pitching and is he an early contender fo the CY Young award or is it to early to tell?

Lastly Bonds who recons that he will 'break' Hank Aarons record this season?

- Pujols broke the record for HRs in April yesterday...the guy is a beast...

- I never liked Maddox because he always wrecked my Phillies, but his stuff is nasty, and with little to no power in his pitches its a wonder how he does it...

-Here in Philadelphia one of the radio hosts is trying to get as many people as he can to turn their backs on Bonds when he comes her for the nationally televised game on ESPN...when he gets up to bat everyone gets up out of their seats and goes out into the concorse and waits till his at bat is over and then go back in...he's definitely going to get the royal Philadelphia treatment...

Simple he has control he can place the ball anywhere over the plate where he wants too, and thats one reason why hes still going. 'Power' pitchers don't really tend to last that long as they have to have Tommy John surgery at some point in there Careers

rhetorical ??...lotyy

yea he's pinpoint as they come...Phillies have a player in the minors who is exactly like him. Cole Hammels is the jem of our younglings...so much talk of trading him...his first game in AAA he went 7, struck out 14 , 3 hits and 0 runs...

theres talk of him coming up and replacing Madsen as our 5th starter...Madsen is screwed up its at least the second time he started and fucked up in the first inning and was pulled...

whats ur team??

Hmm lets see i live in Canada and since theres only 1 MLB team left i'll let you guess who it is....tis not that hard.

well you could like some other team...Blue Jays eh...I hate them...screwed us in 93...first sport I ever cried watching...

Well i do like the Pirates as Jason Bay plays for them, but the Jays are my team ......hey its not my fault that Mitch Williams threw Joe Carter that slider which resulted in Carter hitting the game winning homerun

you had to rub salt in the wound didnt you...

But of course its the only way to go

Can Pujols get any better than he already is...You cant really improve on "best baseball player in the world" but I suppose he could actually take his team to and win the World Series. Tony Gwynn was the best hitter for twenty years, he never won a World Series, could he have been any better? yes by winning the World Series.

Its waaaaaay too early to talk about the Cy Young. Is he an early contender right now? sure but so is every pitcher with an era under one or four wins in april but its in the same respect as saying that a hitter with a .402 avg in mid-April is an early candidate for breaking .400 or that a dude is on a pace for 130 home runs. Too many things can happen when you play 162 games.

Bonds will come very close to breaking Aaron's record this year. At this point its no longer a matter of will he but when he because he definitely will. And Congress? yeah why dont you prove it.

You dont think that Bonds did roids ever? Even after Balco, "the cream and the clear"? All the while hitting something like 150hr 300rbi with like a 340avg over the course of 3 years. For me, if Bonds gets the record, sure its been a great career, he's still an awesome hitter (the hand-eye, contact, pitching knowledge etc.) but its all overshadowed by steroid use. It'll follow him all the way to Cooperstown. Great player, but he used steroids, at least, thats what i think.

even after the closest people to him sporting wise are coming out saying that he did use...Bonds definitely was on something and I think its a disgrace that the MLB will let a player, who although had some mistakes he at least played the game with passion and heart, be banned from ever making the hall of fame...yet be supporting a player who has lied and lied and lied aboot his awful transgressions...

Bonds is a disgrace to the game and and a disgrace to the fans that are supporting him...

Your kidding right calling Bonds a disgrace?

I am in no place to comment on if he took roids or not as i dont know all the facts, but you can not deny that over the years he is by far one of the greatest ever players to play the game.

Also there are only 2 players in the modern game that can match him imo one is A-Rod and the other is Pujols.

Im not really talking aboot just his game...no doubt his swing is as compact and quick as Ive ever seen, im also talking aboot the way he carries himself off the field...

Ive heard many a story where hes been horrible to the fans that support him so...If a player doesnt care aboot the people giving up their money to see his ass play than to me he is a disgrace...just my opinion...

I have never really heard many bad stories about him but i suppose each person has there own opinion/perception of things.

late reply I think Bonds was taking something but that something wasnt illegal for players to take at the time. So I dont see why a player wouldnt do whatever he had to do to become a better player if it wasnt against the rules. Mark Mcguire took Creatine in '98, everybody knows it but not much is made about it. Kinda makes you think that there is a racial thing going on here.

Whatever records he has (the 73 homers) are legit. He's not taking anything right now, it would kill his image once and for all if he gets caught so hes not gonna risk it, and the fact that hes still hitting homers just goes to show that hes a damn good baseball player.

And the Padres! riding a six game winning streak! whoo!!!!

I agree with you on that Bonds was taking something else than 'riods' imo he prolly was using a mixture of
Creatine and Whey mixed together and if taken correctly can make you bulk up like 'HUGE'





Oh and Juan your Padres have nothing on my Jays

Im fairly certain that whatever Bonds took, it was illegal, otherwise there wouldnt be any fuss. The race card is pushing it IMO. Baseball is the one sport that hasn't really been tainted by it at all. I mean, what, people dont want him to break the record beacuse he's black, oh wait its Hank Aaron.

As for him not taking anything right now, obviously not, but he's hardly still hitting homers. Hes on pace for like 20 this year.

As for the Padres and Jays... pffff gimme a break

The Mariners are riding a ONE game winning streak!
Im down 2 of the 5 games im going to while im back in Seattle for a bit...

Well one thing that could be a factor about that is his age maybe finally catching up to him seeing that hes in his 40's.

Pfff the Jays still own the Mariners and the Padres

Bonds just hit number 713 against the Phillies. But he did it in Philadelphia so it shouldnt count because that field is so small. History is gonna happen anytime soon.

Eight straight for the Padres today

You mean the Padres have won more than 7 games

Bonds' 713th was the best home run I've ever seen. As small as the Phillies' stadium may be, the power behind that clubbing was holy and even if you doubled the ball park it would still be outta there. Fucking gem of a hit that one. Classic Barry.

exactly! if he can hit them like that now, what makes people think it was the steroids that did it before? sure he was huge in the early '00's and he probably was taking something to bulk up but the steroids were definitely not hitting the home runs.

Im just a cynical bastard... I guess it must be tough to hit with one knee.



...make it 9. Wow, theres a sentance Id never think Id be saying; The Padres have a 9 game win streak.

why do people take steroids if it doesnt make them better?...I know that you still have to have skill to hit the ball, but what if those steroids give them 10 extra feet, those pop ups to the warning track become hrs...those steroids have also extended his career and with the extension of said career he is going to surpass a real baseball legend.

you may not think the steroids did much, but I doubt hed take them if they didnt help out a little bit.

Phillies on a role too...watch out Mets...