Week 1 Surpises

Blog Entry #2

Week 1 Surprises:

          Opening days have occurred in numerous cities and even three countries this past week into last.  Multiple teams opened in the United States, the Blue Jays in Canada, and the Red Sox and Athletics in Japan.  Daisuke Matsuzaka opened in his native country and was welcomed like a rock star by the Japanese spectators.  The Red Sox opened in four different cities in those three different countries and had ceremonies at five places.  The jet lagged Sox flew from Florida to Japan to Los Angeles to Oakland to Toronto and finally back to Boston.  They opened in each of these cities with a ceremony.  The trip seemed to affect their start as they stumbled out of the gate and started 3-4 through seven games.

          Within the first games, there have been surprise teams that have done well and others, not so much.  Rival in the AL East to the Red Sox, the Baltimore Orioles found themselves on a six game winning streak after losing their home opener.  They found themselves 6-1 and show a much improved line up and bullpen which had a measly 5.17 ERA last season.  The Yankees start off slow, just as last year.  The Rays, wow that’s going to get hard to get used to, continue to be the Devil Rays of old and well lose just like they have since 2000 when they entered the MLB.  Expect the Rays to be good in a couple years as their farm system is constantly getting better.

          The Detroit Tigers will start off well and finish even better.  If you were one of the people who said this, you may want to re-think your logic.  The Tigers have fallen flat on their faces and are skidding along the pavement.  They started the week un-winning at 0-0 and also finished the week un-winning at 0-7.  They have lost seven in a row to the Royals, White Sox and Red Sox.  Also in the Central, the Royals get a sweep for the first time in god knows when.  This was an outstanding accomplishment for a struggling team of the past ten seasons.  Everything is normal in the AL West as the Angels are hot, the Rangers are not, and the A’s and the Mariners are in the middle.

          In the west, the New York Mets have become a force to recon with over the past three seasons and definitely improved with Johan Santana. Yeah right. Johan is a stunning 0-2 with an ERA of over 5 and the Mets have struggled at the plate.  Both the Braves and the Nationals look to have up seasons and have started out on the right note.  Ryan Zimmerman has stood out at the plate and has a walk off homerun already.  In the NL Central, the Cardinals aren’t being their normal selves and neither are the Chicago Cubbies.  Instead, it is the Brewers, my season prediction to win the central, who take the lead at the moment.  The NL West is a toss up and can go to any team that plays a couple games.  This division is a train wreck and no one has taken a charge to win this division.  Hopefully my NL favorite Padres will win the division and I will be pleased.

          At this moment I am puzzled as to how this chaos has arisen and when the turbulence will end.  Hopefully soon or else I will look like a fool with a majority of my predictions.  The first week was a crazy one and I want to see if the madness shapes up a little down the line.