I, unlike my friend Josh, like baseball.  I am not a fanatic about the sport, but I do appreciate the game, especially when I can watch it in person.  Since moving to Northern Virginia almost five years ago, I have rooted afar for my Texas teams, the Rangers and Astros.  I’ve also rooted for the Red Sox, my team of choice as a child (and not coincidentally, the rival of my brother’s team, those sorry Yankees).  But, MY TEAM now is the Washington Nationals.  Since they came to Washington while I was living here, I’ve chosen to make them my team.  The first season was exciting!  Since then, the baseball hasn’t been the greatest, but there is the new stadium and there is hope for the future.  That’s the great thing about baseball – there’s always hope.  Anyway, I’ve never done this before, but I’m going to make my predictions for this season:

AL East: Yankees

AL Central: Indians

AL West: Angels

Wild Card: Red Sox

Surprising team: Royals

Team that just misses out: Rays

NL East: Mets

NL Central: Cubs

NL West: Dodgers

Wild Card: Braves

Surprising team: Reds

Team that just misses out: Phillies

World Series: Red Sox over Cubs

The Nationals will fare better than last year.  I’ll be optimistic and say they finish 75-87, a 16-game improvement.  Surely Adam Dunn and the improved pitching and better health can turn out 16 more wins – right?

Please bear in mind that football is my favorite sport, followed closely by basketball.  Baseball and soccer come next in my pecking order.