Hope Springs Eternal

Today is Opening Day of Baseball Season. Usually, this means nothing to me because I am a football guy. But something about this year has me chomping at the bit. I'm going to try to put my finger on it...

It's not the Red Sox. I have already grown weary of their title. My guess is that they won't even make the playoffs this year. Everyone is so Red Sox crazy, it's almost sick. It's definitely not them.

It's not the Yankees. Because, well, I can't stand them. 'Nuff said.

It's not the Cubbies. Even though, as my good friend Todd Self says, "you play for them!" I admit, I do like the Cubs...but it just not the same without Ron Cey and Ivan DeJesus. Man, I'm old.

It's definitely not the Rockies. Even though they are my favorite National League team. I can only name one player on their team: Todd Helton. Wow...gone are the days of the Bronx Street Bombers of the mid '90s. They just plain stink now.

It could be the Rangers. I love that team. Teixeira, Blalock, Soriano, Cordero, Young, David Hulse...wait. Anyway, even without David Hulse, I love that team. This could be the year.

It could be the Twins. I'm a sucker for the small market teams. Royals, Marlins, Twins, Yankees...you know the teams that have little to no payroll? George Steinbrenner makes me sick. Put up your checkbook already and develop some talent.

I got it. It's definitely...Little League Coach Pitch Baseball. Kyle kicks off in three weeks and he (and I) couldn't be more excited. That kid loves Baseball. He has me fired up about all levels of Baseball again. We can't wait.

So there you have it. Hope is springing eternal over baseball again in the Patterson household, thanks to my 6 year old son. I love that kid.

So with that, here are my picks for the upcoming season:

AL East - Evil Empire
AL Central - Twins
AL West - Angels
AL Wild Card - Rangers, Baby!

NL East - Braves (for like the 152nd straight year)
NL Central - Cardinals
NL West - Padres
NL Wild Card - Marlins

AL Champ - Twins
NL Champ - Marlins

World Series Champ - Marlins (3rd title in 8 years...unreal)

So mark it down. Florida in 5 games and Kyle hits 3 home runs in Coach Pitch.

Play Ball!