Preview/Prediction

Wise Guides was in San Diego recently and took in a game at Petco Park, a beautiful stadium right downtown in the famous Gaslamp Quarter. Yes, the name is goofy and the Padres suck, but it's worth the trip. A nice crowd was on hand for a Thursday afternoon game, we caught our first foul ball ever, the home team came from behind to win and right outside the gates are many bars and restaurants to sample. So we did, and had a great time along the way.

As I was thinking about typing up a story to publish and thought to myself, now that Manny Ramirez has been caught cheating and people like David Ortiz are "all of the sudden" on a power shortage, what affect will the new steroid policy have on baseball? I went immediately to home runs, which led me to this:

What are the top five baseball achievements we will never see in our lifetime?

50 Home Runs in a Single Season

By far, the hardest part of a season for an East Coast team is that looonnngggg trip across the country to play about a week's or more worth of baseball against the teams of the NL West. It can often be a turning point of a season, as it is so tough to get through with a winning record that if you can actually accomplish a .500 west coast road swing, it can propel your team up, up, and away.

Raise your hand if you had Toronto, Texas, and Kansas City as your American League Division Leaders as of May 13th. 

Anyone?

That's what I thought.  We're on the same page, because neither did I. 

Granted, it's only May, and there is a lot of baseball left to be played.  Teams have roughly 125-plus games left on their 2009 schedules. 

But I am already looking ahead to October baseball (is there anything better?) 

The National League has most of the favorites on top.

In October of last year, the Phillies defeated the Dodgers to win their first National League title in 15 years. You know the rest of the story.

Tonight, the Dodgers will begin a three-game visit to Citizens Bank Park, their first trip to Philadelphia since last year's NLCS.

Obviously, it's not the playoffs, but for the Phillies, it might as well be. Los Angeles comes to Philadelphia sporting a 22-11 record, good enough for the best in baseball. Meanwhile, the Phillies are mired at a game over .500 with a 15-14 record.

If we're talking drafts that teams wish they could redo, 2004 is the granddaddy of them all.

At least nine of the first 10 picks went awry in one form or another, and some pretty good players were found in the lower rounds. It all adds up to a spectacular re-draft!

1. San Diego

Paul Maholm is arguably not a front-of-the-rotation starter. Ian Snell is certainly not a No. 2 starter, even on the weak Pirates staff. That's one reason why the Pirates have lost the last few games. But that may be exactly the point.

Zach Duke and Ross Ohlendorf are decidedly better than the average three and four starters, and Jeff Karstens is a legitimate No. 5. These pitchers are "coming up," bringing the Pirates to the "better" part of a still-questionable rotation.

Projected by many analysts to finish atop the AL Central, the Indians have certainly not lived up to expectations. With their current four-game losing streak, they have fallen to last place in Major League Baseball.

With a team ERA of 5.83, good for last in the league, and a team batting average of .263, the blame can be spread to both ends of the team.

The AL East is one of the most entertaining divisions in all of sports.  It is unequivocally exciting and unpredictable.  The Blue Jays are playing incredibly well, the Rays and Yankees have been a disappointment and the Orioles have had moments of greatness to match moments of incredible frustration. 

The only team that has played even close to what was expected is the Boston Red Sox even though they have an injury hampered rotation and their ace is not playing up to snuff.

Baseball fans, pundits, beat reporters, and major league managers and general managers alike, look to the usual suspects when a team is below the .500 mark at this stage of the season.

Things such as a lack of clutch hitting, an erratic starting rotation, an ineffective bullpen, sloppy fielding, and inattentive base-running.

The Minnesota Twins have suffered breakdowns in all these departments at one time or another thus far this season.

That's why they sit at 15-17, mired in third place in the American League Central Division.