The post-season wrapup

It’s the sign of a truly brave (or stupid reporter) when that person is willing to revisit their preseason picks. The Nachoman and I squared off this season with several baseball picks, so let’s see how we did. I finished with 45 points. I was terrible, miserable, awful. I picked the Mariners to win the AL West. But did I beat the Nachoman?

Ribbie Reporter's Baseball Contest Picks:THE BASICS (point value in parentheses)

1. Which six teams will be division winners? (5 each)-- Mets, Cubs, Rockies, Yankees, Indians and Mariners
I got the Cubs right… what in the world was I thinking with the Mariners? 5 points
2. Which two teams will win the wild cards? (5 each)-- Red Sox and Braves
Right on the Sox. Not so much on the Braves. 5 points
3. Which two teams will go to the World Series? (15 each)-- Red Sox and Braves
Nope. 0 points
4. Which team will win the World Series? (30)-- Braves
This is starting to look like a really dumb idea…the Braves weren’t even very good. 0 points
5. Which team will have the best regular-season record? (10)Yankees
I thought this question was asking which team would see its 13-year postseason streak snapped. 0 points
6. Which team will have the worst regular-season record? (10)Orioles
they did finish last in the AL East, but the Nats and Mariners were much worse. 0 points
7. Who will win the AL and NL Cy Young awards? (10 each)AL – Justin Verlander; NL – Johan Santana
Verlander was bad this year. Santana was awesome and finished second in the voting… so no points, but at least I had a decent guess. 0 points
8. Who will win the AL and NL MVP awards? (10 each)AL – Manny Ramirez NL – David Wright
Nobody told me that Manny would freak out, dog it in Boston and end the season in LA. Sorry for missing that one. 0 points9. Who will win the AL and NL Rookie of the Year awards? (10 each)AL – Evan Longoria NL – Johnny Cueto
Right on Longoria. Hooray! 10 points

TEAMS (all remaining questions 10 points each. All questions include regular-season games only.)
10. Which NL team will score the most runs? And which AL team? (5 points each)Tigers and Rockies
The Rangers and Cubs were what we were looking for here, I’m afraid. 0 points
11. Which NL team will give up the most runs? And which AL team? (5 points each)Cardinals and Orioles
Pittsburgh and Texas took the trophies here. 0 points
12. Which team will have the most-improved record, measured in increase in total regular-season victories?Reds
Hmm, maybe I should have picked the Rays. 0 points
13. Which team will suffer the biggest decline, measured in decrease in total regular-season victories?Cardinals
They got better but finished lower in their division. Go figure. 0 points
14. Rank these teams in order of regular-season wins, most to fewest: Nationals, Pirates, Orioles, Devil Rays, Royals.Most-fewest: Nationals, Royals, Devil Rays, Pirates, Orioles
I predicted the Nats (the worst team in Baseball, so be better than the Rays. Sigh.
The real order: Rays, Royals, Orioles, Pirates, Nationals. 5 points for partial credit.

INDIVIDUALS (Asterisk denotes partial credit will be given.)
15. Which manager will be first to no longer be managing his team (whether fired, retired, resigned or otherwise not managing) in 2008? Bob Geren
I should have remembered that Billy Beane doesn’t do dumb stuff like this. Willie Randolph was the person we wanted. 0 points

16. Who will be the highest-salaried player (based on 2008 salary) released or traded?C.C. Sabathia (traded)
This one was Manny, though it’s nice to be right about CC. 0 points
17. Which starting pitcher who’s changed teams (a group that includes Johan Santana and Dontrelle Willis) will earn the most wins?Santana
This one was too easy. 10 points.
18. Will anyone reach the 20-20-20-20 threshold (in doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases) that Curtis Granderson and Jimmy Rollins reached last year? If yes, who?Rollins will repeat.
Neither one came particuarly close. 0 points.
19. How many home runs will Barry Bonds hit?*0
Another easy one. 10 points.

Nachoman on Hiatus -- check this out, though

Yes, congratulations to the Phillies, who won the World Series after a succession of 4 hour games that lasted well past the Nachoman's bedtime. I'll probably have some analysis for you eventually, but I don't want to bore you with kvetching about deciding the baseball championship in a nearly-November monsoon.

I'll probably return in January with some football, basketball, and hot stove talk. Perhaps my new neighbor can help me become a hockey fan. But until then, you'll need to satiate yourself on old Nachoman work.

If you're new to Nachoman's baseball, here are some articles I suggest you check out:

* a typical column or two from the 2008 season: http://nachomansbaseball.blogspot.com/2008/05/bullpen-madness-manny-and-ooh-brawl.html

or http://nachomansbaseball.blogspot.com/2008/05/introducing-best-site-on-internet.html

* A post by the Assistant Nachoman for Kansas City Affairs, Ribbie Reporter Jacob Geiger:
http://nachomansbaseball.blogspot.com/2008/04/ribbie-reporter-opening-day-and-more.html

* The Nachoman's discussion of his experience at the Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School... start with the Jan. 2 2008 post and work forward: http://nachomansbaseball.blogspot.com/2008/01/its-opening-day.html

Enjoy. You can email the Nachoman at greg_jacobs@woodberry.org. See you in January.