DY21's 2nd Half Preview

On the night of the start of the second half of the season, DY21 gives his predictions for the remainder of the 2008 season. Expect MVB picks on the way soon...

I don't know about all you guys, but I'm still riding the high the All Star game Tuesday night gave me. It was incredible to see the best in each league keep taking punches from the other side, yet then deliver a counter blow just as heavy. I mean how many incredible opportunities did each league have throughout extra innings? And if Cory Hart didn't throw like my little sister we probably would have seen even more baseball, forcing managers Terry Francona and Clint Hurdle to make lose/lose decisions in dealing with their pitchers.

Any who the "first half" of the season is now behind us and it is now time to look forward to what the next half of the season has to offer. I'm a subscriber to ESPN the magazine and one of my favorite things to do is look back at their preview editions to see who they picked to win it and where teams ranked in each division. As I looked back on this years baseball preview the writers would be lucky if they still had their jobs. Division winners for them were the Yankees, Indians, and Mariners. Ouch is right as they would have had better success drawing out of a hat then using their minds and baseball IQ. So on that note I will now give you my 2nd half predictions, and more then likely mess them up worse then ESPN did at the beginning of the year.

In the AL East all of me wants to just say the Rays will the division because it would be incredible for baseball and Dick Vitale may go crazy and I will never have to hear him broadcast a game again. But I have to believe that by September the Red Sox will be about 5 up on the Yankees and hold on to win the division. With DiceK becoming unhittable and we all know what Beckett can do mixed with the great lineup (that hasn't even seen a healthy David Ortiz) it’s scary what this team will be like when they hit on all cylinders. A week ago the Rays would have been my pick, but after this disaster of a week for them I just can't pick such an inexperienced team to compete with the big boys.

The AL Central will be the division to watch in the second half of the year. The Twins and White Sox will both be around but the Tigers seem to turn it on whenever they so choose and will probably surge at times in the second half. As I look into my crystal ball I see the White Sox taking the division, the Tigers finishing about 2 out and the Twins just don't have the gas and end 5 away. The reasons I say this is one because I think that Chicago and Detroit have the firepower in their lineups to hit at will, with ultimately the Chicago pitching will outdo Detroit's and also it's a win win situation for me, for either my prediction comes right or the Twins make the playoffs.

Some things I'm certain of in life are one day I will die, Brookings, South Dakota has the best Taco Johns in the nation, 2+2=4, and that in September the A's and Angels are battling for a division. It doesn't matter how ugly the A's lineup looks or how many superstars they trade away because they always find young guys that can come up and play right away, and do very good too. If the Twins are the PT Cruiser of young prospects and minor league development then the A's are the Rolls-Royce. But when it is all said and done I see the Angels narrowing out the A's because I see the Angels acquiring another bat to even add more oomph to the already very stacked lineup. Who would have though coming into this year that Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders would carry this staff rather then John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar? Definitely not ESPN the magazine.
So who will be representing the AL to face the Diamondbacks in the World Series? Hope you all liked the 2001 World Series as the Yankees come in as the wild card to face Arizona in the fall classic, only this time the Yankees prevail in 6 games. I just think this team has too many veterans and too much swagger to be left out of the playoffs, and once they get there I think they will win a couple of series’ and will take their 28th championship in 2008(excuse me while I go throw up) .

So there you have it, my second half preview for the rest of this already incredible MLB season. Now that I think of it, I have one more thing to add to my list of things I’m certain of in life; that these predictions are sure to be wrong.