BURNING QUESTIONS, BOLDISH PREDICTIONS AND OPENING NIGHT THOUGHTS

The wait is over! Baseball is back and so is "Bitterness", with our burning questions and boldish predictions for the 2010 MLB season.

BURNING QUESTIONS

• Is there anyone in the Cubs organization that should not be on the hot seat?
• Can the "Pitcher Whisperer" Dave Duncan work his magic on Brad Penny?
• Is anyone else not jumping on the Mariners bandwagon? Yes they have King Felix and Cliff Lee, but who's at the back end of that rotation?
• And how is Carlos Silva in a Major League rotation?
• What would ever, ever, ever possess Jayson Werth to shave off that gorgeous beard? Really the only thing I did not love about Jayson Werth was his weird beatnik soul patch thingamabob.
• Where have you gone Rocky Biddle?
• Why have I not been calling Tommy Hanson "Jump Street" sooner than now?
• Can Brian Bannister be the next Mark Gubicza?
• Do the Astros understand the term "scouting"?
• Will anyone suffer more injuries than the Mets?
  
• What's the over under on number of days Nick Johnson spends on the DL?
• Can Jason Heyward actually hit the moon with a batted ball?
• Will the Giants be able to scrape together enough runs to take the NL West?
• Will anyone try to top Kyle Blanks' afro?
• What is Billy Beane doing?
• Has anyone asked Jamie Moyer how he used to pitch Babe Ruth?
• Why would you build a new baseball field in Minnesota without at least a retractable roof?
• Can everyone just cool it with all the "run prevention" talk when talking about the Red Sox?

BOLDISH PREDICTIONS

• Jay Bruce will hit 40+ home runs.
• Roy Halladay will not win 20 games, nor will he win the Cy Young award.
• Tim Lincecum will not win the Cy Young award.
• Joe Mauer will hit less than 25 homers.
• Adrian Gonzalez will not still be a Padre after the trade deadline.
• Javier Vazquez will spend time on the DL after incurring the wrath of CC when taking his last piece of pregame deep dish pizza.
• The Mariners will not make the playoffs.
• Tim McCarver will still be an old coot spittin' out all sortsa assinine.
• Nick Johnson will get injured.
• Curtis Granderson will hit less than 30 home runs.
• Evan Longoria will drive in at least 125 runs.
• Chan Ho Park will not last the whole season as a Yankee.
• Zank Grienke will still be outstanding.
• The Mets brass will try and hire Jack Klugman, TV's Quincy, MD to try and keep them healthy, but only after negotiations with Alan Alda break down. They will then realize that Mr. Klugman is no longer among the living. Dr. Quinn, stay by your phone.
• Sean Rodriguez will be the American League Rookie of the Year.
• Travis Snider will have a breakout year.
  
• The A's, Pirates, Astros, Nationals and Royals will all have losing records.
• The Orioles will win 80 games and finsh 4th in the AL East.
• The Reds and Dodgers won't make the playoffs.
• Milton Bradley will be ejected from 2 games this year.
• Bobby Cox will be ejected from 4.
  
• No more than 3 pitchers will win 20 or more games.
• No fewer than 7 eating establishments in the greater D.C. area will have a Strasburger. And they will all feature extra cheese!

And now for some of your more "traditional" predictions:
AL East- Red Sox, Yankees, Rays, Orioles, Blue Jays
Al Central- White Sox, Twins, Tigers, Indians, Royals
Al West- Angels,Ranger, Mariners, Athletics

NL East- Phillies, Braves, Marlins, Mets, Nationals
NL Central- Cardinals, Cubs, Brewers, Reds, Astros, Pirates
NL West- Rockies, Giants, Dodgers, Diamonbacks, Padres

Wildcards- Yankees and Braves

ALCS- Red Sox over Yankees
NLCS- Phillies over Rockies

World Series- Red Sox over Phillies

AL MVP- Alex Rodriguez
NL MVP- Ryan Braun

AL Cy Young- Jake Peavy
NL Cy Young- Josh Johnson

AL ROY- Sean Rodriguez
NL ROY- Jason Heyward (how could ya not?)

OPENING NIGHT THOUGHTS

• Neil Diamond performing "Sweet Caroline" live in the middle of the 8th inning with a sweet "Keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn" jacket was as good as it gets!
• Pretty nice having Pedro throw out the first pitch. I did not hear any "Who's Your Daddy?" chants.
  
• Nice ovation for Mike Lowell.
• The game itself was pretty exciting.
  
• I predicted the Red Sox would win 8-6. Pretty close.
• Yankees bullpen had a pretty shaky start. I'm just saying, Joe Girardi, Chan Ho Park may not be your best bet in any sort of clutch situation?
• Why would ESPN blackout the game in Boston and New York? It was the only game on! Sunday Night Baseball is never blacked out. NEVER! Imagine my dismay when I went to watch the game this morning to see if I could spot myself in the crowd, only to find I had 3 hours of ESPN News on the DVR. Blast!
  
• I did find $5 on the sidewalk on the way home. Jack....pot!
  
• And of course this:

Go baseball, enjoy the season!!