MLB picks prior to March

It is not even March but I am ready to share my early season MLB playoffs picks.

Today, it was announced that the MLB playoff format will jump from eight teams to ten. This jump will allow an extra wild card in each league and should make the six division races more competitive and compelling than ever.

Now, to the picks as I’ll start with the American League.

The New York Yankees led by their powerful lineup, steep payroll, and improved pitching staff with the offseason additions of Michael Pineda from the Seattle Mariners and Hiroki Kuroda from the Los Angeles Dodgers will win the AL East division.

In the Central I like the Kansas City Royals this year to be the surprise team in baseball. With many young, talented players I expect them to gel together and make the playoffs for the first time since 1985.

Out west, I’m picking the two-time defending American League champion Texas Rangers to once again grab the division crown.

Slugger Albert Pujols signed with the Los Angeles Angels
in the off-season, now he looks to bring the team a
championship.

The two wild card teams in the playoffs from the AL will be the new-look Los Angeles Angels led by first baseman Albert Pujols and the Tampa Bay Rays, a team loaded with young pitching talent from the East.

Shifting over to the National League the Philadelphia Phillies will win the NL East just as they’ve done the last five years.

With a couple stars gone from the St. Louis Cardinals (Albert Pujols) and the Milwaukee Brewers (Prince Fielder) I like the Cincinnati Reds, the 2010 division champion to return to its winning ways and capture the NL Central.

The San Francisco Giants with the return of catcher Buster Posey and the new look offense with outfielders Angel Pagan and Melky Cabrera bringing speed to the lineup backed up by a dominant pitching staff will win the West.

The two wild card teams in the NL will be the Atlanta Braves from the East due to their pitching strengths and the Florida Marlins due to their athleticism and star power.

As the season draws closer many questions still have to be answered in Spring Training and injuries can always occur but for now these are picks I feel strongly about.

Baseball is back

As the weather starts to warm and the skies start to clear a bit one can hear that pop from the ball to the glove if they are in either Arizona or Florida for the start of baseball season; Spring Training.

This year promises to be an exciting one as many questions will be answered soon enough such as how many teams will be in the playoffs? MLB Commissioner Bud Selig would like to expand the playoff format from 8 to 10 teams but nothing has been finalized thus far.

How will the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals fare without star first baseman Albert Pujols, now a member of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim?

A healthy return of catcher Buster Posey
is pivotal to the Giants having success
in 2012.

Can the 2010 champion San Francisco Giants return to the promise lands with catcher Buster Posey back from injury?

How will the new-look Miami Marlins come together given all the egos and personalities on their team, led by manager Ozzie Guillen?

So many questions. The list goes on and on with heavy spotlight this season on the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Philadelphia Phillies like usual and more intrigue in the Texas Rangers, after they’ve fallen short in the World Series the past two seasons.

As we look forward, I’ll make my playoff picks before going more in-depth in my next blog entry. I like the Giants, Cincinnati Reds, Phillies, and Atlanta Braves in the National League. With the Rangers, Kansas City Royals (surprise pick), Yankees, and Tampa Bay Rays in the American League. This, of course assuming it is an 8-team playoff format after all.

Linsanity

New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin is no ordinary National Basketball Association (NBA) player rather he is a very distinct specie and is making one heck of a National even global storyline.

The former Palo Alto High School star and Harvard graduate always dreamt of the opportunity to play alongside basketball’s elites in the NBA. Being a Taiwanese-American young man and having played basketball at a University where the sport is simply a foot note compared with education Lin has overcome many odds throughout his life to get to where he is today.

Today, Lin is shining brighter than any one on this planet in arguably the biggest stage in professional sports, Madison Square Garden in the country’s biggest media market New York City.

The local high school star who went undrafted after graduating from Harvard in 2010, signed with his hometown team he grew up rooting for the Golden State Warriors. However, after failing to be given the opportunity to display his abilities Lin was released during training camp in December. Shortly after he was signed by the Houston Rockets and released again.

Hanging on by a thread to continue playing in the NBA Lin was signed by the New York Knicks to a non-guaranteed contract as he sat on the end of the bench, playing mop up minutes for more than a month. Finally after injuries and poor play from Knicks point guards Toney Douglas, Baron Davis, and Mike Bibby, Lin was given a chance to show the team what he can do. Lin had about a week to do so as if he did not he would be released so the team would not have to pay the remaining amount of money on his contract until season’s end.

Saying Lin made the best of the opportunity would be a heavy understatement. Taking over at point guard for one of the NBA’s marquee franchises Lin has defied all odds leading the team to six straight wins after starting the season 8-15 and headed toward the draft lottery rather than the playoffs. Lin is averaging nearly 27 points per game in this six game stretch including a career-high 38 points against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers last Friday night on National T.V.

Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin has captured
the basketball world and more with his
spectacular play.

Last night Lin sunk a three-pointer with a half second remaining on the game clock to beat the Toronto Raptors 90-87.

Lin has drawn in the casual NBA fan and given people many reasons to root for and support him; he is the ultimate underdog story, he is truly humble and carries himself with class. He is of an ethnic background that is near non-existent in the league and has given the Asian-American community an icon in a major American sport. He defies all odds, inspires people, and proves that hard work will lead to success.

The NBA has been seeking a star and character like this for years; in a league that is known to have many egos, poor attitudes and reputations; Lin is helping change the image, he is bringing a fresh face to the game and capturing the attention of fans from all over the world.

It was just two weeks ago that he was sleeping on a couch at his brother’s apartment in New York City afraid to sign a lease on his own apartment for he was unsure if he would be on the team in a week. He even stayed on teammate Landry Fields (Stanford graduate) couch one night as his brother had people over. Today, Lin purchased his own apartment and is the biggest, most electrifying and captivating topic in the world of sports and most particularly in New York City, a city that does not hand out praise with ease.

Who on planet Earth would’ve thought on a team with three bona fide stars small forward Carmelo Anthony, power forward Amare Stoudemire, and center Tyson Chandler that the skinny Asian-American player at the end of the bench from Harvard and on the verge of being released from the roster would turn a team’s season around and in eye-opening fashion?

No one, not even Lin and that is what makes this not just the greatest story in sports today but in a long-time and gives this story depending on how Lin continues to play an opportunity to be one of the all-time greats.

49ers fall just short of improbable championship; future is bright

Shortened offseason, same quarterback, same roster minus a few exceptions, and a new coach with no National Football League (NFL) head coaching experience; these are all factors the San Francisco 49ers heard about going into the 2011-2012 season.

Following eight straight seasons of missing the playoffs fans and media both in the Bay Area and Nationally had plenty of reason to be skeptical about the 49ers chances this season. The 49ers, on the other hand, had other plans; plans to defy all odds and restore the winning tradition the franchise enjoyed from 1981 through 2002 during which the team won five elusive Super Bowl trophies.

49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh and the team's entire
coaching staff was key in bringing the winning culture
back to San Francisco in 2011.

This plan started with the new coach in town or for that matter from across town, Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh, the head coach just a year ago of the Stanford Cardinal football team packed his bags and headed from Palo Alto to the 49ers practice facility in Santa Clara.

With him he brought many of his fellow coaches from the Stanford coaching staff including defensive coordinator Vic Fangio; quickly this coaching staff changed the culture for the men who suit up in red and gold.

Picked by nearly no one to make the playoffs, the 49ers posed a dominant defense, number one in the league against the run and a scrappy blue-collar offense led by pro bowl running back Frank Gore en route to an improbable 13-3 record during the regular season. The 49ers followed up the great regular season with the most entertaining game of the NFL season beating the New Orleans Saints in the second round of the playoffs in the final seconds on a great catch by tight end Vernon Davis.

Though the team did fall short in the National Football Conference championship game against the New York Giants (20-17 in overtime), the eventual Super Bowl champions, this team showed the heart, fight, grit, and talent it takes to be perennial Super Bowl contenders going into the future.

Looking forward the 49ers have arguably the most dominant young defense in the NFL led by five-time pro bowl linebacker Patrick Willis. To back the defense up is an offense with potential to grow with emerging quarterback Alex Smith finally finding his way under Harbaugh along with Gore, Davis, and wide receiver Michael Crabtree.

Should this team be able to retain the most of its free agents and there are many including Smith, safety Dashon Goldson, cornerback Carlos Rogers, and linebacker Ahmad Brooks among others and add an explosive player at wide receiver this team could be hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy come February 2013.