The idea of baseball’s opening day occurring in March this season is a bit absurd. Well, to be truthful, it’s more than a bit absurd.
But that’s what happens when you gild the lily, which is what Major League Baseball has been doing for the last 40 years. It’s reached the point now where it either has to start its season when it’s freezing cold, or end it in November, when you need to put five layers of fleece on and a stocking cap if you’re watching a night game in a northern climate.
Back when this was your father’s MLB, seasons started at least a couple of weeks into April and ended in time to have a nice 7-game World Series and still be done with everything by Columbus Day.
That only changed slightly when the leagues expanded from eight teams to 10 in each league. Still, I remember the seventh game of the 1967 series being played on a glorious sunny, shirtsleeve-warm day almost as much as I remember watching Julian Javier hit a 3-run homer that pretty much finished off the Red Sox. And it was on Columbus Day!
Now, you see footage of early-season baseball games in Cleveland, or some other northern city, and it’s like looking at people dressed for the Iditarod. This is just wrong.
Nevertheless, here we are. March 29 and we’re playing games for real. At least the Red Sox catch a break. They play two series in Florida before opening in Boston April 5. That’s still a little too early, but better than the poor folks in Detroit, New York, Cincinnati and Baltimore — all of whom have home games today.
Baseball is a sport that mirrors the seasons. It isn’t meant to be played in frigid weather, isn’t meant to go on until midnight, and isn’t meant to last the approximate amount of time it takes to binge-watch Game of Thrones.
But, as they like to say, that’s baseball.
But as a testament to how far down the sport is sinking in the public consciousness, consider that it’s no longer a guarantee that the Red Sox own this town. In fact, the Sox may come in third in the public mind behind the Patriot and Celtics. And it can’t be because they’re terrible, because they won back-to-back American League East titles and they have some some of the game’s best young talent on the squad.
It might be because last year’s team was shockingly unlikeable despite its success. But it’s more likely because the game itself has gone out of its way to kill itself by padding the season with superfluous layers of playoffs that take it practically into winter and by starting the the games so late they last too long for children — in other words, future fans — to appreciate them.
The question is can the Red Sox make it three in a row? And if they do, will they get out of the first round?
Most people outside of Boston have conceded the AL East to the New York Yankees with their Murderer’s Row redux of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton; the Cleveland Indians in the Central and the Houston Astros in the West. They see the Red Sox as making the wild card, with either the Blue Jays or Twins as the other team.
I say not so fast. The Yankees may well win the division, but the Red Sox can’t be counted out. If their pitchers stay healthy and throw the way they’re capable, you have three No. 1s at the top of that rotation: Chris Sale, Dave Price and and Rick Porcello. They still have one of the game’s best closers in Craig Kimbrel, and with a nucleus of J.D. Martinez, Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Xander Bogaerts, they’re not too shabby either (as an aside, this is Bogaerts’ year to step up. Kind of tired of waiting for him to reach the next level).
This is going to be a competitive race unless one team or the other falls flat on its face and gets too far behind the other.
Both teams made their biggest gambles with their managers — Aaron Boone for New York and Alex Cora with the Sox. I get Cora, as he was a coach for the Astros last season. I’m not sure I get Boone. He is the William Shatner of baseball players — a guy who hit one home run that defined him for the rest of his life (just like Shatner has played off Captain Kirk ever since “Star Trek” went off the air). I’d like to say I hope the Yankees know what they’re doing, but that would be a lie. I actually hope they don’t.
I think Minnesota will give Cleveland a run for its money, but that the Indians will survive and win that division again. In the west, it’s Houston, Los Angeles and everybody else. In the end, I’m afraid it’ll be New York, Cleveland and Houston, with the Red Sox and Angels (one of the years, Mike Trout is going to have to be healthy for a whole season) as wild cards.
In the National League, there are lots of good choices. Mine are the Nationals (detestable but not as much as the Mets), Cubs and Dodgers (provided they can keep their soil pipes from leaking); with the Mets and Cardinals as wild cards (if there’s a God, the Cardinals win that game).
Cleveland will win the AL pennant and the Nationals finally get off the schneid and win in the National League.
And if God wants to do a little more work after eliminating the Mets, he can please make sure the Indians win the World Series.
So … without further ado, play ball!
