Thinking Outside a Black/White Binary In Sports

American racial concretizations have constructed a racially polarized society, where self-identification has become classified based upon individual categorization into a black or white constitutive group. Sports act as a reflection of society, and the narrative surrounding athletes and sporting institutions has similarly been focused on conceptions of identity along a black-white paradigm to avoid pluralistic understandings of race. 

However, the sporting experiences of Latino athletes, a racially ambiguous ethnic group through the lens of the black-white identity binary, have shown the arbitrary nature of that very racial binary, and the fragility of racial boundaries. During the age of US Empire, non-white others delicately manipulated racial perceptions to move beyond black exclusionary sporting practices.

However, Latinos were never accepted as occupying the same sphere as white athletes, and racial standards forced the players to dissociate themselves from their ethnic backgrounds. The continued recognition of Latino “otherness” has proliferated throughout the sporting world today, and the sporting community has marginalized their self-identity and ethnic orientation. While sporting figures existing outside of the black-white paradigm have been able to transverse racial boundaries and slip into sporting leagues, their racial ambiguity has forced them to be identified as outsiders to the game, lacking any real agency beyond the playing field.

In the early 20^th century, Latino baseball players could negotiate the fluid understanding of race in America by defying the racial binary. Latino ballplayers transcended the black-white paradigm because American racial standards were based upon individualized racial consciousness. The very first Latino players in the major league, like Louis Castro and Frank Arellanes, began to blur the color line. Teams allowed for the presence of non-white others in the sport by implying that they did not directly challenge black exclusionary practices to take advantage of cheap Latino labor. Through the racialization of the Latin athlete, Latinos were prescribed a racial identity not based upon their ethnic background, but in comparison to American racial standards.

In his fantastic book Playing America's Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line, Adrian Burgos said, “Latinos like Castro secured admittance in organized baseball, but this passage to acceptance did not necessarily translate into being accepted as a fellow white.” Latinos were only able to play in the big leagues because of their non-black status, but their foreignness was still pronounced because their identity was conceptualized merely as a differentiation from blackness. Burgos said Latinos “did not wholly reside in the same racial camp as fellow major leaguers,” and Latinos lack of holistic acceptance in baseball implied their lack of accepted whiteness. 

Thus, Latinos had to distance themselves from their ethnic backgrounds, and as Marcos Breton said in his article "Fields of Broken Dreams: Latinos and Baseball", lie about their African ancestry" to associate their racial identification separate from blacks. The only way Latinos could remove their inherent differentiation was through an Americanized process of racialization by distancing themselves from anything that would cause suspicion to the public’s racial perceptions. Latinos could play in the majors based upon their orientation along “Americanized” ethnic standards, but they were never truly accepted, and as Breton said, “they were treated like novelties.” 

While the slew of current Latino baseball players (Yasiel Puig, Jose Fernandez, Yoenis Cespedes, Miguel Cabrera, Robinson Cano, Felix Hernandez, Adrian Beltre, Jose Bautista, Yadier Molina, Carlos Gonzalez to name just a few) have been able to paradoxically transfix racial boundaries by starring in the major leagues, sporting discourse has constantly alienated their identity. Whereas Latinos in the past quietly slipped into the big leagues and failed to alter public sensibilities, Latino ballplayers today often play with a cultural flare while actively displaying their ethnic pride. Although so called "baseball traditionalists" like Goose Gossage ostensibly criticize foreign players for disregarding baseball’s unwritten rules, their underlying antagonism has been rooted in their lack of acceptance of Latinos, and their fear of foreigners taking over the American game. 

Since Dominican outfielder Jose Bautista’s now famous bat flip in game 5 of last year’s ALDS against the Texas Rangers in one of the craziest innings of baseball I have ever seen, Bautista has been defending himself against claims that he was showboating or disrespecting the game. (Russell Martin hitting Shin-Soo Choo's bat throwing the ball back to Aaron Sanchez in the top of the 7th, the game being played under protest, fans in Toronto throwing stuff onto the field, the Rangers making errors left and right in the bottom of the 7th, an interference review, and Bautista's home run all happened in one inning).

Jose Bautista's massive home run and bat-flip

Breton notes that back in the mid-20th century, Latinos faced the same stereotypical criticism because “labels were rooted in negative white perceptions of Latinos, labels that took hold and became a burden even the great players had to carry.” The expressionism of Latino baseball players, like Bautista throwing his bat (that was not just a normal Big Papi bat flip), symbolically threatens American racial and cultural control over foreign players, which has changed from the early 20^th century when Latinos were forced to adhere to the dominant white culture to stay in the league.

There have been many attempts within baseball to suppress Latinos, as evidenced by the fact that after studying "67 bench-clearing incidents in Major League Baseball over the past five seasons [it was] found that the main antagonists hailed from different ethnic backgrounds in 87% of the cases." The “playing the game the right way” argument implies that the correct way to play the game is based upon a white dictation of the sport in reaction to perceived Latino empowerment. Current Braves pitcher Bud Norris said, “If you’re going to come into our country and make our American dollars, you need to respect the game.” Norris's comment showed how the attempts of the baseball community to “normalize” the on-field actions of Latinos have marginalized their freedom.

Off the field, teams exploit players, and Latinos continue to be classified as outsiders. The institutional signing rules of baseball can be aligned with the long American history of imperialism, and reinforces the cultural inequality that baseball players are often trying to maintain on the field. Latin players have particularly been exploited by clubs as a source of cheap labor. 

Every MLB team today, including the San Diego Padres, have a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic. 

In an except from his book Raceball: How The Major Leagues Colonized The Black and Latino Game, Rob Ruck reflected,“Ballplayers today rarely take stands that resonate beyond the ballpark” since Latinos specifically fear any action that could subvert their chance at baseball survival. When Colin Cowherd said on ESPN Radio, “I’ve never bought into that baseball is too complex, a third of the sport is from the Dominican Republican,” he reflected a misunderstanding of the educational opportunities embedded in a racialized society for the non-white community, or the education present in foreign communities.

Furthermore, the presence of Latino players in Major League Soccer has similarly shown attempts to separate white and Latino athletic spheres, and efforts to systemically regulate the behavior of the racially non-white other. Chivas USA, which ceased operations in the league in 2014, was designed as an MLS team to attract Hispanic fans in Southern California, who comprise the largest single ethic group in Los Angeles County.

However, since the MLS consciously segregated its own league by having one team made up of Latino coaches and players, they alienated the Latinos from the rest of the league and symbolized that their presence could only arise in a specific sphere. Moreover, by constructing the team as the US version of a Mexican club team, the MLS did not allow the Latino players on the squad to define their own identity. Brandon Valeriano said on a broader scale in his article from The Washington Post, “We need to understand that the national sport should be a reflection of our views and values,” and the MLS underestimated Latinos wanting to value their American identification and not wanting their identity to be defined as “Mexican,” or as league outsiders.

Class Divided On The Baseball Mega-Stadium

Sports are often identified as a utopian medium for escapism and entertainment, and yet fans still widely recognize that the romantic “love of the game” can be infringed upon by the murky political and economic realities of the business. For nearly a century, baseball owners have meticulously constructed the composition of their audience by tinkering with the public’s accessibility to the ballpark, as well as the affordability of the tickets to the game. 

At the beginning of the 20^th century, baseball, a self-prescribed democratic sport that valued all social and economic groups, was directed towards the white-collar fans that could access the stadium (there is also a lot of hypocrisy in a so called democratic sport that excludes players based upon their race). However, in the 1920s, society glorified extravagance and social amusement, and sports spectatorship became a spectacle for mass consumption. Attempts were made to bring all-black baseball teams to the country’s major urban centers, although baseball still lacked its self-purported democratic basis because black teams remained reliant on renting white major league parks, and having games set up with white semi-pro clubs. More pronounced even today than in the past, baseball stadiums are no longer a place to merely watch a game, but are commercial enterprises that are divided based upon class, rather than being open to the democratic masses for communal gatherings.

In the consumer-driven economy of the 1920s, sports acted as the most prominent public sphere of leisure and entertainment for the masses. As national demographics shifted towards northern cities, baseball became an escape from the rigors of monotonous mechanized industrialization for an expanding middle class in the United States. Baseball acted as form of cheap amusement for a consumer culture. In his terrific piece for Outside The Lines on the evolution of the accessibility to the ballpark, Wright Thompson pointed out, “[owners] never raised prices during the boom of the 1920s" to keep sporting events within a manageable price range.

In response to urbanization, baseball acted as a source of communal identity, and stadiums were built in cities to function as a collective gathering of urban dwellers. A news clipping from the New York Amsterdam News recalled about a Negro League game at Yankee Stadium in the early 1930s: “Jersey will send over a vast army of rooters... Newark is a baseball town and Harlem is certain to be flooded with folks.” As entire cities like Newark began to congregate around the spectacle of a baseball game, individual identities became defined by their relationship to mass society and the social identification of an individual became connected to the larger community. Large crowds accumulated at baseball events as a form of social gathering, even as recently as the early 2000s, as Thompson said “ten years ago, it was cheaper to go to a baseball game than to a movie in half of the big league markets" because baseball stadiums accommodated the democratic masses. 

As black communities funneled into cities, the Negro Leagues were designed to function as a mechanism of collective unification. The games created a space for black enclaves within a segregated society. Gus Greenlee wanted to share the Randalls Island Stadium with the Yankees because as a news clipping from the New York Amsterdam News described, “reports of the move stimulated the keen interest of local diamonds fans... and [would] undoubtedly inject a tonic into the Harlem diamond scene.” He wanted to capitalize on the sporting interest of the growing black community in the city by using one of the largest local baseball stadiums.

However, despite the democratization of the baseball viewing experience, and its formation as the fulcrum of urban residential life, Negro League teams remained at the will of white stadium support and financial sponsorship due to their inability to solidify independent stadium deals. Neil Lanctot wrote in hapter one of his terrific book Negro League Baseball that Hamtramck Stadium in Detroit “was inconvenient for black fans because of its Hamtramck location [5 miles from central Detroit] and was controlled by John Roesink, an unpopular white promoter.” Black sports fans resented playing at white major league ballparks, and felt ostracized by the institutional white control of stadiums, which often alienated black teams from their most loyal city supporters.

While baseball still ostensibly acts as a symbol of American democratic values, baseball attendance today is highly restrictive to wealthy Americans, and caters to those that have the finances to access the luxurious stadiums. As teams have become increasingly preoccupied with short-term profit rather than with long-term fan loyalty and democratized consumption, the upper class has become the only group that can attend games on a regular basis. Season tickets for the New York Yankees Legends Suite in the eight row of Section 014A cost just under $50,000 for a single seat (not to mention the extra expenses that are inevitable with going to a ballgame like buying team merchandise). Fans need to have a sizeable disposable income to be a regular at sporting events in a major city.

Thompson noted during his experience within the Legends Suite at Yankee Stadium: “I can see the masses moving back and forth beyond the glass wall,” implying that even when “regular fans” can afford a ticket, stadiums have conspicuously been constructed to differentiate the luxury seats of the rich from the masses. Fans have always felt a connection to their team, even during difficult economic times, but the commodification of tickets, and the division of the supporters, has shattered the collective fan engagement.

The Dining Room inside the Legends Suite Club at Yankee Stadium

The business of sports has inhibited fan nostalgia, as Thompson said that an individual was not [paying] because he didn't have the money, but because a bond had been broken." Stadiums now act as a status symbol of power, as boxes and club seats have created an environment catering to the financially privileged. 

Thompson argued, “We see examples of the collapsing middle class," and cited an observation from pollster Rich Luker that, "The lower the income, the less they’re enjoying sports.” Baseball has been circumscribing its own fan base because the lower and middle class less frequently experience the thrills of the baseball stadium. Ballparks are no longer a place for communal identity formation because the democratic masses have been classified as surplus supporters to the teams.

Baseball stadiums today are representative of the commercialization of sports, as retro ballparks to watch games have been replaced by gaudy mega-stadiums that act as a shrine to the prosperity of the sport, the league, or to the specific owner (Jerry World comes to mind). The aquarium at Marlins Park and the swimming pool at Chase Field in Phoenix, which can be rented for $6,500 a game, shows how contemporary stadiums have become more opulent than ever before. 

The Party Pool at Chase Field, a site of controversy in 2013 when the Dodgers players jumped in the pool after clinching the NL West Title.

Marlins Park aquarium seats are too expensive for the ordinary fan, yet taxpayers publicly financed the stadium, which happens so often in sports unless the team is owned by Stan Kroenke, in which case he will just pay for the entire thing. In his piece on "The End of the Retro Ballpark" Barry Petchesky commented how, for ballparks, “excess is the new excess." Stadiums are no longer traditional sporting venues that produce nostalgia and communal formations, but are regarded as sporting exhibitions of ostentatious modernity for an upper-class audience.

Rembert Browne wrote in a piece for Grantland about the planned move of the Atlanta Braves to Cobb County in the Northern suburbs of Atlanta, “people will go to great lengths to not live among undesirables." As cities have become overpopulated with poorer minority groups, not only have wealthier residents moved into the suburbs, but baseball parks are now moving away from the urban people that others classify as “undesirables.”

The Atlanta Braves are moving their stadium closer to the majority of their season ticket holders in the Atlanta suburbs.

Browne said, “suburbs are where you may go to either self-segregate or distance yourself from others." The Braves move from Turner Field in downtown Atlanta to SunTrust Park symbolizes their attempt to distance the team from the downtrodden urban environment and embrace the glitzy suburban modernity. Browne commented on the hypocrisy of the Braves official team statement addressed to all their fans about the move, “The ‘you, our fans’ is not targeted at a person who lives in the city of Atlanta. It’s targeted at everyone… that lives in the city’s northern suburbs." Only fans in the suburbs have the wealth to value the team’s commercialism, and therefore the club is more concerned about providing their product to those specific consumers. While that may be sound business, it does not seem right to me.

Telling It All Podcast - American League East Preview

Topics Include: Red Sox Season Preview (2:00), Yankees Season Preview (13:45).
                           
Topics Include: Orioles Season Preview (1:50), Blue Jays Season Preview (6:30), 
                           Rays Season Preview (9:45)

SoundCloud Podcast Homepage: https://soundcloud.com/ctellallsports

The Most Heated Rivalry In Sports Right Now - The Boston Red Sox And The Tampa Bay Rays

Every kid growing up learns about the intense rivalries that have marked collegiate and professional sports for decades, those that always have tempers flaring, bodies flying, and unparalleled fervor and emotion. In college basketball, for example, the Duke and North Carolina rivalry, whose campuses are separated by just nine miles along Tobacco Road, is the most ferocious game in all of college sports. The Blue Devils or Tar Heels have won or shared the ACC regular season title 46 out of 61 years since 1954 and one of the teams has been crowned ACC tournament champion 36 out of 61 seasons including every year from 1997 to 2011 except for when Maryland won it in 2004 in overtime over Duke, meaning that every one of their games has conference and, typically, National Championship ramifications (in a 20 year stretch from 1991 to 2010, Duke and North Carolina won a combined 7 National Championships with everybody from George Lynch in 1993 with the Tar Heels to Jon Scheyer in 2010 with the Dukies).

Who can forget the game between the clubs in 1992 at Chapel Hill, where North Carolina beat eventual repeat National Champions Duke (the first team to go back-to-back since UCLA won seven in a row from 1967 to 1973), a Blue Devils team that had Bobby Hurley, Christian Laettner, and Grant Hill, to give the Dukies one of their only two losses during the season. The game also gave the world of sports the image of North Carolina center Eric Montross taking free throws with his face covered in blood, epitomizing the fierceness of the Duke-North Carolina rivalry. My personal favorite Duke-Carolina moment was back in 2007 when Tyler Hansbrough broke his nose on a hard foul from Gerald Henderson with 14.5 seconds left in the game and then got up looking for more with his face full of blood in a season where North Carolina would go on to make the Elite Eight before losing to Georgetown in overtime (Henderson has averaged nearly 15 points per game the last three years with the Bobcats, which shows that it isn't all bad in Charlotte because average NBA players can get enough playing time and shots to not actually look that bad in the Queen City. I'm telling you that there are some guys in the NBA that love playing on poor teams and taking a ton of shots and scoring a lot each game like a Kevin Martin or a O.J. Mayo).

In sports, we have had historic rivalries that date back to a time when people still thought Donald Sterling was sane, which is a very, very long time ago, like the great Minnesota-Wisconsin rivalry for Paul Bunyan's Axe that began in 1890 or the Michigan-Michigan St. game for Paul Bunyan's Trophy (yes, there is a difference) that started all the way back in 1897. We have also had rivalries that really only lasted a few years because of a few certain players like the Pats-Colts games from 2001 to 2010 that pitted Peyton Manning against Tom Brady twelve separate times including three times in the postseason or the Bulls-Pistons rivalry during the late 1980's and early 1990's with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, and Bill Cartwright of Chicago going up against Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer, and Dennis Rodman from Detroit including four straight years in the postseason from 1988 to 1991.

Aside from Duke and North Carolina, Louisville-Kentucky is clearly college basketball's most storied rivalry with the teams playing in two of the last four NCAA tournaments with the Wildcats winning both meetings in route to their National Championship in 2012 and their runner-up finish this season. College football is also characterized by its rivalry games that are played particularly in the last week of the season, notably Notre Dame and USC, Michigan and Ohio St. in The Game, Alabama and Auburn in the Iron Bowl, and Oklahoma and Texas in the Red River Rivalry. The MLB has the Yankees and the Red Sox, the Dodgers and the Giants, and the Cardinals and the Cubs while the NHL has the Canadiens-Maple Leafs, Flames-Oilers, and Flyers-Penguins. The NFL is known for its rivalries that include the Bears-Packers, Redskins-Cowboys, and Chiefs-Raiders, as is the NBA for its contests that involve the Lakers and Celtics, Knicks and Nets, and Mavericks and Spurs. Soccer is a game that thrives off its rivalry matches more so than any other sport because of the hatred that is present at local derbies between teams that are so close in proximity like Liverpool and Everton on Merseyside, the Ruhr Derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke, the Old Firm between Rangers and Celtic, the Rome derby between Roma and Lazio, the Milan Derby between AC Milan and Inter Milan, and the Derby of the Eternal Enemies between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos. If you throw in Federer vs Nadal, Agassi vs Sampras, McEnroe vs Borg, Ali vs Frazier, Snead vs Hogan, Arnold vs Jack, Phil vs Tiger, and even Affirmed vs Alydar, you have your biggest rivalries in all of sports right in front of you.

As great as it feels to support your own team and fall in love with your players and coaches - unless you are a Raiders fan where your best quarterbacks since Rich Gannon led the team to a Super Bowl appearance in 2002 include Rick Mirer, Andrew Walter, Aaron Brooks, JaMarcus Russell, Jason Campbell, Carson Palmer, and Matt McGloin - it is sometimes just as nice to root against a team that you cannot stand (essentially, a club full of players where you hate every guy as much as LeBron despises Lance Stephenson, or as much as Lance's teammates often loathe Lance Stephenson). There are fans who even find more satisfaction in seeing teams that they hate lose than watching their own team succeed because as sad as it sounds, seeing guys fail is sometimes even more invigorating and exciting than watching athletes live up to their greatness. As incredible as it was to watch Auburn, a team that went 3-9 in 2012 just two years after winning the title with Cam Newton in 2010, come back under first year head coach Gus Malzahn and get to the SEC Championship Game and eventually the BCS National Title against Florida St., what made them getting there that much more special was that they beat Alabama in the Iron Bowl along the way, a club that had bullied all of college football ever since Nick Saban took over in 2007 and had been a ridiculous 72-7 since 2008 with three National Championships in four years at the time of the contest. Auburn's second trip to the title game in four years had more meaning because they knocked off their undefeated, powerhouse rival to get there.

LeBron James became the rival of every team and fan-base in the NBA upon his arrival in Miami, as people were more inclined to root against James than any athlete ever before him after he left Cleveland following the worst 75 minutes of television that does not include two episodes of The Hills with The Decision in 2010. More fans passionately cheered on the Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals than their own team throughout the season, which was an odd sight to see. It did, however, have some benefits because people were finally able to truly witness the genius of Rick Carlisle, even without a very talented roster, and one of the greatest seven power forwards of all-time go to work and get his first NBA title with Dirk Nowitzki (the other six being Duncan, Elvin Hayes, Malone, Bob Pettit, Kevin Garnett, and Charles Barkley). The year long LeBron hate tour at every arena across the NBA, especially in Cleveland, reminded me that people love to root against athletes more so than they even like to support them (LeBron is not the only one either because people love to rip on Dwight Howard, Tony Romo, Grant Balfour, Johnny Manziel, and Carmelo Anthony to name a few others).

As a Red Sox fan, I normally have two rooting interests during the seven month long major league season, which are the Sox and the team that is playing the dreaded New York Yankees (I took that from a t-shirt, but it is still very applicable to this discussion on rivalries). I still remember like it was yesterday the MLB playoffs in 2003 because of just how happy I was that the Marlins with Derrek Lee, Mike Lowell, and Josh Beckett beat the Yankees in the World Series, the Evil Empire's second loss in the Fall Classic in the three years with the other one being to Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Luis Gonzalez, and the Diamondbacks in 2001. After the Yankees fell in the World Series to Florida, the sting of Grady Little bringing in Tim Wakefield, knowing that one mistake with a knuckleball pitcher on the mound would cost the Sox the game and the series in the ALCS, which it did because of Aaron "Bleeping" Boone, did not feel nearly as bad as it did the previous week. There was really no reason to be less upset about another season without a Sox World Series because another year had passed without the Sox making the World Series (the last time being in the infamous 1986 Fall Classic with the Mets) or capturing the Commissioner's Trophy, which it had not done since back in 1918 with Dutch Leonard, Carl Mays, and Babe Ruth. In fact, the 2003 team with a pitching staff that included Derek Lowe and Pedro Martinez and a lineup highlighted by Nomar Garciaparra, Manny Ramirez, and David Ortiz was the Sox best chance to capture a World Series since that 1918 season so long ago. Nonetheless, the fact that the Yankees, who were heavy World Series favorites over the Marlins, somehow fell in 6 games to Florida, did not make the season seem like a complete and utter nightmare for Red Sox Nation. Since New York did not win it all either, the Yankees loss in the World Series, for some reason, did serve as a unconventional consolation for the Sox.

Coaches are often defined by how they fare in their very important rivalry games, especially in college sports, because of all the resentment that is present between two heated rivals and how important it is to be better than that other team every single year (I'm sure Kansas St. basketball fans still talk about the 1989 season when they beat beat Kansas twice in one year despite having the worse end of the rivalry). Forgetting his numerous idiotic mistakes off the field (and there were a lot of them) Jim Tressel is revered in Columbus for going a dominant 9-1 against arch rival Michigan (technically speaking, it was 8-1 because the win in 2010 was later vacated) with 6 of those victories over Lloyd Carr, making him the second most successful coach in the rivalry behind only Woody Hayes (16 wins) and helping Ohio St. become the first team in the rivalry to win at least six consecutive games since Michigan did so under Fielding Yost, George Little, and Elton Wieman from 1922 to 1927. Despite leading Ohio St. to an incredible 106-22 record overall with eight double-digit win seasons, a National Championship in 2002, and two straight BCS National Championship Games in 2007 and 2008, Tressel is admired by the fans for his complete domination of the Buckeyes rival way more than anything else he did from 2001 to 2010 with the program.

Everybody in sports wants to be apart of a transcendent rivalry that is stepped with history, intense passion, and championship implications, and some fans even go as far as to construct their own rivalries as a means to manufacture the profound hatred that so many other teams share with one another. Maryland would always embrace their very heated games against Duke, especially since the 1980's, and the teams did have some unbelievable battles like when Duke was down by ten points with 54 seconds left in 2001 before Jay Williams sparked the miracle minute with eight points in fourteen seconds to miraculously send the game that was all but over into overtime, a period where Shane Battier would eventually put the finishing touches on one of the craziest college basketball comebacks of all-time at the old Cole Field House (look up Illinois-Arizona 2005 Elite Eight or USC-Oregon Pac-10 game from 1999 if you want to see some other ridiculous comebacks in college basketball). I am still stunned by that Duke comeback every time I see it although I know exactly what is going to happen and I still haven't watched one guy pull his team back from the dead like that since Tracy McGrady scored 13 points in 35 seconds for the Rockets in a 2004 victory over the Spurs by one point in Houston. Despite the passion and fire that Maryland fans would always bring to their games against the Dukies, the Cameron Crazies would never bring the same vigor or feeling to the contest and would always serenade the Maryland players with chants of "You're not our rival," in reference to the real Duke-North Carolina rivalry. The game meant much more to Maryland than to Duke because it was, in the eyes of the Terps, their biggest rival.

If we look around the world of sports today, the landscape of rivalries, especially in pro sports, has changed quite a bit. The hottest rivalry in the NFL right now is clearly the Seahawks and the 49ers in the NFC West, two teams that are a combined 47-16-1 the last two years with the 49ers being the first team to make three consecutive conference championship games since the Eagles did so from 2001 to 2004 and the Seahawks winning their first ever Super Bowl this year with a crazy 23-17 win over the 49ers to get there (I haven't seen two groups of people hate each other as much as the 49ers and Seahawks since the Jets and the Sharks in West Side Story). The best rivalry in the NHL today is arguably the Kings and the Sharks, which really has begun to kick off this decade. The California teams met in the first round of the 2011 Western Conference playoffs, where the Sharks won in six games, but the Kings have gotten their revenge, as they knocked off the Sharks in seven games in the 2013 Western Conference semifinals, a series that saw the road team win all seven games, and then again in the 2014 first round when the Kings became the 4th team in NHL history along with the Maple Leafs in 1942, the Islanders in 1975, and the Flyers in 2010 to win a series after trailing 3-0. In the NBA, the Heat-Pacers rivalry, despite it being very one sided in the favor of LeBron, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh, is likly the most intense NBA rivalry, as the clubs have met in the playoffs each of the last three seasons and are the first teams to have an Eastern Conference Finals rematch since the Heat and Pistons did so in 2004 and then again in 2005. Finally, in the MLB, and possibly all of sports, the most fierce and fiery rivalry you can find right now is actually between the Red Sox and the Rays and it is not even close.

Obviously, the Red Sox-Rays rivalry will never get close to anything that the Yankees and the Red Sox have had few more than 100 years. The Yankees have had iconic names that everybody knows like Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, DiMaggio, Rivera, Berra, Jeter, Whitey Ford, and Reggie Jackson while legends of baseball like Williams, Yastrzemski, Ortiz, Pedro, Tris Speaker, Jim Rice, Foxx, Cy Young, and Fisk have strolled around Fenway Park. To counter those Hall of Famers, or future Hall of Famers, the Rays can give you Carl Crawford or Evan Longoria, who don't exactly belong in the same conversation with some of the greatest baseball players to have ever lived. The Yankees and Sox met in the playoffs three times in six years from 1999 to 2004 with the winner making the World Series each time while the Rays have only made it to the postseason four times total in their 16 years as a MLB franchise. The Red Sox and Yankees have had the sale of Babe Ruth in 1920, Lou Piniella running over Carlton Fisk in 1976, Bucky Dent's home run in the one-game playoff for the AL East in 1978, Don Zimmer vs Pedro in game 3 of the ALCS in 2003, Aaron Boone's walk-off homer in game 7 of that same series, A-Rod vs Jason Varitek in 2004, and, of course, the Sox improbable comeback from 3-0 down in the 2004 ALCS thanks to Dave Roberts, Bill Mueller, David Ortiz, Curt Schilling's bloody sock, and Johnny Damon's grand slam. No other two teams in sports can match the incredible Red Sox-Yankee moments over the past century, especially not a club like the Rays that did not have a winning season as an organization until 2008 and was 327 games under .500 in a 10-year stretch from 1998 to 2007 (645-972) without a season with more than 70 wins.

While the history of the Red Sox-Rays rivalry is not in the same stratosphere as the Red Sox and Yankees, it is the most tense, passionate, and testy game in the sport right now. The Sox and Rays are two teams that genuinely do not like each other in any aspect of life, which generally means that when they come together on the baseball diamond, things tend to get very uneasy. Often times in sports, rivalries are just way too contrived to make them appear full of tempestuous fervor, as in actuality, the players sometimes do not feel anywhere near the same emotion that the fans so desperately want to see in a true rivalry. Despite both being apart of the original six in the NHL, having won a combined 30 Stanley Cups since 1915, and having faced off against each other in an incredible 34 different postseasons including ten out of eleven years from 1984 to 1994, even Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien admitted during the Canadiens-Bruins series in the Eastern Conference semifinals this season, "We know that since the beginning of the playoffs lots of things have been exaggerated to build an off-ice rivalry. But we're taking care of our own affairs, and we respect other people's opinions." People tried to hype up the Knicks-Heat rivalry after Carmelo Anthony was traded to New York in February of 2011 like it was back in the late 1990's and early 2000's when Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston, Larry Johnson, and Latrell Sprewell went up against Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, and Jamal Mashburn for four consecutive postseasons. The fan bases, though, neglected the fact that LeBron and Carmelo are good friends off the court (LeBron's St. Vincent-St Mary's played Carmelo's Oak Hill in high school, they both came out of that amazing 2003 draft class, and they played together on the 2004, 2008, and 2012 US Olympic Teams) and that the teams have no legitimate ill well towards one another like many players had back in the day with one another. We often tend to glorify the past in sports, but Larry Bird was never friends with Bernard King when the Celtics and the Knicks played in the 1980's nor were Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas hanging out during the Bulls and Pistons encounters in the 1980's and 1990's, but times have changed, and as LeBron James said, "There is no real rivalry in the NBA these days." However, in the case of the Red Sox and Rays, the two squads do have true hatred and hostility towards each other, which does create the most heated rivalry in all of sports at this present moment.

Any two divisional opponents in the MLB, even those as seemingly innocuous as the Royals and the Indians (see the incident involving Jonathan Sanchez, Shin-Soo Choo, Jeanmar Gomez, and Mike Moustakas in 2012), are destined to get into some scraps over time just because they play each other 19 different times each season (in comparison, the Red Sox play fellow AL ballclub the Seattle Mariners just 6 times this year, which is a little bit sad because Boston will now only get a chance to see Robinson Cano not run to first base in 2 series during the season rather than in 6 series if he had stayed with New York). Just like, for instance, the Giants and Padres in the NL West or the Mariners and Angels in the AL West, the Sox and the Rays have of course gotten into some scuffles and tense exchanges here and there because that is just the nature of baseball. However, while the Sox-Rays games began to really escalate over the past several years, especially since the always confident and daring Joe Maddon took over in Tampa Bay and turned the club around by bringing them to the World Series in 2008 in their first ever postseason appearance as a franchise, there has always been some real bad blood between the clubs for years.

Boston and Tampa Bay played a game fourteen years ago where eight Devil Rays would ultimately get ejected because of an obscene five altercations over the course of the first seven innings of the contest. In his amazing Cy Young winning year in 2000, Pedro Martinez had one of his only two poor starts of the entire season against the Devil Rays when he went just 4 innings versus Tampa on August 14 (that season was so good that Pedro's 1.74 ERA was the 5th lowest in the majors since 1969 and his 0.737 WHIP was the lowest ever in a season). When the teams met just 15 days later at the Trop, Pedro, most likely intentionally due to his frustration, plunked the Rays leadoff hitter Gerald Williams in the first inning on a high fastball, which led to a huge benches clearing brawl and Jason Varitek having to tackle an incensed Williams to keep him from Pedro. In retaliation, Rays pithcer Dave Eiland hit Brain Daubach along with Nomar Garciaparra and was tossed, and so was Cory Lidle after he threw behind Daubach. On May 5, 2002, there was a game between the clubs that saw Ryan Rupe hit Normar Garciaparra after Normar hit a home run off him and then Shea Hillenbrand in the back, which led to Trot Nixon "losing hold of his bat" and practically throwing it at Rupe and Sox pitcher Frank Castillo hitting Randy Winn in an act of reprisal for everything else that had gone on. A little more than two months later on July 18, 2002, things got heated once again, as the night after Manny Ramirez hit a home run and a double against Tampa, he was hit by Rays starter Tanyon Sturtze up high in the first inning and had to duck from a pitch in the ninth inning. The Sox, however, got their retribution when Rays batter Brent Abernathy was hit by both Boston pitchers Fank Castillo and Tim Wakefield (how much could that possibly hurt) that same game, and later on that year on September 9, 2002, Red Sox pitcher David Lowe hit Felix Escalona with a pitch as more retaliation for the Rays hitting Manny. The total contempt between the Red Sox and the Rays continued over the next few years, including in 2004 when Red Sox starter Bronson Arroyo hit both Aubrey Huff and Tino Martinez, which led to a Devil Rays retaliation of Scott Kazmir plunking Boston sluggers Manny Ramirez and Kevin Millar on back-to-back at-bats, and also in 2005 when Lance Carter threw at the head of both Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, causing the benches to empty and providing yet another example of an early incident that established the backdrop for what is now a very strained and sour rivalry between the squads.

Now more than ever, the Red Sox and Rays AL East rivalry is at such a point that when the clubs come together on the ball field, there is always some real tangible edginess and hatred that can be seen during every contest, even more so than the normal dislike that two divisional opponents have for one another just by the sheer annoyance of having to play the team so many times in a season. When Joe Maddon came to Tampa in 2006 after working with the Angels for many years, he had to change the entire culture of a team that had went eight straight seasons with more than 90 losses. Although it would take him two full years and two more seasons of 90 plus losses to do so (they did have the worst record in the MLB in his first year with the team), Maddon has turned the Rays into a very formidable ballclub that teams really do not like to play, not only because of their really good pitching staff and Evan Longoria at the plate, but also because every player on the entire roster is ruthless and unyielding. More often than not, the way pro teams play on the field closely resembles the nature of their coach and the Rays unforgiving and impulsive play comes directly from Maddon (in San Francisco, for example, their tough style of football comes right from Harbaugh's personality). One of the main ways that Maddon was able to instill this sense of fearlessness in his players was to get his team to go after their opponents so that they would no longer be seen as the feeble Rays, a team whose most successful season before Maddon showed up was a 70-91 campaign in 2004 under Lou Piniella, where they still finished 30.5 games behind the divisional leading New York Yankees.

And so we turn to the Red Sox and the Rays as the perfect match for two major leagues teams to create the most heated rivalry in all of sports at this current time. Under Maddon, Tampa Bay has desperately tried to distant themselves from their anemic past and has taken very ostensible strides to show the baseball world that they are not afraid of getting under the skin of their opponents, no matter which team they are playing, and that includes their divisional foe the Red Sox. On the other side of things, Boston was picked on by the baseball world and the baseball gods from 1918 all the way until 2004 when they finally broke the Curse of the Bambino (long live the curse of the billy goat), so when opposing ballclubs try to take advantage of the Red Sox they will have none of it, even more so than other teams because of all the hardships but also toughness that is bred into the city and the players that compete at Fenway Park. With the Rays refusing to back down from any other team regardless of the circumstances and the Red Sox always feeling very protective about themselves, the Sox and the Rays getting into some uneasy altercations over the years was more destined to happen than Kevin Love trying to leave the circus that is disguised as the Minnesota Timberwolves (Flip Saunders lost in the first round of 7 straight NBA playoffs from 1997 to 2003 with the T-Wolves and KG, was never able to get a very experienced Pistons over the hump after they made two consecutive NBA finals with Larry Brown, and was downright terrible in Washington and is now somehow the coach of Minnesota again and is also their President and a part-owner. The Timberwolves have missed out of 10 straight postseasons and now much should change with Flip in charge). Whenever Boston and Tampa Bay do come together, it always feels like we could get a round of Gatti vs Ward because of all the enmity between the clubs.

In a series in the summer of 2008, the rivalry between Boston and Tampa Bay really began to intensify to the point of no return (if you haven't seen the 1993 movie with that name I would definitely advise that you watch it on a side note). On June 4th, in a testy game between the clubs, Coco Crisp was upset with Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett blocking the base with his knee and causing the Red Sox outfielder to injure his thumb on a steal in the 6th inning, so Crisp took Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura right out two innings later on another stolen base attempt. Later that inning, Joe Maddon and Coco Crisp exchanged some words during a pitching change (they weren't asking each other out for coffee either) and it set off a change of events that would occur the next day at Fenway Park that would display the full bitterness present in the blossoming rivalry. In the second inning of the ballgame on June 5th, James Shields threw at Coco and hit him in the hip and after Crisp dropped his bat and waited for a second it was on like Pacquiao vs Marquez in a very heated and very large benches clearing brawl between the teams. Shields, who I was happy to see leave Tampa Bay for the Kansas City Royals in the trade for Wil Myers in 2012 because he always killed the Red Sox (Boston had a .252 batting average and just a .409 slugging percentage against Shields in 25 games), Crisp, and ironically enough future Red Sox World Series Champion and one of the best team players to have in sports, Jonny Gomes, were all ejected for throwing punches in the fight that would come to symbolize the rancor between the clubs, especially since Maddon imparted a new sense of boldness in his players.

The growing issues between the teams has been evident over the past several years with the variety of on and off field altercations that have occurred at Fenway Park, Tropicana Field, and beyond, which is why the rivalry has so much built up bad blood. In game 1 of the ALCS in 2008, Grant Balfour, who was amazing with the A's last season with 38 saves and just 3 blown saves and is now back with Tampa, hit J.D. Drew in the shoulder, a pitch up so high that it caused some Red Sox players to yell at the hurler from the dugout. In 2012, the rivalry really amped up after Adrian Gonzalez was hit by Rays pitcher Matt Moore and Red Sox lefty Franklin Morales retaliated by plunking Will Rhymes, who would later pass out on the field after taking the hard mid 90's fastball to his right elbow. In the following series, Burke Badenhop of the Rays hit Red Sox star second baseman Dustin Pedroia and a pitch sailed over the head of Daniel Nava because Tampa was so upset with what had happened to Rhymes the week before. With the nature of baseball, however, Boston could not just let Tampa hit their stars, especially after they thought Morales was just pitching inside to Rhymes, so this time Morales, who seems to be at the center of all this, threw behind Luke Scott, then tossed two pitches inside, before finally hitting him in the leg on May 25, causing the benches to clear and showing even more outward anger and acrimony between the ballclubs. In June of last season, the animosity that is apparent in the rivalry continued, as John Lackey drilled Rays outfielder Matt Joyce in the back, causing the benches to clear after the always cantankerous Lackey was upset that Joyce took his time rounding the bases on a first inning home run and then dropped his bat like he had hit a homer on a 3-0 swing in his next at-bat when the ball was actually foul, which led to the surly Lackey shouting at the Rays dugout. Joe Maddon said Lackey was a "bad teammate [because] he can get one of his own players hurt," suggesting that the Rays would not be backing down and that they would have some sort of retribution to continue the derision in the rivalry. On May 25 of this year, the Red Sox and Rays were pushing and shoving on the field once again after the Sox, and specifically backup catcher David Ross on the bench, were upset with Yunel Escobar stealing third base on defensive indifference after Tampa was already up by five runs in the bottom of the 7th inning (this is one of baseball's unwritten rules that I don't really understand because a five run lead is by no means insurmountable, so why shouldn't a guy be allowed to try to take an extra base to add more runs. If you don't like it, stop them from scoring is the attitude I have always liked when it comes to sports whether it be a team running up the score or taking another base on a steal).

All of these past incidents had an aggregate effect on the David Price-David Ortiz fiasco that happened just this past week at Fenway Park that had Big Papi saying, "It's a war," because the Red Sox and the Rays really just hate one another. After the Rays beat the Rangers in the Wild Card tie-breaker game and then the Indians in the actual Wild Card game behind a great performance from Alex Cobb last year, they met the Sox in the ALDS. With Boston leading the series 1-0 and the Rays absolutely needing a win to have a fair chance of winning the five game series (only five times since divisional series began in 1995 had a team trailing 2-0 ever gone on to win the series with the 1995 Mariners, the 1999 Red Sox, the 2001 Yankees, the 2003 Red Sox, and the 2012 Giants being those teams), David Price was roughed up for 7 runs over 7 innings in a 7-4 Tampa loss, which included two long solo home runs from David Ortiz to right field in the 1st inning and then again in the 8th inning.

Everybody knows that feeling of frustration when even the littlest of things in life can just piss you off because you are in such a terrible mood. After David Price became the first left handed pitcher since Cliff Lee to win the AL Cy Young Award in 2012 with a 20-5 record, an AL best 2.56 ERA, and the second best AL WAR for pitchers at 6.9, Price had an uncharacteristically poor season last year and seemed frustrated each time he took the mound with his inability to locate his pitches and find the same success as the year before. Despite throwing a 2 run, complete game for the Rays against the Rangers in their big one game playoff victory, Price seemed agitated all afternoon against the Sox in his ALDS loss to John Lackey, who was somehow the Sox biggest bulldog and fighter last season. Meanwhile, anybody who has watched the Red Sox over the years knows that David Ortiz likes to watch and admire his home runs (he was plunked by Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia in 2011 after staring at some of his home run balls from earlier in the series), and I would too if I was Ortiz and averaged 34 home runs, 108 RBI's, and a .572 slugging percentage from 2003 to 2013. However, David Price does not quite agree with that logic and on Big Papi's second home run in game 2 of the ALDS, Price was undoubtedly upset with Papi sitting back and watching his ball at home plate all the way until it sailed over the Pesky Pole in right field. Price said after the game, "He knows how I've pitched him the last year and a half, probably two years. He steps in the bucket and he hits a homer, and he stares at it to see if it's fair or foul - I'm sure that's what he'd say. But as soon as he hit it and I saw it, I knew it was fair. Run." Baseball players are typically very sensitive, especially pitchers, and they remember guys that they think showed them up in any type of fashion for the next time they go up against that same opponent whether it be the next game or years down the line. Price seemed to be a little bit exasperated throughout the 2013 season, and so when that frustration is boiling up and somebody like Papi in a big game doesn't leave the batters box and watches a home run all the way until it is out of the park for his second of the game, even if he is just seeing if the ball is going fair or foul, that sense of irritation leads to a pitcher becoming even more upset with the batter than usual.

Going into the Red Sox-Rays three game series this year from May 30 to June 1 and knowing the history of the teams and all the hatred they have for one another, and with the clubs playing just five days after they had just had a benches clearing brawl because of the Yunel Escobar stolen base, major league baseball likely should have given both team warnings before the game to let them know that they would not tolerate any throwing at batters (major league rules states, "If, in the umpire's judgment, circumstances warrant, both teams may be officially "warned" prior to the game or at any time during the game.") Although as David Ortiz said after the game, "Later on he [Price] called me and apologized because he knows he was wrong. He apologized in public [for criticizing TBS analysts Dirk Hayhust and Tom Verducci]. He apologized to myself. Everything was cool," the MLB still had every right to tell the umps to warn both teams before the game so that they could ensure that the revengeful Price would not get caught up in his attempts to get back at Ortiz and the Sox.

However, they did not and of course on the first pitch of Big Papi's first at-bat of the season against Price, he was nailed with a 94 mph fastball right in the back, causing Ortiz to give the "I can't believe he just did that look" and Red Sox manager John Farrell to got tossed. Despite both benches getting warned because of the obvious intent of Price throwing at Papi, the left hander was surprisingly not ejected after he hit Mike Carp up in the arms in the 4th inning. Ortiz, who is a very prideful and emotional guy that likes to be shown a certain amount of respect because of all that he has accomplished in his career, was absolutely furious with Price for throwing inside to Carp when the benches cleared after he had already hit him and Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo was then ejected. As an act of reprisal to get back at the Rays for hitting Ortiz and Carp, one undoubtedly intentionally and the other one whose intent can be debated, Boston starter Brandon Workman threw behind Rays star Evan Longoria and was tossed along with the third Red Sox manager of the day, Brian Butterfield.

If you think that three hits batters (Jonny Gomes was unintentionally hit in the 10th inning by Rays reliever Joel Peralta), a pitch behind a batter, and four different Red Sox managers wasn't good enough for the next chapter of the Red Sox-Rays bad blood, the post-game comments by the clubs only added on to the disgust that is present in the rivalry that is growing to the point where it is the most heated in all of sports and has more bickering than George and Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. David Ortiz said, "Next time I see him [Price], he better put his gloves on. I have no respect for him anymore... It is over now. I have no respect for him... You can't be acting like a girl out there... If you are going to be acting like a little b---- every time you give it up and put your teammates in jeopardy, that is going to cost you," while Price replied, "Nobody's bigger than the game of baseball. You ask pitchers from 10-15-20 years ago. That's normal, part of the game."

From a casual baseball fan perspective, the latest drama in the Red Sox-Rays rivalry could not get any better because it adds even more fuel to the fire and puts hostilities to a new high between the clubs. Although I don't think that baseball should be as controlling as the mother in Black Swan and micromanage teams before games, I am still adamant that the umpires should have stepped in before this particular contest to do something because of the circumstances of the rivalry, especially with Price on the mound after what hew angrily said about Ortiz after game 2 in the ALDS in 2013. The big problem that arose in the game on May 30th was that not only did the Red Sox not have a chance to get retribution for Price hitting Ortiz because of the warnings to both benches, but the former Cy Young winner was not even tossed after hitting another batter, which seems to not be very fair or balanced and will only lead to more antipathy in the future. Regardless of your stance on the right for a player to throw at a guy for not running around the bases fast enough, staring at his hit for too long by celebrating a home run, taking an extra base with a big lead in a game, running acorss the pitchers mound, or flipping the bat, you can't argue against guys standing up for their teammates because if you don't, you lose the respect of your entire ballclub no matter what and that is what divides teams. If you place a dirty hit on Alexander Steen, T.J. Oshie, or David Backes of the St. Louis Blues, Ryan Reaves will let you know about it, and the same goes for baseball players protecting each other. Lukily for us baeball fans, the Red Sox and Rays play 10 more times just this season to settle the score in the game's most passionate and testy rivalry, so as David Ortiz said, "It's on."

2014 MLB Preview Part 1 - American League Breakdown

It feels like it has been a long time, almost as long as a typical Red Sox-Yankee game, but the baseball season is finally upon us. Technically, the season has already begun, but there are very few people actually aware of that fact since the Dodgers and Diamondbacks started the MLB year not under the lights at Chavez Ravine or at Chase Field, where the Dodgers players took the longest swim in a pool after winning the NL West since Leonardo DiCaprio in the Titanic (seriously, there was room on that raft for two people), but instead, played ball at four in the morning in Sydney, Australia. While I have nothing wrong with baseball trying to expand its market to a more global platform, don't you think the season should start in the country where most of the games are actually played (don't worry I remembered the Blue Jays, so Toronto fans can be happy about something since the Maple Leafs defense just let up two goals as I wrote this sentence and have now lost 9 straight games in regulation).

Last year was one of the best major league seasons that we have seen in recent history and I'm not just saying that because the Red Sox won their 3rd World Series since 2004. Ok, I am entirely saying that because of the fact that the Red Sox went from chicken and beer in 2011 to 69 wins and their worst season since 1960 (Ted Williams's last year with the team) in 2012 (thank you Bobby Valentine) to the best team in baseball in 2013. Aside from the Sox going from worst to first, we also saw Miguel Cabrera nearly win his second straight triple crown, we were able to watch the greatest closer in the history of baseball in Mariano Rivera say goodbye, we had the privilege of seeing Clayton Kershaw literally never give up a hit, we were lucky enough to watch the emergence of young stars like Yasiel Puig, Jose Fernandez, Michael Wacha, and Xander Bogaerts, and we also witnessed the Houston Astros attempt to play baseball (you know you are having a bad season when you draw a Nielsen rating of 0.0 in your local area during a home game against the Indians or when you finish the season 21-62).

However, aside from the fact that I am already preparing for the Red Sox to repeat as champions for the first time in the major leagues since the Yankees three peat from 1998 to 2000, the 2014 MLB season should be even better than last year in terms of entertainment value. One of the three greatest shortstops in the history of baseball in Derek Jeter is in his final year, Bud Selig is entering his 22nd and final year as the commissioner of the major leagues, we will finally have extensive instant replay in baseball, Albert Pujols is approaching 500 home runs and also a retirement home, the Phillies are hoping that their 180 million dollar opening day payroll can help them finish with more than 73 wins, the Mets are trying to finish above .500 for the first time since 2008, baseball is finally seeing a shift towards younger players like Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, and Manny Machado, A-Rod is nowhere to be found, and the Astros will attempt to play baseball once again (Scott Feldman is their opening day starter; that is all). What else could be better.

AL East Preview:

There has not been a division in sports that has been dominated quite like the AL East outside of the AFC East in football (the Patriots, though, are fortunate enough to be competing against the Bills, who have not finished above .500 since 1999, the Dolphins, who have won one playoff game since Dan Marino and have a locker room that is reminiscent of a team with Gilbert Arenas, and the Jets, whose passing game was only ahead of the Bucs last year. The Jets, Dolphins, and Bills have combined for 2 seasons of 11 or more wins since 2002 and the Patriots have had 9 such years). The Yankees and Red Sox have won the AL East 16 of the last 19 years and 25 of the last 38 seasons, which includes 10 World Series and 16 American League pennants between the clubs.

Boston Red Sox Preview:

With the Red Sox coming off their 8th World Series, they are the front-runners to come out of the AL East and the American League once again this season, and that is widely accepted, not just my Red Sox love bleeding out. After having the 4th worst ERA in all of baseball at 4.70 in 2012, the Sox pitching had a complete turn around last year, finishing 7th in strikeouts with nearly 8 per game and having their most quality starts in a season with 95 since 2002 (a season where Pedro Martinez was 20-4 with a 2.26 ERA and Derek Lowe was 21-8 with a 2.58 ERA and the tandem finished 2-3 in the AL Cy Young race respectively).

The Sox rotation is as good as it has been since the glory years of Pedro in the early 2000's. Jon Lester is going to be the ace of the staff once again this year, not only because he is in a big contract year at the age of 30, but also because his cutter is looking like one of the best in the big leagues once again, especially against left handed hitters, who have a 3.36 strikeout to walk ratio against him. I never thought I would utter this sentence but John Lackey should be another reason why the Sox will have a very good rotation in 2014. After literally being the worst pitcher on the face of the Earth and finishing with a laughable 6.41 ERA in 2011 (Doc Ellis could have done better sober) and missing 2012 with Tommy John Surgery, Lackey not only had a 3.52 ERA during the season in one of the most hitter friendly ballparks in the majors, but he then had a 3.52 ERA in 5 playoff appearances and was the winning pitcher in the clinching game 6 in the World Series. Lackey went from being the most hated man in Boston since Rick Pitino to being the Red Sox's most reliable starter (Farrell trusted Lackey enough to put him in to pitch against the Cardinals in game 4 in his first relief appearance since 2004). There has not been an athlete that fell from grace or into relative obscurity and then revitalized their career quite like John Lackey since maybe Josh Hamilton (before he struck out every other at-bat with the Angels after getting Albert Pujols syndrome), Garrison Hearst, or James Braddock (watch Cinderella Man with Russell Crowe, a movie that tells the story of James Braddock, which I would say is best boxing movie of all-time aside from Raging Bull and Million Dollar Baby).

While Boston will certainly miss Jacoby Ellisbury, a guy that stole 52 bases last year and had a 5.7 WAR, they bring back a majority of their lineup that scored the most runs in the majors since the Red Sox team back in 2011. With the additions of A.J. Pierzynski for Jared Saltalamachhia, who hit just.218 against left handed pitching, and the amazing Xander Bogaerts replacing Stephen Drew, who played some quality defense but batted .111 in the playoffs, the Sox have even more depth in their order to go with their sluggers, David Ortiz and Mike Napoli, in the middle of their lineup.

New York Yankees Preview:

For just the second time in the last 19 years since 1995, the Yankees failed to appear in the postseason, and New York absolutely hates missing out on baseball's biggest stage. You may be thinking that this is a rather conspicuous statement because every team wants to make the playoffs every year, but the Yankees are different. If the Cubs don't make the playoffs, they still have that lovable Chicago spirit and the history of Wrigley Field. If the Pittsburgh Pirates miss out on the postseason, their fans understand that they are a small market team without the resources of bigger clubs. If the Royals are not in the playoffs, their fans do not even react because they do not even remember what it is like to watch a postseason game since they haven't played extra baseball since they won the World Series with George Brett and Bret Saberhagen in 1985. But if the Yankees don't make the playoffs, there is nothing quite like it in sports.

After the Bronx Bombers missed out on the postseason in 2008, they spent 441 million on players the following off-season including 180 million on Mark Teixeira, 161 million on CC Sabathia, and 82.5 million on A.J. Burnett (Burnett could be the only pitcher I know to get 16.5 million per year, go 34-35 with a 4.79 ERA, and not be remembered as a failure because he pitched that great game 2 against the Phillies when the Yanks were done 1-0 in the 2009 World Series and absolutely needed a win).

Similarly, this off-season after missing the playoffs, the Yankees committed 471 million dollars to players, bringing in Masahiro Tanaka (7 years, 155 million, which is questionable for a pitcher to be paid the 5th most ever despite never throwing in the big leagues), Jacoby Ellisbury (153 million over 7 years, which they will regret in four years when he loses his speed since he has only batted above .305 in a full season once in his career), Brian McCann (5 years, 85 million for a guy who hit .226 in his final 55 games last year), and Carlos Beltran (45 million over 3 years, which is not a bad move for a proven postseason hitter that will cancel out Mark Teixeira). While I'm not sure about the years or the money amount on any of those contracts, they will put the Yanks in position to do some definite damage this year. Tanaka looked impressive in spring ball and Michael Pineda is going to be one of the breakout pitchers in 2014. Although he is not the same guy that threw 97-98 mph fastballs in Seattle when his strikeouts per 9 innings was the second best in the AL, he can still hit the mid 90's and he has a pretty good change-up.

The question with the Yankees comes in their infield, as Teixeira and Jeter played a combined 32 games last year and Kelly Johnson and the 36-year old Brian Roberts are not anywhere near top tier second and third baseman.

Baltimore Orioles Preview:

In Baltimore, Buck Showalter may be the biggest genius since Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting. How anybody can lead a pitching staff of Chris Tillman, Miguel Gonzalez, Jason Hammel, and Wei-Yin Chen to 85 wins by mixing and matching the bullpen is something else. The Orioles are going to give up a fair amount of runs once again this season, especially since Camden Yards saw the 4th most home runs leave the ballpark in 2013, but they did bring in Ubaldo Jimenez on a 50 million dollar deal from the Indians and they will also have Bud Norris for a full season. Jimenez does not have the same velocity on his fastball that he did when he started the 2010 season 15-1 with the Rockies, but if he keeps his fastball down in the zone, he can still be effective.

At bat, the Orioles could arguably have the best lineup in baseball if Manny Machado can return somewhere near the player he was last year when he hit 51 doubles and had a 6.4 WAR. The middle of their order is just deadly with Chris "I will hit every ball over the fence" Davis, Adam "I can literally hit any pitch" Jones, Nelson "Performance Enhanced" Cruz, Matt "I've hit 20 home runs every year since 2011 but nobody notices me" Wieters, and J.J. "I'm actually a power hitting shortstop" Hardy. Last season, these 5 guys alone had more home runs than 16 other MLB teams including the Yankees, Dodgers, and Cardinals, which helped the Orioles hit a league high 212 home runs on the season. They have some of the most powerful hitters in baseball and despite the fact that I will fight to my grave that PED's impact on players is immeasurable, Cruz and his performance enhanced swing is perfect for Camden Yards and will be great insurance behind Crush Davis.

The main question with the Orioles will be their bullpen, which is so important to any team that has Showalter as its manager. Buck will go to his bullpen early and often, which means that for Baltimore to be successful, they will have to have a solid pen. After going 29-9 in one run games in 2012, helping them make their first trip to the postseason since 1997, the Orioles went 20-31 in such games last year because their bullpen was unreliable and blew the third most saves in baseball with 27. Jim Johnson and his sinker have gone off to Oakland, so it is up to Tommy Hunter to be the steady presence at the back end of O's bullpen.

Tampa Bay Rays Preview:

As if the AL East wasn't tough enough, the Tampa Bay Rays pitching staff is just nasty and the scary part about their rotation is that every guy is under the age of 28, which would mean even more except for the fact that the Rays probably wouldn't even pay for a gum ball machine in their clubhouse. Tampa likely has their best pitching staff since their run of success began in 2008, which is saying something since they have been to the playoffs 4 of the past 6 years and made the World Series back in 2008. David Price looked like a Cy Young pitcher at the end of last year when he finished the season 9-4 with a 2.53 ERA in his last 18 starts, as his cutter and change-up allowed him to not rely so much on his fastball. Matt Moore has the ability to be one of the majors best pitchers as long as he stays in the strike zone. His 4.5 walks per 9 innings was the second worst amongst pitchers that threw at least 150 innings in 2013 and yet he still ended up 17-4 because his stuff is just that good. Alex Cobb went 11-3 with a 2.76 ERA last season and will only improve in his 3rd full season in the big leagues and Chris Archer is one of the game's brightest young pitchers with his ability to hit the mid 90's on the fastball so that he can set up his deadly slider. Aside from maybe the Tigers with Verlander, Scherzer, and Sanchez, the Rays staff is the best in the American League, as no other team has the power arms throughout their rotation like Tampa Bay.

However, as has always been the question with the Rays and their 3rd lowest MLB payroll, their offense will need to be able to score enough runs in order for them to win ballgames. With a healthy MVP type guy in Evan Longoria, a full season of do it all Wil Myers in right field, and the always steady Ben Zobrist playing any position imaginable, the Rays lineup is as balanced and well equipped as it has been in a while.

Tampa has lost in the ALDS 3 of the last 4 years, but this seems like Joe Maddon's best chance to get the Rays their first ever franchise World Series and bring them out of a championship-less category that includes the San Diego Padres (lost in the 1984 World Series to the Tigers and the 1998 World Series to the Yankees), Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers (11th team to lose back-to-back World Series), Houston Astros (lost in the 2005 World Series to the White Sox), Colorado Rockies (lost in the 2007 World Series to the Red Sox), Milwaukee Brewers (lost in the 1982 World Series to the Cardinals when they were still in the AL), and Seattle Mariners. In the NFL, 12 teams have never won a Super Bowl (Bills, Browns, Bengals, Texans, Titans, Jaguars, Chargers, Vikings, Lions, Panthers, Falcons, and Cardinals), in the NBA, 13 teams have never hoisted the Larry O'Brien Trophy (Raptors, Nets, Pacers, Cavaliers, Bobcats, Magic, Timberwolves, Nuggets, Jazz, Clippers, Suns, Hornets, and Grizzlies), and in the NHL, 11 teams have never won Lord Stanley (Sabres, Panthers, Blue Jackets, Capitals, Blues, Wild, Predators, Jets, Coyotes, Canucks, and Sharks).

Toronto Blue Jays Preview:

Finally, we get to Rob Ford (if only America had more mayors like him, which I am saying only half jokingly because we did have an extortioner in office in Detroit with Kwme Kilpatrick). You have to commend Rob Ford's local baseball team for spending money and at least attempting to improve their club but it is hard to defend a front office that thought trading Travis d'Arnaud and paying around 200 million dollars for one year of Josh Johnson and his dead arm, one year of John Buck and Emilio Bonifacio, six years of Jose Reyes getting injured and not batting over .300, four years of a steady but declining Mark Buehrle at the end of his career, and three years of R.A. Dickey was a good idea.

The Jays do have a pretty solid lineup from top to bottom, especially if Jose Reyes can stay on the field and be the table setter for the team by stealing 30 or 40 bases and scoring 100

Despite Melky being a manifestation of Jose Guillen or Lenny Dystra, Toronto will be able to score runs, but their pitching staff is far and away the worst in the very difficult AL East. In a ballpark that was the site of the 4th most runs in the MLB last season, the Blue Jays are going to struggle with a rotation of the very young 23-year old Drew Hutchison, the often injured Brandon Morrow, Mark Buehrle, and R.A. Dickey, a pitcher that doesn't even know where his knuckleballs are going to end up most of the time. Rob Ford could probably do a better job as the GM of this time (until he was found in his car using Melky's PED's).

AL Central Preview:

The American League Central has typically been the odd division out when it comes to the American League. This may have to do with the fact that the last time the Royals made the playoffs in 1985 Nelson Mandla was in prison, the Berlin Wall was still standing, and Super Mario Bros. was just released, the White Sox are Chicago's other team, the Indians cannot even get fans to their games at Progressive Field (only an average of 43.5 percent of their ballpark was full on a given night, the lowest in the majors despite the fact that they made the playoffs), the Twins are in a small market, and the Tigers are in a more football obsessed city. Before the major leagues went to the two wild card system in 2012, only once in 17 years did the AL Central send two teams to the postseason (Twins and Tigers in 2006) and the division has only had one team ever finish with 100 wins or more (Indians in 1995). Much should be the same this year, as the Tigers are the clear class of the AL Central with little competition from the teams around them except for possibly the Indians.

Detroit Tigers Preview:

Often times after a team makes a big money move and it doesn't work out, they sit around and wait for the contract to expire until they can finally get out of the bad deal. Obviously, with some of baseball's heinous contracts it is impossible to do anything with them because nobody is going to trade for Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Howard, or Jason Werth (except for maybe Alex Anthopolous in Toronto) and have to pay them all the money that is in their deals.

The Tigers were in a similar position this off-season. After signing Prince Fielder to a nine year, 214 million dollar contract in 2011, it was evident that the move was not working out as the Tigers had thought it would with Cabrera and Fielder in the middle of their order. Fielder had career lows in almost every batting category last season and in two full postseasons with Detroit, he had just 1 home run, 3 RBI's, and hit below .200 in 24 games. Also, with Fielder at first base, Cabrera had to play third, which is not his favored position and hurt the Tigers defensively and hampered their best hitter at the plate. Thus, when the Tigers got their chance, they were smart to trade Fielder to the Rangers for one of the three best second basemen in baseball in Ian Kinsler. Kinsler is a guy that gives the Tigers their most legitimate second basemen since Lou Whitaker in the 1980's and 1990's and he will get on base for guys behind him like Cabrera and Victor Martinez. In the last four years, Cano, Matt Carpenter, Pedroia, and Chase Utley are the only second basemen that have a better weighted on-base percentage than Kinsler.

Aside from Kinsler, it is also very important that Victor Martinez stays healthy for the Tigers so that he can protect Miggy and collect any of the 292 million dollars that falls out of his pockets (a very well deserved contract though for Cabrera in all seriousness).

Meanwhile, the Tigers rotation is going to be great once again this year with 2011 Cy Young and MVP Justin Verlander, 2013 Cy Young Max Scherzer, and last year's AL ERA champion Anibal Sanchez (my sleeper pick for the Cy Young this year). Verlander and Scherzer can just throw gas (among many other things) and Sanchez has the best slider in baseball except for Yu Darvish, Zack Greinke, and maybe Madison Bumgarner. The Tigers have a top three pitching staff in the MLB along with the Nationals rotation of Strasburg, Zimmermann, Gio, and Fister and the Dodgers staff of Kershaw, Greinke (highest paid player in baseball this season), Haren, and Hyun-jin Ryu.

Last year the Tigers bullpen was their downfall in the ALCS against the Red Sox because essentially Verlander, Scherzer, or Sanchez went 7 innings and barely let up anything and then Veras or somebody else would blow it late in the game (thinking about it, how did the Red Sox win that series. The Sox had one hit through the first 14 innings of game 1 and 2 and somehow came away from Boston tied 1-1 in the series). Although left hander Drew Smyly is moving into the rotation, the Tigers did bring in the always dependable Joe Nathan to be their closer, who had 43 saves and just 3 blown saves with the Rangers last year in route to the second highest WAR for a relief pitcher behind Koji Uehara.

Kansas City Royals Preview:

I'm calling it now: the Kansas City Royals will be one of the two American League wild card teams this year and will finally make the playoffs for the first time in nearly 30 years (the only thing worse than not making the playoffs since 1985 would be not winning a playoff game since 1993 and going 0-7 in the process including losing a game after leading 38-10 in the 3rd quarter. I guess some things are just in the water in Kansas City). Since the Royals last made the postseason, the Yankees and Braves have each made 17 trips to the playoffs. The Toronto Blue Jays are the only other MLB team with a playoff drought of more than 12 years (they last made the postseason in 1993). The Minnesota Timberwolves have the longest NBA playoff drought at a relatively short 10 seasons, the longest NFL postseason drought is 14 years held by the Buffalo Bills, and the Edmonton Oilers have the longest NHL playoff drought at just a short 7 seasons.

Despite it being hard to believe that a team could actually go nearly three decades without making a single postseason and still have fans, the misery is going to end very shortly for the Royals (I was going to say Kansas City but then I remembered they still have Andy Reid coaching in playoff games where clock management and playing well in the 4th quarter is actually needed). The only positive in not making the playoffs since winning the World Series in 1985 (thank you umpire Don Denkinger) is that you get to stockpile picks in the MLB draft and after years of high picks and compensation selections, the Royals are finally near a playoff team. Eric Hosmer, who the Royals took with the number 3 overall pick in 2008, has gotten better each year in the league, improving so much last year that he won a Gold Glove and was one of two AL first basemen, along with Miguel Cabrera, to bat above .300 and also have more than 15 home runs and 75 RBI's. Hosmer's big and powerful bat goes well with Billy Butler, a first round draft pick in 2004, in the middle of the Royals lineup. Butler is a very underrated player, as he has batted above .288, had a slugging percentage above .411, and finished the season with 78 or more RBI's every year since 2009.

Kansas City also has more complimentary pieces this year than ever before, which will give their lineup great flexibility, especially if their middle of the lineup guys struggle for parts of the season. Norichika Aoi has had an on-base percentage of .355 and .356 in two MLB seasons, which is of the utmost importance for a leadoff hitter. While it has not worked out exactly as planned for Alex Gordon, who was taken 2nd overall in 2005, or Mike Moustakas, who also got picked 2nd overall but this time in the 2007 draft, they have showed signs of why they were considered top prospects. Gordon has won three straight Gold Gloves in left field and his WAR of 12.1 from 2011 to 2012 was the 4th highest in the majors over that stretch, only behind Braun, Cabrera, and Cano. Moustakas has also been really good with his glove, going a Royals record 47 straight games without making an error, and he is destined to have a solid year in his 3rd MLB season.

Meanwhile, with a pitching staff of James Shields, Jason Vargas, Jeremy Guthrie, Bruce Chen, and the rocket throwing Yordano Ventura and a closer in Greg Holland that had the 3rd most saves in 2013 behind Jim Johnson and Craig Kimbrel, the Royals can finally play a meaningful game in October.

Cleveland Indians Preview:

The Indians are going to be a solid team once again this season in the AL Central but so few people in Cleveland will actually know that since Progressive Field has been imitating the attendance level that was present, or more preciseness not present, at Crosley Field during the 1960's before the Reds became the Big Red Machine with Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, and Dave Concepcion. Since 2010, the Tribe have had the lowest attendance in baseball and one of the worst stadium capacities in the game (when you are bringing in less fans than the Marlins, you know something is wrong).

The Indians are destined for a season anywhere from 80 to 85 wins, as there is no team in the major leagues more average than Cleveland (something their basketball team would actually take). They have an an average to above average lineup and a below average to average pitching staff that should put them above .500 for just the 4th time since 2002 but just outside the playoff picture, which would deny them their first back-to-back playoff appearances since they made the postseason every year from 1995 to 1999.

From top to bottom, the Indians have a very solid batting order but nothing that is going to make the Red Sox, Tigers, or Rangers fearful. Last season, Cleveland was 10th in the MLB in home runs with 171, 10th in total base with 2,240, 13th in batting average at .255, and 15th in hits with around 8.6 per game. Nick Swisher is going to hit in the 20-30 home run range with an OPS+ around 120, Jason Kipnis can drive in 80 runs and a have a OPS in the .800's (could be the most widely unknown player to ever make 52.5 million dollars in a contract), Carlos Santana has some power and can have a slugging percentage around .450 and an isolated power of .200, and Asdrubal Cabrera and Yan Gomes are above average hitters for their respective positions of shortstop and catcher. There are few teams with the depth in their lineup of the Indians, who have a solid player at every single position, but most of the other top teams in the AL have a big time hitter in the middle of their lineup, which the Indians lack (Red Sox have Big Papi, Orioles have Chris Davis, Tigers have Cabrera, Rangers have Beltre/Fielder, and Angels have Trout). Since a Hall of Famer like Nap Lajole, Tris Speaker, Earl Averill, or Lou Boudreau is not walking onto the field in Cleveland any time soon, the Indians are not going to score enough runs in order for their questionable pitching staff to bring them to the postseason.

Danny Salazar could turn into something really special for Cleveland, but it may be too early to count on him to be his best for an entire season at just the age of 24. Salazar, though, looked impressive in his few starts last season, throwing a mid 90's fastball and bringing back Luis Tiant rookie year comparisons. Justin Masterson and Zach McAllister are both solid rotation guys, but having to rely on them to be top end starters even 2004 Matt Hasselbeck thinks is wishful thinking (I do love Masterson's slider though and wish my Sox never traded him for Victor Martinez, who never came up with a big hit in Boston). The Indians, who had a MLB low 2 extra innings losses last season, will also need to hope that their bullpen of guys like Marc Rzepczynski, Cody Allen, John Axford, and John Axford's beard will be able to finish out close games.

Minnesota Twins/Chicago White Sox Preview:

Since the Twins and White Sox should be two of the worst three teams in the American League along with the Astros, I am just combining their team previews into one paragraph because the chances of them making the playoffs are as slim as James Harden actually playing some defense in the next five seasons. After winning the AL Central six out of ten years from 2001 to 2010 and finishing with a record above .500 in 9 of those seasons (2007 being the exception), the Twins have had three straight seasons of 96 or more losses for a record of 195-291, their worst stretch since 1998-2000. In fact, their 99 losses in 2011 were the second most in a season since the franchise moved to Minnesota from Washington in 1961, only behind the 1982 year when the Twinkies went 60-102. Meanwhile, after winning the World Series in 2005 for the first time since 1917, the White Sox have not won a playoff series since and their 99 losses last year was their worst season since they went 56-106 all the way back in 1970. The Twins and White Sox should see their recent struggles continue once again this season.

The Twinkies, who finished second to last in the AL in runs and last in the league in earned runs last year, did make some small improvements to their ballclub in the off-season. Joe Mauer, who will be getting paid 23 million dollars a year until 2018 but has played less than 115 games two of the previous three seasons, is only going to play first base this year, which should keep him much healthier for Minnesota. Despite having the second best batting average in the AL and the third best on-base percentage in the league in 2013, Mauer will be looking to regain his power stroke (he hit 28 long balls in 2009 and has hit 33 in the four years since then). The Twins also added veteran Ricky Nolasco (coming off his best season), Phil Hughes (coming off his worst season), and Mike Pelfrey (also coming off his worst season) to their rotation, which is likely going to get hit very hard by teams like the Tigers, Royals, and Indians. Aside from some of the young minor leaguers that may come up during the season (Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, Alex Meyer), the only thing for Twins fans to look forward to is Ron Gardenhire becoming the 10th manager to ever win 1,000 games with the same team their entire career (Connie Mack, John McGraw, Walter Alston, Tommy Lasorda, Earl Weaver, Mike Scioscia, Tom Kelly, Danny Murtaugh, and Red Schoendienst being the others).

Meanwhile, the White Sox have something to look forward to every 5th day when the current version of Randy Johnson takes the mound in the form of Chris Sale. Sale is right up there with David Price for the best left handed pitcher in the majors in the non-Clayton Kershaw pitching category. Last season, Sale had a 3.07 ERA (7th in the AL), a 1.073 WHIP (3rd in the AL), 226 strikeouts (3rd in the AL), a 4.913 strikeouts to walk ratio (2nd in the AL), and a 6.9 WAR (2nd in the AL for pitchers), and yet he finished 11-14 (3 less wins than CC Sabathia, who had a 4.78 ERA and 1 less win than Jeremy Hellickson, who had a 5.17 ERA). This is once again a remainder that pitchers can not only be judged based upon wins and losses because Chris Sale is undoubtedly one of the best pitchers in the league. He should, however, have some more run support than last year when the White Sox averaged an AL worst 3.69 runs per game. Jose Abreu, the Cuban defect who the White Sox signed for 6 years and 68 million dollars in the off-season, seems to have some real pop in his bat, as does big time prospect Avisail Garcia, who the White Sox acquired in the Jake Peavy, Jose Iglesias three way trade last season. Finally, Chicago's other team (yes, it's true) will also be entertaining because the Adam Dunn strikeout count is always something to keep tabs on during a season (This will alarm you, but Adam Dunn is likely two seasons away from 500 home runs. If we take the steroid guys out of the equation, which would be Bonds, A-Rod, Sosa, Palmeiro, Palmerio, Palmeiro, and Sheffield, the worst hitter to ever go yard 500 times in his career is likely Reggie Jackson or Eddie Murray. Adam Dunn is not even on the same planet as those guys, so it would be odd to see a career .238 hitter on that historic list).

AL West Preview:

The AL West has been the hardest division to figure out over the past few decades in the American League. The Red Sox and Yankees have had a stronghold over the AL East and the winner of the AL Central has been fairly obvious coming into each season with the Twins dominating the 2000's until the Tigers recent resurgence. However, the AL West has had no such pattern in the teams representing the division in the postseason. We all remember the Seattle Mariners team that went 116-46 in 2001, a record that tied the 1906 Chicago Cubs for the most wins in a season, but the following year, the Mariners did not even reach the postseason. Similarly, in 2002, the Angels made the playoffs as a wild card team from the AL West and won their first World Series in franchise history, but in 2003, the team did not even win 80 games (although the 1998 Marlins are impressed by that). In 2012, the A's had the second lowest payroll in baseball at around 55 million dollars, but they won the west for the first time since 2006 over the Angels and their 154 million dollar roster and the Texas Rangers, the two-time defending AL pennant winners. The A's won the AL west again last year, their first back-to-back division titles since 2002-2003 (moneyball years) despite the fact that Josh Hamilton and his 17.4 million dollar contract nearly equaled what Oakland was giving to Dan Straily, A.J. Griffin, Josh Donaldson, Jarrod Parker, Tommy Milone, Josh Reddick, Brandon Moss, Jed Lowrie, Bartolo Colon, Seth Smith, and Grant Balfour combined (essentially their entire starting rotation and a majority of their positional players). My argument is basically that it is safe to assume that you can assume nothing when it comes to the AL West.

Texas Rangers Preview:

Yu! Yu! Yu! If the Rangers are going to make the playoffs for a 5th straight season (they didn't make the playoffs at all from 1961 until 1996), it will largely be because of Darvish, the most dominant thing out of Japan since Godzilla himself. Texas does have some major holes when it comes to starting pitching depth and the bottom of their order, so they will need a lot out of Yu (Darvish is my 2014 AL Cy Young pick. It can't get must worse for me since my pre-season NL Cy Young prediction last year was Matt Cain, who ended up having a 0.5 WAR and a worse ERA than Jorge De La Rosa - any sentence that goes a worse ERA than insert Rockies pitcher name here is just bad news). Darvish, though, is arguably the best right handed pitcher in the major leagues (King Felix of Seattle, Jose Fernandez, Verlander, Scherzer, or a healthy Stephen Strasburg may contest that claim). He throws a ton of sliders and cutters, which look like his fastball until they dip down in the zone before they reach the plate. No pitcher in baseball had a higher pitch value on their slider than Darvish, whose 27.6 slider pitch rank was well better than Justin Masterson's second best 18.7 slider pitch value. For this reason, Yu is a strikeout machine, as his 277 k's in 2013 were the most in a single-season for a pitcher not named Randy Johnson since Curt Schilling in 1997 (Randy had more strikeouts in 1998-2002, 2004) and his 11.9 strikeouts per nine inning rate was also the highest in a season for a pitcher not named Randy Johnson since Pedro Martinez in 1999 (Johnson had a better SO/9 in 2000-2002). Darvish is one of the few must watch guys in baseball when he takes the mound because his stuff is good enough where any time out he could do something really special like when he took a perfect game into the last batter on opening day last year against the Triple A-Astros or when he struck out 15 batters against the Triple-A Astros in the middle of August.

After Josh Hamilton left the Rangers for the Angels last off-season, Texas just decided that to spite him, they weren't going to have any quality left handed bats in their lineup (or there were just not any left handed hitters available on the market). Their left handed batters hit a paltry .244 in 2013 (in comparison, their right handed bats hit .276). Texas made sure that they addressed one of the biggest concerns in the off-season, making two of the biggest moves in the majors by bringing in Prince Fielder from Detroit and signing Shin-Soo "I've never hit above .310 in my career and have never hit more than 22 home runs in a season but I'm getting paid 130 million dollars" Choo. Despite some of his postseason struggles and his alarming inability to move off first base, Fielder has some unique power that few guys can match in the big leagues. Since 2007, only Miguel Cabrera has more long balls than Fielder, who is averaging more than 36 a year since that date. He will be helped by the short right field wall at Globe Life Park in Arlington, and also Adrian Beltre, the most underrated hitter in baseball hitting behind him (he has hit more than 28 home runs, added at least 92 RBI's, and hit better than a .295 batting average each of the last four years). On the other side of things, any left handed hitter that doesn't hit home runs and gets signed to a big deal just scares me because of what happened with Carl Crawford on my Sox, but Shin-Soo Choo does get on-base like a machine. His .423 on-base percentage was the 4th best in the league last season and Matt Holliday is the only other outfielder to have two seasons with an on-base percentage better than .400 in two different years.

The Rangers main concern right now though is getting healthy, especially on their injured plagued pitching staff. Matt Harrison, Colby Lewis, and Derek Holland will all begin the season on the disabled list (Atlanta and Oakland know how that feels), so Texas will need Tanner Scheppers and Martin Perez to hold down the fort for the beginning of the year until their rotation can get healthy as the season goes along.

Los Angeles Angels Preview:

When the Angels signed Albert Pujols to a 10 year, 254 million dollar contract in 2012 and also signed left hander C.J. Wilson to a 5 year, 77.5 million dollar deal within the same week, there were a lot of people that immediately jumped on the Angels bandwagon. Despite some of the struggles that the team faced in their first year with Pujols and Wilson, things still seemed to look positive when Mike Trout came up from the minors and instantly became one of the best position players in baseball along with guys like Miguel Cabrera, Joey Votto, Andrew McCutchen, Dustin Pedroia, and Robinson Cano. Los Angeles even signed Josh Hamilton, who was coming off a season of 43 home runs, 128 RBI's, and a slugging percentage of .577 in 2012 with the Rangers, to a 5-year, 125 million dollar contract the following off-season to bolster their lineup. After bringing in Hamilton, most people felt that the Angels were destined for a deep run in the playoffs with superstars across the board. So, did I set up this entire little preface so that I could talk about how I did not think LA was going to be one of the best teams in the AL, despite the Pujols and Hamilton signings, because of their poor pitching staff? I would be lying worse than Pete Rose if I said I did not want to gloat about my Charles Xavier like psychic abilities on this prediction (I can't brag too much though because I did pick Maurice-Jones Drew in the first round of a fantasy draft last year). Not only have Pujols and Hamilton both struggled on their new ballclub, but the Angels have had an ERA well over 4.0 the past two seasons (4.02 in 2012 and 4.23 last year, the 7th worst in the league. All the teams in the 2012 postseason had an ERA well under 4.0 and Cleveland's ERA of 3.82 was the worst for a team in the playoffs in 2013, which is a wide gap from the Angels).

Once again this season, I am not sure that the Angels and their 155 million dollar payroll will turn things around and make it to the postseason. There is no doubt that the Halos have offensive fire power throughout the rather deep lineup, as they are right up there with Boston, Detroit, and Texas for the best order in the American League. Even in the worst case scenario where Albert Pujols realizes he no longer has the bat speed to catch up to fastballs and is just waiting out his contract (Steve Nash style) and Josh Hamilton continues to get hurt and breaks every bone in his body (Dodgeball reference sort of), the Angels will still be able to produce a lot of runs. Mike Trout is already the best player in baseball in just his third year in the league and the Mickey Mantle comparisons to the young center fielder are not even hyperbole. He has lead baseball in WAR in each of the last two seasons and his 10.9 WAR in 2012 was the 2nd best by a positional player not linked to steroids since 1976 (Cal Ripken had a 11.5 WAR in 1991). Meanwhile, all Raul Ibanez does is hit, no matter if he is as old as Hugh Hefner. His .281 career batting average against right handed pitching will help an Angels lineup that has a lot of righties with Trout, Pujols, Howie Kendrick, Chris Iannetta, and Chris Cowgill. David Freese, another right handed hitter, should also have a bounce back year after being the biggest World Series hero in 2011 since Joe Carter or Kirby Puckett, batting .293 with 20 long balls in 2012, but then hitting .262 with just 9 home runs last year. If the Angels can just get Brandon Belt or Mike Napoli like production out of Pujols and Alex Rios or Jay Bruce kind of offensive output from Hamilton, the Angels should remain amongst the top 7 in the league in runs scored for the 3rd year in a row.

The thing that really concerns me about this team is their pitching staff, which has been a bigger train wreck the past two years than Tony Romo in any meaningful game. The Angels are already short on arms without any injuries, which is destined to occur over a full 162 game season. More than ever before, the Angels are going to need Jered Weaver to remain healthy and be the ace of their staff. After finishing in the top 5 of the AL Cy Young from 2010 to 2012, Weaver made his fewest starts last year since 2006 as a result of a fractured left elbow. He should be back, however, with his unique delivery and his nasty compilation of off-speed pitches including his slider and change-up that tail away from right handed hitters who have a .229 career batting average against him. Although CJ Wilson is pretty good in those old spice commercials, he has certainly not been worth the 15.5 million that the Angels are paying him each year. Nonetheless, he is a solid pitcher that LA will be able to rely on for around 200 innings (he has pitched at least 200 innings the last four years) and a strikeout per 9 inning rate anywhere from 7 to 9. The back end of the Angels rotation, though, is as big of a question mark as the Cowboys defense (two Cowboys jokes in one paragraph. I somehow need to balance it out because of Dallas's eternal mediocrity). Behind Weaver and Wilson, LA's pitching staff is made up of Garrett Richards, Hector Santiago, and Tyler Skaggs, which doesn't even scare the Astros and will likely be the team's downfall in hopes of reaching the postseason for the first time since 2009.

Oakland Athletics Preview:

The Oakland A's back-to-back 90 win seasons have been one of the best success stories in baseball over the past few decades (behind the 1987 Twins, 1990 Reds, 2003 Marlins, 2007 Rockies, and 2008 Rays in terms of their overall achievements, but still very impressive considering their financial limits). I was even beginning to think that the A's could pull off the biggest surprise since M. Night Shyamalan's twist in The Sixth Sense by making their first World Series since the Rickey Henderson, Bob Welch team that got swept by the Reds in the 1990 World Series. However, just as the baseball gods would have it so that the teams that spend huge amounts of money and make the game more profitable are satisfied, the A's were killed by devastating injury news to their very consistent and important pitching rotation. A.J. Griffin, who had the 6th best WHIP at 1.125 and the 5th best hits per 9 innings rate in the American League last season, is going to spend significant time at the beginning of the season on the disabled list with flexor tendinitis. Meanwhile, Jarrod Parker, who is one of the many pitchers that people don't know from an Oakland staff that finished 4th in opponents batting average last year, is out for the entire 2014 season, needing the way to common Tommy John surgery to fix an arm problem (Parker can join the club of Medlen, Beachy, and Corbin). The A's do have more pitching depth than most teams in the majors, but any club that loses two of its best starters is going to have some issues replacing their arms in the rotation. Oakland is going to have to rely on Sonny Gray, Dan Straily, Tommy Milone, and gasp, Scott Kazmir to pick up the load for some of the injuries that the team has suffered.

The A's are a team that play a lot of close games, which means that they will need a solid bullpen in order to make sure that they can win some games where their starting pitching, or particularly their offense, is just not there. Jim Johnson is slated to be the team's closer after Oakland acquired him from Baltimore in an off-season trade. Last year, Johnson joined Mariano Rivera and Eric Gagne as the only three closers to ever have at least 50 saves in multiple seasons (Rivera did so in 2001 and 2004 and Gagne did it in 2002 and 2005), and yet he looked as bad as somebody can when still registering 50 saves in a  season. His WAR was just a paltry 1.5, behind 12 other closers with at least 13 saves, mainly because he blew a league leading 9 saves, tied for the 4th most in a single-season since 2010. His sinker was hit hard and very often and he was constantly having to get out of jams because his hits per 9 innings went from 7.2 in 2012 all the way up to 9.2 in 2013. If Johnson does struggle, the A's do have a lot of other arms in the bullpen with guys like Luke Gregerson, Sean Doolittle, and Dan Otero, who were all very good last season.

At the plate, Oakland does not have the superstars, the power, or the speed of a team like the Rangers or the Angels, but they do have some good depth and a full lineup capability of being the hero on a particular night. Josh Donaldson, who finished 4th in the AL MVP race despite not making the All-Star game (no love for Oakland players), hit .301 with a .384 on-base percentage (6th in the AL) and added 24 home runs and 93 RBI's to go along with a very high 8.0 WAR, the 2nd best in the AL behind only the God that is Mike Trout. Donaldson, Coco Crisp, and Jed Lowrie should provide consistent hitting for the A's all season, so the overall productivity of their offense will come from three guys that can either hit a lot of home runs or strike out as much as any player that is not named Adam Dunn. Yoenis Cespedes showed to the entire world his freakish natural power when he won the 2013 Home Run Derby and Brandon Moss hit 30 home runs last year (one of only 6 major league first basemen to do so along with Chris Davis, Paul Goldschmidt, Edwin Encarnacion, Mark Trumbo, and Adam Dunn), but both of their K% last year were amongst the worst 9 in all of baseball. Similarly, despite hitting 32 home runs in 2012, Josh Reddick struck out 151 times over the course of the season, the 10th most times in the American League behind the usual suspects like Adam Dunn, Curtis Granderson, Carlos Pena, Josh Hamilton, and Mark Reynolds. If Cespedes, Moss, and Reddick can limit their strikeouts and get on-base a little more often, Oakland could increase their run total and help make up for the losses of Griffin and Parker in the rotation.

Seattle Mariners/Houston Astros Preview:

Out of pure laziness and the fact that we are nearly 9,000 words into this article (take that Les Miserables), I am combining the team previews for the Houston "don't watch this team play baseball if you want to maintain your sanity" Astros and the Seattle "we spent a lot of money this off-season but aren't close to winning anything" Mariners. The Astors have finished with more than 105 losses in three straight seasons, the first team in baseball history to do so (the 1915 and 1916 A's teams both lost more than 105 games, as did the 1941 and 1942 Phillies. Oddly enough, the Athletics did that after reaching four World Series in five years and winning three of them). While the Astros are practically a triple-A ballclub, the Mariners at least went out and spent some money this off-season to try and reach the playoffs for the first team since they won 116 games in 2001. They signed Corey Hart, got Logan Morrison in a trade, signed closer Fernando Rodney, and obviously, spent the big bucks to get Robinson Cano for 240 million dollars. We will see how much 24 million dollars really means to Cano after this season because the Mariners are more than likely going to finish under .500 for the 5th straight year, their longest stretch since a period where they didn't have a winning season from 1977 to 1990.

Looking at the Astors lineup, they actually only have three legitimate major league players that would play on any other team, except for possibly a club like the Marlins or Cubs. Houston traded for the speedy Dexter Fowler so that he could be the team's solid lead-off hitter, and more so as a precaution to make sure that they don't come close to the 1962 Mets for the most losses in a season since 1900.  You know that your team is as bad as the Bucks when their best player has never made an All-Star game and has never had a season with a WAR of at least 3. Jose Altuve is a more than good enough second basemen for a team, as he has gold glove ability and can steal some bases while Jason Castro is also a solid player behind the plate. I was going to include Chris Carter on that very short list of actual MLB players on the Astros but then I remembered that he strikes out at a rate that competes with Adam Dunn and Mark Reynolds (he had the worst K% in the history of baseball at 36.2% last year and the 3rd most strikeouts in a season ever with 212). The Astors have a lot of very young arms in their rotation with guys like Brett Oberholtzer and Jarred Cosart, which means they will likely have some significant growing pains throughout the season.

The biggest move of the baseball off-season, aside from Chris Stewart going to his 7th different MLB team in a trade to the Pirates of course, was Robinson Cano moving on from the Yankees (When was the last time a star like Cano actually said no to the Yankees. When was the last time a star like Dwight Howard left the Lakers? How did the Yankees and Lakers lose out on bringing back their one of their star players in the same year? Andy Pettitte was likely the last big name to leave the Yankees when he signed with his hometown Astros in 2004, but he did eventually return to the Bronx in 2007. The last big time Laker that left the team in free agency was A.C. Green in 1993 when he went to the Suns, and he only ever made one All-Star game). Cano will face some serious difficulties though in Seattle. Safeco Field is not a safe haven for runs, as it ranked dead last in runs scored two years ago, and is continually towards the bottom half of the majors in home runs. He will also not have the same opportunities with guys getting on-base in front of him because Abraham Almonte and Brad Miller don't even make the Lion from Wizard of Oz afraid and Justin Smoak and Kyle Seager are not going to make teams pitch to Cano. The Mariners do have the third best King in the world behind LeBron and Lorenzo de' Medici from Da Vinci's Demons with King Felix (yes, I actually just made a Da Vinci's Demons reference, which is the best show on Starz since their last big show Spartacus), but the rest of their projected rotation of Erasmo Ramirez, James Paxton, Roenis Elias, and Blake Beavan have 25 combined career wins. It could be worse for Seattle; they could be without a NBA team.