New season, new blog site

The 2008 Rangers season begins in roughly 24 hours. Perfect time for a new blog, right? Well, MLBlogs didn't leave me much of a choice. The weekend before Opening Day, they made a bunch of changes, and I tried, but I couldn't figure them out or learn to like them. So...since I'm familiar with Blogspot, here I am.

New beginnings are exciting, full of potential and hope. As they said on "Fever Pitch," a new season is "a clean slate." While this doesn't reassure some Rangers fans (who have already written this team off before the first pitch has even begun its journey to the catcher), it still makes me smile. Perhaps that's because I'm new to Ranger fandom and thus not yet jaded. Or perhaps I just prefer to believe in this team. There are some very good pieces in this year's roster, and, depending on how they're utilized, this could be a very fun season to watch. Either way, let's play ball!

Here are my pre-season predictions...

AL East - Red Sox
AL Central - Tigers
AL West - Angels
AL Wild Card - Mariners
NL East - Mets
NL Central - Cubs
NL West - Dodgers
NL Wild Card - Padres
AL Pennant - Red Sox
NL Pennant - Cubs
WS Champs - Cubs

By the way, my sports editor (a huge Cubs fan) is convinced I'm trying to kill him with those predictions. Ha ha.

And now, my Rangers-related predictions...

Wins - 82
Most runs scored in a game - 17 (we won't get to 30 again...ha ha)
HR leader - Josh Hamilton
RBI leader - Marlon Byrd
Stolen base leader - Ian Kinsler
Pitcher with most wins - Vicente Padilla (I have a feeling/hope he'll redeem himself in a big way)
Saves for C.J. Wilson - 28
All-Star representative - Ian Kinsler
Biggest surprise - Jason Botts (it's no secret I'm biased on this, but if he gets a fair shot, I think he wil surpass many fans' low expectations for him)
September call-up with the most impact - Eric Hurley