Still the Best Game in the World

"To understand America, you have to understand baseball"
-Alexis de Toqueville

"Baseball was, is and always will be to me the best game in the world."
-Babe Ruth

"What does a momma bear on the pill have in common with the World Series? No cubs."
-Harry Caray

I always said, and it is probably not an original thought of mine, that baseball is like life. Life can be moving along at a normal, sometimes even dull, pace and then, wham! All of a sudden, something exciting happens, your heart quickens, your eyes are wide and you feel more alive than ever! You are happy and cheerful, as is everyone around you. Or, depending on what happened, you are sad and despondent, as is everyone around you. Or really angry at the authority figures who have very obviously made a grievous mistake with a horrible result. Then things gradually return to a normal pace. Or sometimes exciting things happen one, two, three or more times in a row. And then back to normal. Like life, like baseball.

Baseball is like a picnic in a stadium. Baseball is a day in the sun with a cold beer, and there is nothing better than that first sip of cold beer on a hot afternoon. Baseball is hot dogs or brats with "stadium sauce" or a bag of peanuts.

"A hot dog at a ball game beats roast beef at the Ritz."
-Humphrey Bogart

The advent of baseball at the beginning of April (or end of March in these modern times) means the arrival of spring and spring means summer is around the corner. And summer means you can take a day or an evening (and a small loan to buy tickets to a game) and spend a leisurely few hours in the ballpark of your choice. A baseball game provides respite from the troubles of your day. They are gone for a few hours, replaced by men on the field playing a child's game.

"You gotta be a man to play baseball for a living, but you gotta have a lot of little boy in you, too"
-Roy Campanella

And that field! That grass, the wide expanse of lawn they call an outfield, the dirt of the pitchers mound, the batters box. The aroma of grass and food and beer and the sounds of the people and the music and the players. It is all beautiful, be it under God's sun or a thousand man-made suns.

The arrival of baseball is the arrival of hope. Hope that your team will do well, or at least not embarrass itself. It is hope that we all feel for ourselves and our loved ones: try to do well, but at the very least, don't embarrass yourself.

Well, here's my chance to embarrass myself. Predictions on who's going to finish where:

National League Central
1. Chicago Cubs
2. Milwaukee Brewers
3. Houston Astros
4. St. Louis Cardinals
5. Cincinnati Reds
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

National League East
1. New York Mets
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Atlanta Braves
4. Washington Nationals
5. Florida Marlins

National League West
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. San Diego Padres
3. Colorado Rockies
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
5. San Francisco Giants

American League Central
1. Detroit Tigers
2. Cleveland Indians
3. Kansas City Royals
4. Chicago White Sox
5. Minnesota Twins

American League East
1. Boston Red Sox
2. New York Yankees
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Tampa Bay Rays
5. Baltimore Orioles

American League West
1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Seattle Mariners
3. Texas Rangers
4. Oakland Athletics

The Yankees will be a threat under new manager Joe Girardi, but at some point in August, the team will have a losing streak and Hank Steinbrenner will fire Girardi, only to rehire him the next day. Distractions will sink the Yankees and the Red Sox are just too strong and good a team not to return to the Fall Classic.

The White Sox will unfortunately prove that 2005 was a fluke, Kenny Williams is not a genius and that signing Ozzie Guillen through 2012 was the dumbest thing owner Jerry Reinsdorf has done since forcing out Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson after winning six NBA championships.

The Dodgers will have a good year under former Yankee skipper Joe Torre and will just barely edge out the Padres and Greg Maddux in their division.

My World Series prediction: Cubs in seven games and countless heart attacks amongst fans, over the Red Sox.

Yes, there I said it, I meant it. All horrific things must come to end. The century of futility will come to a close and a new century of hope will begin with the Cubs winning the World Series. They have the horses, and the right jockey in Lou Pinella. If not this year, then never. And no, I don't believe I've jinxed the Cubs by predicting a World Series win. It's time for Cubs fans everywhere, and they are indeed everywhere, to stop talking like fools about jinxes and curses and all that other crap. The time has come to act like winners, and once the Cubs take the Series we will all be forced to figure out how to do that, because we're just not used to it.