Play Ball!

Baseball!  I paid no attention to NCAA this year, and though I'll probably follow Golden State through the NBA playoffs, I can't help feeling the dislocation of a league in which the two most prominent franchises--LA Lakers and New York Knicks--are among the worst teams.

So baseball.  The season starts with my Pirates pretty highly rated, and my Giants holding onto respect but not high hopes among the baseball writers etc.  And despite the opening day loss for the Bucs and the MadBum victory for the Giants, it's hard to argue with the writers.

Already the Giants are facing injury problems with their aging starting pitchers.  It's amazing how well they did late last year with several key injuries, but with Brandon Belt going down, both hitting and pitching are a mess to start the season.  Belt is due for a big year, so is Angel Pagan, but neither has been able to stay healthy.   It really looks like the off year, the odd numbered year, for this team.  They added no discernible power to the lineup, and lost a lot that they had.  And that starting corps is worrisome.

The Pirates look better than the Giants at least on paper, and I'm sure it's going to be an exciting summer at PNC Park.  They certainly have more power, and potentially very good pitching.  So the Pirates seem to have a much better chance of getting into the postseason than the Giants.  But that's how it looks.  They still have to play the games.  Play ball!