I have to hand it to Mark, he got his predictions posted before the season started; and they were pretty good. I must admit, he caught me off guard. When I was growing up I never predicted who would come in first in any division. It was usually just praying for the Red Sox and hating the Yankees. Kinda like this:

After that it was basically watching to see how the Sox would screw it up each year. Haven’t had to do that much lately. I guess the cumulative effect of the Hail Mary’s finally paid off.

My predictions for the A.L. follow - although they won’t be as well-formatted as Mark’s were (so, who did that for you anyway?) Here goes:

EastBoston – Too many guns.New York – Wang wins 20; No one else wins 14.

Tampa Bay/Toronto – Depends on whether Shields or Halladay has a better year.

Toronto/Tampa Bay – See above.

Baltimore – Its official: Angelos has finally driven them into a ravine.

Central

Detroit – Under Leyland, Willis is the new Carmona; Maglio challenges Vlad for MVP.

Cleveland – C.C. and the Sunshine Band can’t repeat . . . but come close.

Chicago – Sox pick up Nick Swisher! Oh. Never mind.

Kansas City – A small market team with small market guys.

Minnesota – Livan doesn’t help.

West

Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem and kinda near Yorba Linda too – Torii Hunter seals the deal.

Seattle – They fade down the stretch.

Texas – Millwood and pray for rain. And pray for rain. Repeat.

Oakland – Even with Duchscherer as the third starter.

Next, my N.L. predictions. . . .