With baseball carefully tucked away for a few more weeks and the San Francisco Giants and their fans still basking in the glow of their first title in 56 years. I thought what a better time than now to see how I did with my 2010 predictions. Everyone makes them; very few are willing to re-live them. By the way I had the Giants 4th in the NL West. What do I know?
In the AL East this was my prediction:
- New York
- Boston
- Tampa Bay
- Baltimore
- Toronto
This was how they finished:
- Tampa Bay
- New York
- Boston
- Toronto
- Baltimore
My predictions for AL Central:
- Chicago
- Minnesota
- Detroit
- Cleveland
- Kansas City
This was how they finished:
- Minnesota
- Chicago
- Detroit
- Cleveland
- Kansas City
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My Predictions for the AL West:
- Seattle
- Los Angeles
- Texas
- Oakland
This was how they finished:
- Texas
- Oakland
- Los Angeles
- Seattle
My NL East Predictions:
- Philadelphia
- Atlanta
- Florida
- New York
- Washington
This was how they finished:
- Philadelphia
- Atlanta
- Florida
- New York
- Washington
My predictions for NL Central:
- St.Louis
- Milwaukee
- Chicago
- Cincinnati
- Houston
- Pittsburgh
This was how they finished:
- Cincinnati
- St. Louis
- Milwaukee
- Houston
- Chicago
- Pittsburgh
My predictions for the NL West:
- Los Angeles
- Arizona
- Colorado
- San Francisco
- San Diego
This was how they finished:
- San Francisco
- San Diego
- Colorado
- Los Angeles
- Arizona
In the 2010 playoffs my preseason predictions looked like this:
- AL East: New York
- AL Central: Chicago
- AL West: Seattle
- AL Wild Card: Boston
- NL East: Philadelphia
- NL Central: St.Louis
- NL West: Los Angeles
- NL Wild Card: Atlanta
- AL Champion: Seattle
- NL Champion: Atlanta
- World Series Champion: Atlanta
Here’s what the post season looked like:
- AL East: Tampa Bay
- AL Central: Minnesota
- AL West: Texas
- AL Wild Card: New York
- NL East: Philadelphia
- NL Central: Cincinnati
- NL West: San Francisco
- NL Wild Card: Atlanta
- AL Champion: Texas
- NL Champion: San Francisco
- World Series Champion: San Francisco
The major baseball award winner I saw going like this:
- AL MVP: Ichiro Suzuki RF Seattle
- NL MVP: Brian McCann C Atlanta
- AL Cy Young Winner: Felix Hernandez SP Seattle
- NL Cy Young Winner: Roy Halladay SP Philadelphia
- AL Rookie of the Year: Brian Matusz SP Baltimore
- NL Rookie of the Year: Alcides Escobar SS Milwaukee
- AL Manager of the Year: Don Wakamatsu Seattle
- NL Manager of the Year: Bobby Cox Atlanta
The guys who actually took home the hardware:
- AL MVP: Josh Hamilton CF Texas
- NL MVP: Joey Votto 1B Cincinnati
- AL Cy Young Winner: Felix Hernandez SP Seattle
- NL Cy Young Winner: Roy Halladay SP Philadelphia
- AL Rookie of the Year: Neftali Feliz RP Texas
- NL Rookie of the Year: Buster Posey C San Francisco
- AL Manager of the Year: Ron Gardenhire Minnesota
- NL Manager of the Year: Bud Black San Diego
In the 2010 Preseason Predictions I also said several managers (and/or GMs) were on the hot seat. I said look for the following guys to get fired:
- Mets Mgr – Jerry Manuel – CHECK
- Mets GM – Omar Minaya – CHECK
- Brewers Mgr – Ken Macha – CHECK
- Reds Mgr – Dusty Baker – won division; got extension
- Pirates Mgr – John Russell – CHECK
- Padres Mgr – Bud Black – had his team in it all year; was NL Mgr of the Year
- Athletics Mgr – Bob Geren – returning after team finished 2nd in AL West
- Rangers Mgr – Ron Washington – returning after winning AL Pennant
- Royals Mgr – Trey Hillman – CHECK fired in season
- White Sox Mgr – Ozzie Guillen – returning after team finished 2nd in NL Central
- Orioles Mgr – Dave Tremblay – CHECK fired in season
Some others I didn’t forsee coming got the gate as well:
- Mariners Mgr – Don Wakamatsu – fired during the season
- Marlins Mgr – Fredi Gonzalez – fired during the season
- Diamondbacks Mgr – AJ Hinch – fired during season
Some even left under their own power:
- Cubs Mgr – Lou Piniella – resigned towards seasons end
- Dodgers Mgr – Joe Torre – decided not to seek a new contract
- Braves Mgr – Bobby Cox – retired after season
- Blue Jays Mgr – Cito Gaston – retired after season
Those four guys all won World Series as managers. There are 8 World Series titles there in all:
- Piniella (Reds 1990)
- Torre (Yankees 1996;1998;1999 & 2000)
- Cox (Braves 1995)
- Gaston (Blue Jays 1992 &1993)
That group accounted for 7 of the titles in the 90’s. The only one’s they missed on were 1991 (Twins/Kelly); 1994 (Strike – No Series) and 1997 (Marlins/Leyland).
So in recapping the 2010 MLB season I correctly predicted:
- 1 entire division top to bottom (NL East)
- Winners of the NL East and NL Wild Card
- Both Cy Young Winners (Halladay and Hernandez)
- and the firings of 5 managers and 1 GM
For all you seem heads looking forward to the 2011 season I will be rolling out the Gigantic Sox & Dawgs 2011 MLB Preview before the season starts so make sure to look for it.
