The World Baseball Classic Championship is tonight, and it will be a classic. The United States finally made it to the championship, but they will have to face their undefeated territory, Puerto Rico. It reached the championship by hitting a walk-off sac fly against the Netherlands. You can see another play that highlighted this game here. http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/219702800/v1243857383/nedpur-molina-finds-profar-too-far-off-bag-at-first Plays like that are why Yadier Molina is considered a future hall of famer. The USA got to the big game by finally beating two time champion Japan 2-1 to reach its first WBC championship. The Netherlands, Japan, and Puerto Rico reached the semifinals in 2013 too, but the Dominican Republic won it all. The game is at Dodger Stadium at 9:00 pm.Hopefully, the U.S. can wins its first gold medal tonight. Go USA!

USA played its first World Baseball Classic game yesterday against Columbia, kicking off its Pool C play. Columbia took a 2-0 lead in the 5th inning, but the U.S. came back, and the game went into extra innings. In the tenth, Adam Jones hit the game winning single, which you can see here. http://m.mlb.com/video/v1235162683/must-c-clutch-adam-jones-wins-it-for-team-usa/?affiliateId=clubMEGAMENU The U.S. will face a tough Dominican Republic team at 6:30 tonight. Columbia is beating Canada 3-1 right now. Both teams are 0-1 in Pool C. In Pool A, Israel, which is 3-0, and the Netherlands will advance to Pool E, along with Japan, who is also 3-0, and Cuba. In Pool D, Italy had an incredible rally on Thursday, when they scored 5 runs in the ninth. Italy and Puerto Rico would advance with the U.S and Dominican if Round 1 ended now, which it is not. Be sure to cheer on your country this year!

Spring Training is in full swing, and the biggest stars are warming up. Minor League prospects are trying out for the big leagues. The Yankees, Angels, Pirates and Rays have had the most success, losing very few games, or none. The World Baseball Classic starts tomorrow, with the U.S. starting on March 9th against Columbia. The U.S. team features a lot the Major League’s best talent, including Daniel Murphy, Giancarlo Stanton, Andrew Miller, Andrew McCutchen, and Buster Posey. However other countries have a lot of talent too, such as the reigning champion Dominican Republic, who have Jose Bautista, Manny Machado, Jose Reyes, Adrian Beltre, Robinson Cano, Carlos Santana, and many more. It’s going to be really competitive this year, and hopefully, the U.S. will win its first WBC.

   Also, as I promised, I am continuing my series of predictions for the regular season with the AL Central.

American League Central

Cleveland Indians

Detroit Tigers

Kansas City Royals

Minnesota Twins

Chicago White Sox

Isn’t it a little obvious that a team that made it through nine innings of Game 7 of the World Series, and then bought a superstar would win the division? The Indians are a shoe-in.  The Tigers have a lot of talent and are ready to contend. The Royals are plagued by too many injuries, and their playoff window is closing. The Twins have a promising future, but still have a LONG way to go. The White Sox have too many problems, especially after firing their manager and losing their superstar. Next time, I will post my AL East picks.

By the way, for all you basketball fans out there, I am starting a new blog soon called Hoops Now and Then. Be sure to check it out!

Baseball starts this week, and now would be a good time to write my predictions for the season. Every post, I will show my pick for another division, starting today with the AL West. Shortly before Opening Day, I will post my complete standings including postseason predictions and maybe records.

American League West

Texas Rangers

Houston Astros

Seattle Mariners

Los Angeles Angels

Oakland Athletics

Houston will make this one a very close race, but it all comes down to those games between Texas and Houston, which Houston simply can’t win. Houston will probably end up with a wild card spot. Seattle has a lot of talent, but no matter how many opportunities they get, they can’t reach the playoffs. The Angels can’t rely only on Mike Trout, even though he will definitely be a Hall of Famer. The A’s are still rebuilding, so it will be a while until the newly renamed Rickey Henderson Field hosts a playoff game, if the A’s don’t move before then.

On Wednesday, the Hall of Fame Class of 2017 will be announced. This year’s ballot is packed with great players, but not everyone on this ballot will make it. Here are the players who I think should be enshrined in the hall this year.  I ranked them in order of least deserving to most deserving. Also, it is my opinion that players on steroids should not be in the Hall of Fame Enjoy!

    8. Mike Mussina   He didn’t have as great of a                as say  Greg Maddux and was                    

                                         underrated by pitchers like Maddux,                                        

                                                     Mussina had a Hall-worthy career.          

                                                     He had 117 more wins than losses,             

                                                     and his first ever relief appearance                

                                                     In Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS was                   

                                                  dominant.

                                                      

       7. Ivan Rodriguez                   

  Pudge was an incredible catcher,  

  especially defensively. He definitely would have been

higher on the list if there weren’t suspicions of drug  

                                                      use. Keep in mind, there is no   

                                                      proof, and Mike Piazza faced the  

                                                      same problem and ended up in the  

                                                      hall, as will Rodriguez  

       6. Edgar Martinez            Isn’t obvious that one of top 40

                                              hitters of all time should be in the  

                                             Hall of Fame? He helped make the                       

                                       Mariners a dominant force in the                      

West while remaining relevant even   

                                             though the M’s had Ken Griffey Jr.

          5. Larry Walker                    Despite playing at Mile High  

                                                     Stadium and Coors Field for much             

                                                     of his career, which many  people   

                                                     think made him better than he is,     

                                                     Walker was as great on the road

                                                      and in Montreal and St. Louis. He       

                                                      was an excellent hitter and an             

                                                      amazing outfielder.

                                                            

      4. Vladimir Guerrero              He, like Walker, was an Incredible  

                                                     with the Expos and still put up     

                                                     legendary numbers with his next           

                                                     team. He was a huge star and    

                                                     unlike most stars of his era, he                       

                                                     was not on steroids. He was also

                                                a nine time all star and AL MVP.

   3. Trevor Hoffman                 He had the all time save record of  

                                                 601 until Mariano Rivera broke it.      

                                                 He also finished with a career    

                                                2.87 which is one of the best out  

                                                 of this year’s candidates. He  

                                                 reached the 1,000 strikeout mark  

                                                  and led the 1998 San Diego   

                                                 Padres to the World Series.

      2. Jeff Bagwell                    One of the greatest first baseman  

                                                 since World War II, he put up  

                                                 Astronomical (pun intended)  

                                                 numbers while saving a

                                                 struggling franchise along with  

                                                 future Hall of Famer Craig  

                                                 Biggio. It’s a shame that he was   

                                                 underappreciated because of  

                                                 Bonds and McGwire and that it  

                                               took this long to get here because of a rumor.      

  

       1.Tim Raines                   Poor Tim Raines. He set the  

                                               rookie record for most stolen  

                                               bases, then Andre Dawson took  

                                               the spotlight in Montreal, and then

                                               Ricky Henderson out did him in

                                               stealing bases. Not only that, but  

                                               injuries plagued him years later!

                                               This underrated star should have   

                                               gotten in years ago.

Thanks for reading! Comment on who you think should have gotten in.