First, I want to apologize for not writing in about 10 days. I'll be better. Promise. And now, back to our regularly scheduled program:

I came into the 2009 baseball season apathetic. Towards the end of last year, it was tough to watch a $200 million payroll spit the bit like a bunch of choking dogs and frankly my interest was only held by the fact that they were closing Yankee Stadium. Enter this year and for a variety of reasons, I'm not a huge fan of the transition to the new Yankee Stadium. We'll get to that later.

Dykstra 2.0
But over the first week-plus of the season, I began keeping tabs on the Yanks with a passing interest. Soon, I found myself falling back in love with the Pinstripers all over again. The moment that solidified it for me was when a smiling Nick Swisher pitched a scoreless inning (registering a k) of mop-up duty on the wrong end of a 15-5 drubbing at the hands of the Devil Rays. All of a sudden, the all-business Yanks became fun again. (It should also be noted that the Yanks won the two subsequent games and took the series from last year's best home team).

Cy Young Buzz?
Since the retirement of Paul O'Neill, I've been searching for a guy that I love to follow. As a young man, I admired O'Neill's intensity and Irishness, but I guess I've mellowed in my old age. Watching Swisher enjoy playing baseball and bring levity to the Yankee clubhouse is fun. I won't even hold it against Swish that he's a Buckeye.

I first learned of Swisher reading Moneyball, where A's GM Billy Beane loved Swisher's laid back attitude and approach to the game, comparing him to Lenny Dykstra (which might not be the best comparison). I wish I enjoyed my job as much as Nick Swisher does--I'll live vicariously for now.

But the rest of the roster also has me excited. Watching CC Sabbathia and AJ Burnett and Andy Pettite pitch relatively well so far has been great too (although Wang's got me worried). Watching Robinson Cano get off to a hot start has been a relief, too.

I recognize that we're going to enter a lull eventually, Swisher's hot start will cool off and Cano will get into the inevitable slump. If Wang gets batted around and CC has some more clunkers, that'll stink. Let's not forget that right now, they're only one game over .500. But I think the attitude the team takes to the ballpark each day has won me back. Maybe there is something to this concept of clubhouse chemistry. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the pending return of A-Rod.

One last point, I was listening to the latest BS report podcast and have to agree with Bill Simmons and Jack-O when they discussed how great baseball is to have on in the background, and great to have every day. You know what, baseball really is great for that. I guess that's why everyone was so upset when Harry Kalas past away. Because, as smug as John Sterling is, when he retires or steps up to the press box in the sky, I'm going to miss the conceited guy. He's been a part of virtually every spring, summer and fall day in my life for more 20 years.

2009 Season Preview (late edition)

I know we're nine games into the season, so I have an unfair advantage in making my picks. So sue me, I live in my mom's house and blog:

AL
Yanks
Texas
Oakland
Tampa (wc)

NL
Mets
Cubs
Dodgers
Marlins(wc)

Yanks over Oakland
Tampa over Texas
Yanks over Tampa

Dodgers over Mets
Cubs over Fla
Cubs over Dodgers

Yanks over Cubs

AL ROY
David Price
Runner up: Matt Weiters

NL ROY
Emilio Bonifacio

AL Cy Young
Mariano Rivera
Runner up: Nick Swisher

NL Cy Young
Josh Johnson

AL Manager of the Year
Joe Girardi

NL Manager of the Year
Joe Torre

AL MVP
Evan Longoria

NL MVP
David Wright

Labels: Baseball, Brokeback, Yankees