It has been America’s national pastime for centuries. The fans. The stadiums. The optimism for great seasons. It all gets underway this Sunday, April 4.This is Major League Baseball’s, and the sports world’s, wonderful time of the year. Opening Day. It’s about to get real.
For people who do not follow baseball, Opening Day is the official start of the baseball season. There are 162 games in a full major league season, including games featuring teams from the American
League and the National League playing against one another. Once the regular season is finished in October, teams that have played really well are eligible to play in the postseason, for a chance to claim the ultimate prize, the World Series championship. The teams not so fortunate will have to prepare for the off-season, players working out, and team executives wheeling and dealing to make their respected teams better through trades and free agent signings.
This season, there are quite a few headlines heading into the first game. The Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series championship since 1908, and are seeking to break that drought. They are the favorites in the National League. The San Francisco Giants have won championships in even-numbered years(2010, 2012 and 2014), and are looking to do the same in 2016. And the 2015 World Series champs, the Kansas City Royals, are seeking to become the first repeat champions of baseball since the 2000 New York Yankees (this same team won in 1999).
And, before the season starts, fans and experts have the opportunity to make predictions as to who will make the postseason, and who will win the World Series. As a fan of baseball, I am also in this mix. My 2016 postseason teams, for both the AL and the NL, are: New York Yankees, Kansas City, Texas Rangers (all division winners), Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim (wild-card), Washington Nationals, St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco (division winners), along with Chicago and the Los Angeles Dodgers as the wild-card teams.
For my final two World Series representatives, I have the Nationals playing the Royals, with the Washington franchise claiming its first championship.