Baseball

As I write this, the Twins are about 20 minutes away from starting the 2010 regular season against...um...who the heck are they this year? Is it still the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, or just the Los Angeles Angels? Or just the Angels maybe? Or the LosAngelosAngelsofAnaheimCaliforniaUnitedStatesNorthAmericaEarthSolarSystemMilkyWayUniverse?

I'm guessing SolarSystemMilkyWayUniverse hasn't come into play yet because their lawyers have yet to arrive.

The above is not a knock on the players, more like a little dig at my SoCal friends and family. I like the Angels as a baseball team and will be hugely happy if the Twins can get out of the four game series with even a split. Excitement is high here with the new ballpark, the gloriously warm spring, and Joe Mauer safely locked up contractually for what passes as eternity in MLB.

My predictions for this year: The starting rotation pleasantly surprises. The lineup looks as good as advertised and proves deadly to most opposing pitchers. The defense improves with Hardy and Hudson. Ron Gardenhire, now apparently recoiling from my approval of "Closer by Committee", relents to my superior wisdom after a disastrous April and puts in whomever is hot in the ninth. The Twins settle on or trade for a closer in late July and he carries them to another AL Central Title. Twins 91-71, and no game 163 this year.

Game time. Whoohoo!