The Lunatic Fringe

Nearly everyone is picking the Dodgers to win the N.L. West.

Hell, 11 ESPN baseball writers picked them to win the World Series.  But out of 44 ESPN writers, 38 picked the Dodgers to win the West.  The Giants got picked three times…which is as many as the Diamondbacks and Padres combined.  That’s not something to be proud of.

Fox Sports had only five writers make picks.  All picked the Dodgers to win the West.  Although, only one picked them to win the NLCS (and then the World Series).  The Giants got named a wild card in four of those ballots.

Over at SI, six writers.  Five had the Dodgers win the West, one had the Giants.  None of them had either West team winning the NL.

Apparently, the trendy pick is the Nationals, netting 12 ESPN predictions, four at SI and another at Fox.  The Cards, of course, are up there.  The Ray seem to be a trendy AL pick.  Hell, one ESPN writer picked Cleveland to win the World Series.

But the Giants are underdogs, again.  No Worlds Series picks.  No surprise teams, because a lot of people think they’ll still be in the Wild Card hunt.

That’s okay.  Being an underdog is fun.  Taking down the Dodgers from their lofty expectations will be a lot of fun.

Maybe that’s too much to expect.  But it’s not too much to hope for.

Happy Opening Day everyone!