Revisiting My 2009 Baseball Predictions: Did I Really Write That?

(Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

It's that time of year again for baseball fans to sit back and reflect on the year their favorite teams had, unless, of course, your favorite club is still alive in the playoffs.

For the rest of us, however, this time of year is the definition of hindsight being 20/20, as many of us look back at what went wrong for our teams.

For those of us who also write in various forms of "fan media," this time of year brings numerous articles and blog entries about what our teams could have done better, and where they should go from here to improve.

While many of my fellow writers and bloggers will post their share of articles critiquing their teams' seasons, very few, if any, of them will go back and look at their preseason predictions and see where they may have been wrong.

So that's what I've decided to do. I'm going back to look at what I wrote prior to, and during, the 2009 baseball season to see where I was blatantly wrong, and, occasionally, where I was correct.

Article: 2009 MLB Divisional Breakdown: AL Central

I was right:

In my American League Central breakdown I picked the Minnesota Twins to win it. While the Tigers were beginning to make me look foolish, I ended up correct, even if it didn't happen until game number 163. Win Twins!

I was wrong:

I was in love with the Twins, and not only did I pick them to win the division, I also picked them for best starting rotation. That was a gaffe on my part, as the Twins' rotation was decent, but the Detroit Tigers hands down had the best starting rotation in that division. Worse than that, I didn't even pick Detroit for honorable mention—I gave that honor to the Kansas City Royals. Yikes!

Article: 2009 MLB Divisional Breakdown: NL Central

I was right:

About the only thing I got right in this article was that I picked Albert Pujols for best hitter and best all-around player in the division. Not exactly a Nostradamus-like prediction.

I was wrong:

Where to begin. I picked the Chicago Cubs for best rotation, when clearly the St. Louis Cardinals, who have two Cy Young candidates in the starting staff, had the best rotation in the NL Central. In fact, one could argue that Houston's rotation was even better than the Cubs'.

I was really on the Chicago Cubs bandwagon, as I picked them, like many people did, to win the division. Well, the Cardinals won, and the Cubs rivaled the Mets and Indians for the title of most disappointing team in all of baseball.

Article: 2009 MLB Divisional Breakdown: NL West

I was right:

I picked Matt Kemp as the best all-around player in the NL West, and I was right—period. Kemp went from a very good player to a great player at the plate and in the field, and he's only getting better.

I was wrong:

Well, like with the Cubs, I was on the Diamondbacks' bandwagon prior to the 2009 season. I picked Arizona for best starting staff, and maybe it would have been the case if Brandon Webb didn't go down with an injury in his first start (in my defense, Dan Haren had a great season that got greatly overlooked).

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