MLB Predictions for 2023

My predictions last year were incredibly accurate. I think this was due to the marked disparity between the haves and the have nots, rather than to any great insight on my part. For example, I correctly predicted the bottom two teams in all six divisions, illustrating how easy it is to identify the have nots. Overall, I correctly predicted the final finish for fifteen teams, I was one place off for twelve teams, and two places off for three teams (Yankees, Rays, and Guardians).

At any rate, here we go for 2023.

AL East: Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays, Orioles, Red Sox

AL Central: Twins, Indians, White Sox, Tigers, Royals

AL West: Astros, Rangers, Mariners, Angels, Athletics

NL East: Mets, Phillies, Braves, Marlins, Nationals

NL Central: Cardinals, Cubs, Brewers, Reds, Pirates

NL West: Dodgers, Padres, Diamondbacks, Giants, Rockies

Notes:

AL East: The Yankees scored a great coup in re-signing Judge, while the Jays also had a good offseason. Especially exciting for the Yankees is their new shortstop, 21-year-old Anthony Volpe, who won the starting job during spring training.

AL Central: The Twins had a good offseason, retaining Correa and making other useful additons as well. The White Sox have disappointed in recent years, and there is no reason to think that will change this year.

AL West: The Astros won their division by 16 games over the second-place Mariners, and it is highy doubtful they will fall back enough to lose this year. The Rangers had a terrific offseason, upgrading their pitching staff by signing deGrom and others.

NL East: The Mets and Phillies both had good offseasons.

NL Central: The Cubs had a good offseason, so I'm looking for them to sneak past the Brewers for second.

NL West: The Dodgers won their division by 22 games, and it is inconceivable they will drop back by that many games. Padres and D-Backs both had good offseasons.

About Section 230

An important case was argued yesterday before the U.S. Supreme Court. It involved Section 230, which protects Internet platforms from liability for third-party posts. All but one of the Justices, liberals and conservatives alike, expressed skepticism about the request that the Supreme Court rewrite the law to allow for liability in some cases.

Kudos to those Justices for their skepticism. In our overly-litigious society, we often rely excessively on the court system to make new laws and redress all grievances. It is NOT the function of the courts to do so.

The Justices clearly understood that it is up to Congress to study this issue and come up with new rules which will strike the proper balance between free speech and liability for harm done. The Justices seemed to understand that doing away with Section 230 entirely would kill the Internet as we know it.

Morning Joe's Worst Interview Ever

This morning there was an awful, horribly awkward interview with Christopher Miller, author of "Soldier Secretary". Miller was Secretary of Defense during the last two motnhs of the Trump regime, and questions centered around his inaction in protecting the Capitol during the January 6th insurrection.

The five questioners bent over backwards to be respectful to their interviewee, but in the process they failed to zero in on the issues. Joe did his usual long lead-in to his questions, and as a result the issues got lost in the weeds. It made me nostalgic for the good old days of Lawrence Spivak, Tim Russert, and David Brinkley, newsmen who consistently got to the heart of whatever matter was under discussion.

The questioners were outdone in their confused, mealy-mouthed approach by the muddled "answers" provided by the guest. This guy had no credibility whsatsoever, both because of his awkward mannerisms and his inexplicable defense of then-President Trump. He insists that he could not put military troops in the capitol because it would have looked like a coup. He made spurious sparation of powers arguments for why any troops would have been there to protect the protesters and NOT to protect the Capitol!

Ken Jennings vs. Mayim Bialik

After initially supporting Mayim Bialik for the next host of Jeopardy!, I have come to undertand that Ken Jennings would make a much better host. He is much smoother and more knowledgeble about trivia than Bialik is. And, he has an uncanny knack for connecting with the contestants.

The only specific blunder I can point to with Bialik is when she ruled against a contestant who gave an answer of "auto racing". Since the answer was "drag racing", she obviously should have responded by asking for a more specific response.

And now comes the current champion, Jake DeArruda, who has an expert's view of the issue, in contrast to my more casual observations. In preferring Jennings to Bialik, Jake states that “It’s obvious to close watchers that she mispronounces words, blows through punctuation, and is genuinely inconsistent in her pacing. Ken, meanwhile, has been in trivia for most of his life, so he knows the proper words to emphasize and generally seems consistent with his pacing. This is important for buzzer timing purposes.”

Jake says that all of the week's contestants were happy when it was announced that Ken would be hosting that week. There seems to be a general consensus that he is much more suitable for the hostsing job. Keep up the great work, Ken!

"If you see something, say something."

We are told, "If you see something, say something". This would be good advice, except that the powers that be never seem to pay attention.

The administrators at a Virginia elementary school were warned three times that a six-year-old boy had a gun and was threatening to shoot other students. Three times, by three different people! And still they refused to do anything! The result of this indifference on the part of the administrators was that a teacher ended up getting shot.

Many examples could be cited. Most tragic is how the FBI repeatedly ignored red flags reported to it leading up to 9/11. Two men of middle eastern descent are paying $10K in cash to learn how to fly a plane. And the plane they want to learn to fly is a Boeing 747. And they don't care about learning how to land the plane! C'mon FBI, how many red flags do you need before following up?

And now we have the five members of the SCORPION police unit in Memphis who recently murdered a 29-year-old Black man. It turns out that there were numerous complaints made about how this renegade police unit was harassing Memphis citizens. These folks saw something and were saying something, but the powers that be ignored them.

Most often someone who "says something" is chastised for interfering in other people's affairs. We have a "mind your own business" culture, unlike other countries which have a sense of community that is sadly lacking here.

Why does Tony Dungy still have a job?

Football commentator Tony Dungy has come under fire recently for three different problems. As far as I'm concerned, three stirkes and you should be out.

First, his wooden and passionless work as color commentator for Al Michaels in a recent playoff game has been soundly criticized. His total lack of energy is striking. Everyone watching was excited about the Jaguars' miracle comeback after being down 27-0, but Dungy was unmoved.

Second, he invoked the name of Bills' injured player Damar Hamlin in an anti-abortion rant. Totally classless.

And third, he accused schoolod districts of "putting litter boxes in the school bathrooms for the students who identify as cats. Very important to address every student's needs." A totally snarky and false accusation.

As of now he still has his analyst job, but let's hope NBC comes to its senses soon and gets rid of him.

Thoughts on the Debt Limit

The United States treasury reached the national debt limit last week. The Trearury Secretary says she can get by till June with accounting tricks, but after that, it will be default. Everyone agrees thaat a default would be financially catastrophic.

There are several issues in play here. First, there is no reason to require Congress to approve an increase in the debt limit. It is a complete historical anomoly. The U.S. Treasury is spending money that Congress has already appropriated. If Congress thinks the debt is getting too high, it can adjust its spending and taxing priorities.

Then there is the gross Republican hypocrisy when it comes to fiscal issues. Whenever there is a Democrat in the White House, all of a sudden the GOP pretends to be SO concerned about the budget deficit. But the facts show that the deficit has increased much more under GOP presidents since Reagan took office in 1981. The deficit doubled under Reagan (and the national debt tripled), it increased 67% under Bush I, then Clinton actually eliminated the deficit and produced a healthy surplus, then Bush II left with a deficit of $1.4 trillion, cut in half by Obama, and then tripled by Trump. Details here: https://amarkfoundation.org/us-federal-deficits/

The conservative clique which opposed McCarthy for Speaker are the same folks who would rather default on our federal debt obligations than actually see the U.S. economy survive and thrive. They are akin to terrorists, people who have gone to Washington not to govern, but to blow up the government. And McCarthy is beholden to this group because they stepped aside to allow his election as Speaker on the 15th ballot. Consequently, it is unclear whether the House will be able to take any responsible action on raising the debt ceiling. Stay tuned.