This would be the NL Version. The answer to the above question would be decidedly mixed. Okay, Okay, mixed in the direction of lousy. The originals are found here.
NL East
Me
1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. Florida Marlins
3. Atlanta Braves
4. New York Mets
5. Montreal Expos
Reality
1. Atlanta Braves
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Florida Marlins
4. New York Mets
5. Montreal Expos
Well, I pretty much whiffed on this one, didn’t I? Luckily I had a lot of company, as Atlanta was expected to finally stop winning the division, and Philly was supposed to supplant them as the dominant team in the division. Well, the Braves only won the division by 10 games, the Phillies never got untracked and finally got Larry Bowa fired, and the Marlins never quite played up to expectations. The last two in the division were easy marks, though I thought the Mets might be a tad better than 71-91.
NL Central
Me
1. Chicago Cubs
2. Houston Astros
3. St Louis Cardinals
4. Cincinnati Reds
5. Milwaukee Brewers
6. Pittsburgh Pirates
Reality
1. St. Louis Cardinals
2. Houston Astros
3. Chicago Cubs
4. Cincinnati Reds
5. Pittsburgh Pirates
6. Milwaukee Brewers
This one teaches me to go with my gut a little more. When writing my predictions, I seriously looked at the Cardinals, and when this was originally written they were my NL Champs. I then looked at the Astros and Cubs vaunted staffs and switched the outlook around completely. Well, I was right the first damned time, as the Cards won 105 games and cruised to the division title. Houston did get the Wild Card as I thought, but the Cubs collapsed down the stretch. Cincinnati and Milwaukee had good starts, but the Reds slipped after the break and the Brewers collapsed. The Pirates… well, they’re still awful.
NL West
Me
1. San Francisco Giants
2. San Diego Padres
3. Arizona Diamondbacks
4. Los Angeles Dodgers
5. Colorado Rockies
Ugh… I’ll be the first to admit, LA was a heck of a lot better than I thought they’d be. The Giants were in it to the last day, but couldn’t seal the deal. The Padres were vastly improved over their 2003 team, but rather disappointing. Unlike most teams with new parks, they were better on the road (45-35) than in Petco (42-39). I hinted at the D-Backs fall, though not to the depths they ended up at. The Rockies were about where I expected.
Posted by Frinklin at October 3, 2004 04:27 PM