GIFs of the Week - Week 2

We're starting a new weekly post to fit in with the rest of the internet's fascination with that short little, repeating clip - the GIF. Below are four GIFs that appropriately capture the idiocy that is April baseball and two that buck the trend.


What this season is going to feel like for all Cubs fans expecting 80+ wins:

 

Using my March Madness Formula to Predict the 2013 MLB Season: Part 1, An Introduction to the System

 by Cody Kay

Busy living the American Dream of searching for a job in this awesome economy, I have neglected my baseball blogging but my main man Bryce Harper and his two opening day home runs have inspired me to get back to work. It makes sense to start with season predictions so here we go. I am going to split this up into an introduction to how I am making my predictions this year, my AL predictions, and then my NL predictions. So if Bryce has hit 5 homeruns by the time the NL predictions come out and the Nationals are undefeated, I promise that--regardless of the date of publication of my posts--the predictions were not affected by the early season results.

I recently mused before the start of March Madness that I have consistently placed in the top 5-10 in bracket pools (11 out of 13 years) and, lo and behold, the tournament is down to the Final Four and I again leading the pool I am in with my bracket titled “The Fightin’ Blue Waffles” (99^th percentile). I have a basic formula that usually works and can be broken into 4 basic steps.

The Prodigal Son: Bryce Harper's Debut

As my pre-season prediction alluded to, the Nationals have emerged to be one of my favorite teams over the last couple years. I have always been a pitching>hitting type of fan and I had high hopes for the Nats coming into the season after they added Gio Gonzalez and Edwin Jackson to a pitching staff that already featured stud pitchers Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmerman.

However even given these high hopes, there is no way I could have predicted the Nationals pitching staff would be averaging a sub-2.00 ERA through 20 games. Overall the team has been sensational to watch and heading into tonight they were tied for the NL lead with a 14-6 record. Despite this record and the fact they play in a great market, the fan base still isn't as energized as it should be because the Nats are still only 19th in attendance (The Washington Capitals being in the playoffs has not helped).

In a move that was partially driven by the fan base, the Nats called up uber-prospect Bryce Harper for his Major League Debut tonight. This move was also driven a lot by the lack of success seen by the Nats hitters this season. They currently sit at a less than stellar 11th in the NL in runs scored and that was before star hitter Ryan Zimmerman went down injured. With the call up, Nats management hope that Harper could be the spark plug that could jump start the offense until Zimmerman and fellow masher Michael Morse return to the lineup.