BAA Journal
2nd March 2076
Pre-season Predictions
Spring training begins today. All of the players have reported to the spring training camps and the teams owners and coaches are assessing their squads to determine who will be in the 25 man roster on opening day. With that in mind the Baseball Association of America has commissioned some well renowned judges of character and player ability from the Army baseball leagues to assess the teams. They have ruminated and have come up with their considered opinion on the up coming season. Below we will outline how they feel the season will pan out for the teams and what their predictions are for the players and fans alike.
Eastern Conference
Liberty Division
Looking at the experts predictions in the Eastern Conference Liberty Division, it can be seen that they favour the Tampa Hurricanes to take the title. They see them winning 93 games during the season, 8 more than their closest rivals. Those rivals they see as the Chicago Whitecaps who will also be the only other team in the Liberty Division to break .500 for the season according to the experts. The other 4 teams in the division are all expected to have tougher seasons and struggle to break .500 with the Boston Colonials being the weakest team who are likely to be the team in last place.
Justice Division
The experts have selected the New York Patriots as their favoured team in the Justice Division. They see them winning 93 games in the season and beating their closest rivals by 10 games. As for their closest rivals the experts couldn't pick one team but opted for 2 in the Philadelphia Blues and the Detroit Motors who will also break .500. They also feel that Atlanta Heat will just make .500 with 81 wins. They see the Indianapolis Wings as the weakest team in the Justice division and they will finish bottom with what they expect is the worst record in baseball.
Top Pitchers
The experts have assessed the pitchers in the Eastern Conference and have picked their top ten. It seems that they think that Paul Hunter of the Indianapolis Wings is the best of the starters and will get the most wins against fewest losses on the season. They think that Randy Nix of the New York Patriots could be the best closer in the season gaining 43 saves during the season.
Top Hitters
The experts also reviewed all of the players in the eastern Conference and came up with the above list for the top ten hitters that they feel will be the stars in the season. From the looks of it fans from both the Chicago Whitecaps and the Detroit Motors will be seeing lots of home runs from some of their top stars.
Western Conference
Liberty Division
The Western Conference Liberty Division is seen by the experts to be the toughest division for any team to win. They like the Seattle Eagles to be the best in the division with 86 wins to 76 loses. They feel that the San Jose Hackers will run them close with 82 wins. The rest of the Division will struggle to gain .500 with the Los Angeles Angels being the worst of the bunch at only 72 wins. This leads the experts to place them bottom of the division.
Justice Division
The experts see the Justice Division in the Western Conference as the most lopsided division. They see the Kansas City Jazz as the team to run away with the pennant with a record of 102-60. They also see the San Diego Bandits and Houston Oilers as having good seasons. The other end of the division sees San Francisco as the weakest team with a likely win to loss ratio of 71-91 and bottom place according to the experts.
Top Hitters
The experts think that San Jose fans are going to see lots of home runs in the season with 2 star hitters in Tim Preston and Francisco Gamboa getting quite a few each. The best hitter they feel will come from the Jazz in Ron Phelps with the top home run total.
Top Pitchers
The experts see the Kansas City Jazz as having the strongest pitching line up as 2 of their starters and their closer making the top ten pitchers. The best pitcher for the season in the opinion of the experts is Jacob Beach. They feel he will be the best pitcher in the League with the most wins on the season at 16.