
For
people like me, the start of baseball's regular season is akin to Christmas
morning, minus the religious aspects. Most of us took secret, forbidden peeks
at our Christmas presents every now and then, and we all know how hard it
is to wait for the joy to begin. So here at Sprayahen's St. Louis Cardinals
and Other Thoughts on the State of Baseball, I've decided to reward all
four of you that are currently aware of the site with a special glimpse into
the upcoming baseball season. I can't promise accuracy, but I can guarantee
humor. Actually I won't even guarantee that, but if you don't find the following
funny, then I probably wouldn't want you to be on this site anyway and you
should promptly leave and e-mail me a picture of yourself so I can demean
you with an insulting caption. This is for all of us real baseball fans who
are so blinded by our love for the game that we have universal inside jokes
about people who are infinitely more successful than we'll ever be. Here's
to 2005, which is sure to be another memorable season for baseball.
This
page will be left up all through the 2005 season so you can see just how incredibly
wrong we are about everything.
Division
Previews
-
Rafael
Palmeiro, enraged about being mixed up in the steroid scandals, takes a
stand by vowing to use his penis as a bat all season. His ploy is partially
successful, as he hits 43 dingers with his dinger. However, Congress grows
suspicious, and insists that Major League Baseball institute a Viagra policy
to keep it from tainting the game.
-
Nolan Ryan, still capable
of throwing a baseball ninety miles-per-hour, comes out of retirement for
a one year return to the Texas Rangers. The Rangers, in need of any sort
of pitching they can get, comply without any hesitation. Unfortunately,
the division rival Oakland A’s are one step ahead of them, and they
nab third baseman Robin Ventura out of retirement. “Now that he’s
like 60, I can probably beat his ass this time,” said Ventura, who
unsuccessfully charged the mound against Ryan in 1993.
-
After
a year away from the game, former Indians/Dodgers reliever Paul Shuey returns
as a starter with the Royals, joining forces with Jose Lima to win 48 combined
games and catapult Kansas City to the top of standings. Experts agree that
Shuey is now a mortal lock for the Hall of Fame, and that Lima is an idiot.
It will never be "Lima Time" in the HOF.
-
Former
Pittsburgh outfielder Derek Bell sends a letter to the Pirates stating just
how well his 2003 plan, “Operation Shutdown” was still working.
Bell notes that he still hasn’t played another game, and that he bets
the Pirates are really regretting ever making him mad. He then cites his
likeness to Pedro Cerrano from those Major League movies.
-
Charles
Johnson, tired of being thought of as an immovable lump behind the plate
on defense, requests a position switch. Colorado, torn between being terrified
of Johnson's mobility in the field and being terrified of him in general,
gives in and allows him to play center field. With his scowl now aimed towards
the batters' faces instead of at their backs, opposing teams fail to hit
the ball out of the infield. Somehow, Colorado's team ERA is still 6.92
at the end of the year.
- Kaz Ishii, now a New
York Met, is forced out to the mound every fifth day and winds up making 35
starts over the course of 2005. Ishii, and his Japanese mullet, manages to
walk 200 batters, setting a new precedent for sucking. He also only strikes
out 91, but winds up having a 4.10 ERA and getting signed to a two-year, $15
million extension by the Mets, who really don’t care how well anyone
pitches as long as they can give them a lot of money.
-
After
years of trying to live with it, Royce Clayton admits starting him in place
of Ozzie Smith in 1996 was one of the worst baseball decisions ever. Clayton
forces Arizona to bring The Wizard out of retirement and use him as their
starter to even the score. At the end of the year, the 50-year-old Smith
is outhitting Clayton by 200 points, but is consistently beaten by Royce
when the two play black history trivia.
-
Giants
outfielder Barry Bonds, in the midst of chasing Hank Aaron’s home
run record, takes a good look at his driver’s license and realizes
he’s actually ten years older than he thought! Upon realizing that
he’s 40, Bonds hits .274 and finishes 2005 with 16 home runs, leaving
him well short of Aaron. Bonds retires from baseball to go back to his first
true love: hating people.
-
The
Yankees, continuing thier collection of worthless first basemen (Jason Giambi,
Tino Martinez), "steal" Travis Lee from Tampa Bay. In a game featuring
the Yankees and Rangers, Lee intentionally lines a foul ball off of Buck
Showalter's face because seeing his former manager reminds him of the one
season he wasn't terrible. Buck retaliates by having Lee hit in his next
at-bat, which leads to an all out brawl during which seventeen players are
suspended and Jason Varitek runs onto the field in his Red Sox uniform to
poke A-Rod in the eye again.
- Red Sox pitcher Pedro Astacio continues
his struggles in 2005, setting a record by giving up seven consecutive home
runs to the New York Yankees. Astacio is then released, ordered to leave town,
and then confused as a “foreigner tourist” by his perpetually
redneck ex-teammate Curt Schilling, who then reminds him that John Wayne didn’t
die so that he could be in this country. Two days later, Astacio signs with
the Mets for 3 years and $12 million.