MLB.com Dream Job Essay

I decided to apply for the MLB.com Baseball Dream Job. One of the steps in the application process was to write a two part essay. I'm going to share the first part with you.

I’m Robert Zielinski Jr. and my passion is baseball. I wake up in the morning and I brush my teeth with baseball. Well, I read a segment of one of many baseball blogs and articles that I read daily as I brush my teeth, but nevertheless. I continue reading about baseball on the train en route to work. I plan my breaks around which article I’m going to read next and make sure that it’s downloaded to my phone before-hand so that I can contribute every available second to reading said article. As far as I’m concerned, the sun consists of nothing but the finest cowhide the universe can offer and is bound together by red stitching in which God’s personal seamstress sewed herself. I’ll be 27 in a couple of months and I still play in a men’s wooden bat recreational league. When I’m not playing baseball, I’m thinking about baseball. Even when I’m at the games, if I’m not in the field or up to bat, I’m keeping the book. I’m in two competitive fantasy keeper leagues. I use the statistics from MLB.com and fangraphs.com to give me the edge that I need to be relevant year-in and year-out. Last August I refused to switch to a different cable provider when my contract expired, even though it would have been much cheaper, because it didn’t offer MLB-TV.

The thing that I love most about the game of baseball is that it resembles life. A lot of the time it can be dull with not much going on and you’re left waiting for something to take place or waiting for the perfect opportunity to make something happen. And they do happen happen, these small bursts of excitement, whether they’re for or against you, are always profound and interesting in one way or another. It takes a great deal of perseverance and mental toughness to be successful. You’re going to make errors, both mentally and physically. Sometimes those errors are minute and cost you nothing, yet others can cost you dearly. Sometimes you go on torrid streaks and can do no wrong. Sometimes you fall into a slump and you can’t help but think that you’ll never catch a break again. You can love baseball, but it won’t always love you back (just ask a Cubs fan). But you have to keep grinding away. There’s a lot of repetition. It helps to have a routine and the preparation will have you ready for any pitch that may come your way. If you step up to the plate and decide that today is your day, you’ll crank one over the fence and one of those short bursts of excitement will be your moment. I’m ready for my moment.

Tune in to the Chicago Sports Fix radio show every Friday evening from 6 to 8pm streaming live only on chicagolandsportsradio.com

PREACH

MLB Predictions Volume Dos

Pitchers and catchers have reported to their respective Spring Training camps. That folks, means that it's MLB prediction time. Here are my complete Divisional projections by number of wins along with my postseason projections.

AL East

Boston Red Sox            99
New York Yankees      94
Tampa Bay Rays           86
Toronto Blue Jays         78
Baltimore Orioles          77

AL West

Texas Rangers              86
Oakland Athletics         84
Los Angeles Angels      79
Seattle Mariners           72

AL Central

Chicago White Sox      94
Detroit Tigers               90
Minnesota Twins          87
Cleveland Indians         76
Kansas City Royals      71

NL East

Philadelphia Phillies       103
Atlanta Braves              88
Florida Marlins             82
New York Mets           80
Washington Nationals   74

NL West                   

San Francisco Giants    89
Colorado Rockies        86
Los Angeles Dodgers   83
San Diego Padres         81
Arizona Diamondbacks 72

NL Central

St. Louis Cardinals       91
Milwaukee Brewers     87
Cincinnati Reds            84
Chicago Cubs              82
Houston Astros            72
Pittsburgh Pirates         56


AL Divisional Series

Boston Red Sox defeat Texas Rangers in 4
Chicago White Sox defeat New York Yankees in 5


NL Divisional Series

Philadelphia Phillies defeat San Francisco Giants in 4
St. Louis Cardinals defeat Atlanta Braves in 3


AL Championship Series

Boston Red Sox defeat Chicago White Sox in 6


NL Championship Series

Philadelphia Phillies defeat St. Louis Cardinals in 5


World Series

Boston Red Sox defeat Philadelphia Phillies in 7


Tune in to the Chicago Sports Fix radio show every Friday evening from 6 to 8pm on chicagolandsportsradio.com

PREACH

From ChampionSHIP to Sinking SHIP

The Blackhawks have lost 4 of their last 6. They have some time. The operative word being some. There's only 28 games left. As it stands now, they're 11th in the Western Conference. A mere three points separates them from being in 8th, the last slot to make the postseason. There are seven teams vying for the last four spots to make the playoffs and all are within five points of eachother. My favorite Hawks player Hossa hasn't showed up in a few weeks, along with a few of his teammates like Kopecky, Kane and Sharp whom finally made their appearances Wednesday as Shaprie put the biscuit in the basket and Kaner potted two himself. Pretty much the entire second line has been non-existent the past three weeks.

The Blackhawks have been bad. So bad that Coach Q decided to have a 45 minute bag-practice the day after their loss to Calgary. (Bag-practice is actually more like a bag-less practice in which the bags of pucks are left in the locker room as the team will only be skating at top speed the entire practice and will be looking for bags to puke in).This probably came as part punishment for their poor effort as well as a reminder of the type of perseverance and grit it takes to win each and every game.

The defense has been absent. They can't keep the puck out of their own net. Nobody crashes the net on power plays. Nobody stands in front of the net to screen the goalie or punch in rebounds for ugly goals. The impact of the roster turnover due to the hard cap was severely underestimated.  There's no edge, no chemistry, no sense of urgency or execution. The depth of this team is in no way comparable to last year's. I'm not blaming them, but I'm not much impressed with the young guys like Dowell, Pisani, Stalberg, and Skille....O, Wait....He Gone.

The point is the Hawks have some points to win after their 30 game hangover at the beginning of the season and the points they've let slip away these past few weeks. It's either that or drown in the Sea of Mediocrity.


Tape and Pine Tar:

The Beta PECOTA (PECOTA, a backronym for Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm, is a sabermetric system for forecasting Major League Baseball player performance, according to a definition listed on wikipedia.com) results were posted and then swiftly taken down for some unknown reason, but I was lucky enough to jot down some notes...

The White Sox are projected to lead the MLB with 841 total runs scored and Team Slugging at .412. Yet they're projected to place second in the Central Division with 89 wins behind the Twins with 95 wins.

The Cubs are projected to go 70-92 and place only ahead of, you guessed it, the Pirates.

Keep in mind that these are only the first results, and they may have been leaked. Baseball Prospectus has the right to make any data adjustments that they deem necessary before publishing results.

Last year was PECOTA's most accurate year ever with 26 teams coming within two games of their projected winning results.


Tune in to the Chicago Sports Fix radio show every Friday from 6 to 8pm on chicagolandsportsradio.com

PREACH

Chicago Bulls = Fun Again

The Chicago Bulls are fun again! And it's not JUST because they're third in the power rankings behind San Antonio and Boston (Yes, they are in front of Miami and the Lake Show). The Bulls went 12-4 in January, closing out the month with a 5-1 home stand, and on their way helped Coach Thibs to his first NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month award. Coach Thibs' recognition comes with good reason. Sure his defensive-minded game planning has won the Bulls plenty of games as it's also making them better on the other end, but that's not the main reason for the Bulls' success thus far. Coach Thibs holds all of his players accountable. He's more than willing to bench his star players if they're not earning their paychecks the way that he expects them to do so.

A lot of this credit goes to.......none other than the one, the only........team Gar-Pax! Not only do they look ingenius for the Coach Thibs hire, but the other front offices who've passed on his head coaching services look pretty dumb right about now. It was certainly a gamble on their part, giving a long-time assistant coach a head coaching job. Everybody knew he had unbounded basketball knowledge, but did he have it in him to juggle all of the throbbing personalities that constitute an NBA team. So far, that gamble is starting to become the degenerate's least favorite L-word, that's right, I'm going to say it, a LOCK.

By the way, isn't it nice to come out of a timeout and watch a play be run that was drawn up by the coach DURING that timeout. Thanks Vinny del, for making me appreciate what is usually a basketball GIVEN.

You know who the Bulls really haven't missed, Noah. They'll have a much better presence down-low once he comes back, certainly. All I'm saying is that they've done just fine without him. I'll be happier when he's healthy though.

The Bulls are 11-0 in the Central Division. That's good, yet it indicates nothing. The other teams in the division are 19-27, 19-28, 17-32, and 8-41. It will ultimately mean that the Bulls will not be seeded any lower than four in the postseason. That's it.

The Bulls are playing well this first half of the season. They should play even better in the second half, especially if they're completely healthy. That said, we should raise the bar with higher expectations for wins. My expected wins total was right around 50. Now, I'm expecting at least 55, closer to 60.

D. Rose will be the Eastern Conference starting point guard. He's the first Bull to start an All-Star game since MJ back in '98. This is a celebration that is sort of like the pre-gaming before his official arrival into Super-stardom. His ascension is rapid. Watch and try not to blink.