So, this morning I decided to go back and look at ESPN and see who predicted who just before the season began. ESPN had 45 guys, 45 of them, make their picks for each division. They also predicted each league’s wild card teams and predicted the World Series and the World Series winner. Out of the 45 predictions, not a single one took a wild chance on the Arizona Diamondbacks. Of the 45, 22 predicted the Colorado Rockies would win the National League West. The San Francisco Giants were picked 21 times, and two optimistic people did take a chance on the Los Angeles Dodgers.
I certainly understand the sentiment against the Dbacks. They were coming off a horrible 65-97 season and their 2011 spring training didn’t leave much to be desired at 12-25 either. However, two people found themselves bold enough to take the Dodgers and we all know what a mess they turned out to be.
The interesting part here is the Rockies. More people picked the Rockies to win than the Giants and the Giants were defending champions. What’s even more ironic is that it is the Rockies who have decided to not even try the last few weeks of the season and have just given up. They’ve laid down and aren’t even trying. If you get swept in seven straight at home, get shout out by the San Diego Padres 4-0 in that seventh game, then go get lambasted by MLB-worst Houston Astros 11-2, you aren’t trying. I would not be happy to be a Rockies fan right now. Now the Rockies will not only fail to win the division, they have a legitimate shot of finishing in last place. Truly amazing.
Everyone will probably write off the Dbacks in the playoffs too and I’m ok with that. The Dbacks will continue to fly under the radar. What will be interesting will be to see how many writers predict the Dbacks to win the division in 2012. I’ll bet you it won’t be more than a handful, even given the events taken place in 2011. However, I’m not about to make that prediction because right now, it means nothing. Only thing that matters is what happens in reality on the field. The reality is the Dbacks have won the NL West and people really should embrace that.