Last year I predicted the Padres would finish with 90 wins and the NL West title.  I was right that it would take 90 wins to capture the NL West, I just picked the wrong team.  Instead we ended with 89 Wins and a third place finish.

A couple Gaslamp Ballers picked the correct number of wins but nobody got both the place and correct record.

A lot of the predictions were really vague in the last couple of years.  I want exact predictions.  Give me the total number of wins and the place in the division, bare minimum.

Bonus points for those who pick the correct places for all teams in the NL West.  Feel free to make other predictions as well:  World Series Champion, injuries, Wild Cards or whatever else you want.

I want you to really reach down into your psychic core and connect with the future.  Meditate on your prediction then post it.  It's that easy.

Here's my prediction:

Padres 83 Wins / 4th Place

The game starts at 7:05 pm PST.  It will also be televised on Channel 4.

I've been staring at the screen for about 15 minutes with absolutely nothing interesting to write, so you're on your own.

MB over at Friar Forecast points out that voting has started on the Great Clutch Project. So, who's clutch for us? Off the top of my head, I'd say Hairston and Bard. I'm thinking those are guys that show up significantly better in my own mind's loose definition of "clutch" situations. Make your votes and FanGraphs will be tracking the guy that fans vote is the clutch guy for the Padres.

Everybody loves the Lineup Game. Given that Edmonds doesn't look likely for Opening Day, what do you think will be our lineup to start the season? Here's my guess...

Giles
Iguchi
A-Go
Kouz
Hairston (LF)
Gerut (CF)
Khalil
Bard

Mostly because Khalil sucks ass right now. Poor guy. Also, is there a chance that Headley could actually see opening day on the roster?

Let's just play him then. Come on.

I was on the BlogTalkRadio show last night, and let me tell you... I was terrible. I'm not sure why I even do these things, other than I kinda like to embarrass myself because later on, I think it's funny.

True story. The ringtone on my phone is a clip of the song Drive, by the Cars, as performed by Julio Iglesias. What you hear on this video from :20 to about :25 is exactly what happens when somebody calls me:

Why do I have that as my ring tone? It's because I figured there would be times when I'd forget to turn my ringer off while in a potentially embarrassing place (work, class, courtroom, gay bar). When Julio would start singing, I'd turn red in the face, but oh what a laugh I'd have to myself later!

I think you can listen to it here. I should've done the whole thing in a really heavy Filipino accent. I feel so much more comfortable that way.

Are you guys tired of Spring Training? Me too. Seriously, it's taking forever and I'm not sure that I'm learning anything new about the team. I've taken to barely even paying attention to the Spring Training games as we finish out the month.

Nothing surprises me anymore and I can only assume that decisions are being made by people brighter than me. I think we all saw a Jim Edmonds injury coming sooner or later and lo it has come to pass. What I figured that meant was that either Matt Antonelli or Chase Headley would be getting big league action to start the season. It seemed so clear to me, and yet neither Headley nor Antonelli will be around come Opening Day. Rather, we'll get P-Mac, who I still really like, though more in a "buddy who still insists on bringing the beer bong to the dinner party" kind of way. And we'll get Gerut, which is good times, but you know... I was kinda on the "excited about the top prospects" bandwagon.

All of which probably puts me in a poor frame of mind for my Treehouse Fort appearance tonight. Treehouse Fort is the podcast equivalent of Matt Sussman's BlogCritics sports show. I'm going to be breakin' it down with Sussman and Tuffy at the Fort and InjuryRate from FanIQ. Tune in if you'd like.

As a crib sheet, I may sneak looks at No Bias Baseball's division preview. They predict the Padres as 4th, but it's a reasonably thought out prediction. Tough to argue with it, which is also why I want the season to just start already. Gotta start underdoggin' our way to the postseason.

Happy Easter!

Luke Easter, San Diego Padre, March 29, 1949
SanDiegoHistory.org

No egg hunt this year, though I'm sure some are left from last year's egg hunt. It's always kinda fun/gross to come across last year's eggs, but I don't think we ever got around to cleaning them up.

Here's some fun reading though... A Lone Star Baller was at the China game and recounts his experience. Some key points:

• The hot dogs were neither hot, nor made of actual dog, which in one way is good, but in the other way, bad. I'll let you decide which is which.
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• Chinese media was more psyched for the Dodgers and Chinese fans were pulling for the Dodgers because they have Asian people on the team. Not even Chinese, just Asian. Just goes to show that even Asian people can't tell Asian people apart.
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• Jet Li threw out the first pitch, and then proceeded to fly around the stadium kicking everyone in the face as he passed by.
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• Lots of little leaguers in the stands, which bodes well for Chinese Baseball in the future.
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• Lots of cheerleaders on the field, which bodes well for the pubescent development of the little leaguers.
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• Between innings, the scoreboard taught the Chinese the basic rules of the game. It was all fine and good until the concept of "outs" came up, at which point the Chinese government censored the video screen and a zeppelin with loudspeakers flew over the stadium, with a voice proclaiming, "NOBODY GETS OUT OF CHINA".
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All in all, I'm glad that baseball was apparently well received (not that the Chinese government would allow us to believe otherwise). It's this kind of stuff that will eventually lead to the fall of communism. Until, of course, the Chinese government learns about revenue sharing and the MLB antitrust exemption, at which point, they'll be all like, "Told you that's the best way to do it."