Igor's Mudcats Welcomes...

baseball has finally arrived. i've started to question whether i'm actually seasonally affected with depression or perhaps the DSM might want to give a look into "the lack of baseball" affected depression. regardless, i avidly awaited the first day of spring training, thought it wasn't televised- i knew. i could smell it in the air. i could feel it in the air. and just like that- all of life's little problems seemed to drift away. watching a ballgame many years ago, a friend of mine mentioned that there isn't anything more perfect than a ballgame. i concur.

this past friday, the first televised spring training aired on espn. the braves and the dodgers. i had envisioned an afternoon of beer drinking, shit talking, and screaming at a television in a local bar, but due to a previous late night- i decided to do all of the following at home with the excellent technology of email and text message available to me. i also decided that watching a ball game would be the perfect time to set up my fantasy baseball team. tim's team had been assigned within a day, so i ranked my picks for the 2008 season. my team didn't get assigned until this morning and the anticipation was excruciating. igor's mudcats for the past couple of years have fared well. my first year almost (yes, almost)coming in #1 and last year falling somewhere near #6 or 7. i was hell bent that this year would be our year. so i unveil a few of our star pitchers for this year:


Johan Santana (take that!)









C.C. Sabathia









Jonathan Papelbon














i have an excellent feeling about this season, as i round out my pitching staff with some others: cordero, glavine, maddux, okajima, blanton and garza. i never miss an opportunity to have "the professor" on my team...nor do i miss a chance to put him on a team with some of his old teammates.

other than pitching...posada, saltalamacchia, kelly johnson, josh fields, yunel escobar, francoeur, raul ibanez, griffey, loney, cuddyer, rasmus, and theriot.

i must warn the players above...there might be changes before the start of the season, no hard feelings.