Contest #1: ‘Homers’ Test: Name your team, their season record, will they make the playoffs, if so, how far will they go, reason for how well or poorly they’ll do this year. Specifics!
Four of you – Jeff Friedman (Red Sox), Joe Higdon (Nats), Dawn Wilson (Da Bums), Nicholas Lamont (Pirates) got your favorite team’s record exactly.
Joe Higdon Wins with his Nats’ 72-90 record and his reasoning: mediocre pitching, weak hitters, lousy bull pen and weak bench. He can attend a Nats’ game with me in 2027 or get one of Joe Posnanski’s wonderful books on baseball: Why We Love Baseball or The Baseball 100.
Contest #2: ABS (robo-umpiring). How will that affect the 2026 season?
According to AI, there were 10,557 challenges, 53.9% were overturned, 53.8% were correct. Catchers were better than batters at their challenges. Overall low impact on the games. Added less than a minute per game. Challenges declined in late innings, largely due to the restriction of two missed challenges.
Five of you were close in your reasoning: Ben Senturia, Nick Fels, Joe Higdon, Bill B, and Jeff Friedman .
Jeff Friedman Wins: “Manager ejections will plummet, the new system will be easy to implement, at least two games’ outcomes will clearly hinge on the systems implementation, several important calls will be corrected in the post season, and pretty much everyone will think that ABS is an improvement. By the end of the season, the primary topic of conversation about ABS will be “why on earth did MLB not implement this sooner?”
Jeff can attend a Nats’ game with me in 2027 or get one of Joe Posnanski’s wonderful books on baseball: Why We Love Baseball or The Baseball 100.
Contest # 3:
a. Will any pitcher win 20 games: NO;
b. Will anyone hit more than 61 HRS: NO (Cal Releigh hit 60);
c. Will the National League win the All-Star game again: NO;
d. Will any team win more than 100 games: YES, (Brewers won 103);
e. Will any team lose more than 100 games: YES (Rockies lost 104);
f. Will any pitcher throw a no-hitter: N0 (there was a combined pitching no-hitter).
Three of you got five of the six right: Ron D., Brian Steibach., & Ed Scholl.
Brian Steinbach wins out over Ron Davis by getting his answer in a day earlier and can attend a Nats’ game with me in 2027 or get one of Joe Posnanski’s wonderful books on baseball: Why We Love Baseball or The Baseball 100.
Contest # 4: Which four teams reach the League Championship Series; Which two teams will go to the WS; Which team will win the WS, How many games will the WS go; Specific reason for the win.
Brian Steinbach gets his second win and can go to two games with me in 2026 or one game and get one book.
Contest #5: Make ONE Bold prediction about the 2026 season:
Lots of creative answers, none of which came true.
Thus, NO WINNER !!
