9)Seven championships and counting. How about eight?
No more Manny antics is a good thing. No more Manny bat? Er, not so much. This year we're hanging our hopes on the delicate labrums of our pitchers. The good news? We've got a ton of 'em, and they're really, really good. Josh Beckett and Jon Lester are about the best one-two you could hope for. Dice-K was just named the MVP of the WBC. John Smoltz and Brad Penny are no slouches either, and if they don't happen to work out, Clay Buchholz, whose monster spring has been better than anyone could've hoped, will be just 46.2 miles away in Pawtucket. The bullpen is deep, too. With luck, even just a serviceable offense should be enough to keep us in contention. Again.
Mike Miliard can be reached at mmiliard@phx.com.
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