One Man's Thoughts on Sports Card Collecting

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Announcing the First Annual MLB Prediction Contest!

So I wanted to do something to make the new baseball season a bit more interesting for all of us here in the card blogging community.  After a little thought I came to the conclusion that the best way would be predicting the top performers in MLB this year - we can follow along all season, and at the end we will find out (to steal a line from Bryan Alvarez at F4Wonline.com) "who was a prognosticator, and who was a FOOL~!"

So here's the deal.  All you have to do is pick the playoff teams in both leagues and also who will lead the league in various statistical categories (details below).  I will compile all the entries into a page on my blog so everyone can view it throughout the year.  There will be TWO prizes - one for the points leader at the All-Star Break, and a grand prize for the leader at the end of the season.  I don't know exactly what the prize will be yet, but rest assured there will be multiple auto, patch, and/or other "hit" cards involved.  I plan on putting up my own predictions to play along, but my score won't count as far as winning the prizes is concerned.

Here are the rules:
1.) Pick the 6 Division Champions and 4 Wild Card winners (remember there are 2 Wild Cards in each league now).  Each correct guess earns 10 points.  If you pick a team to win their Division and they win the Wild Card instead (or vice versa) you receive 5 points.  For purposes of determining the All-Star Break prize winner, we will use which teams would make the playoffs if the season ended that day.

2.) Pick who will lead ALL of MLB (not just the AL or NL) in each of the following categories.  A correct pick earns 10 points.  If the player finishes 2nd-5th in the league you get 5 points.  Finishing 6th-10th earns 2 points.
Hitting Categories:
-Batting Average
-Home Runs
-RBIs
-Runs scored
-Stolen Bases
Pitching Categories:
-Wins
-ERA
-Strikeouts
-Saves
-Holds

For the Batting Average and ERA categories the player has to qualify for the league title to count.

3.) At the All-Star Break, you are allowed to change any ONE pick to a different choice.

That's it!  To enter, either post your choices in the comments section of this post, or else you can email your picks to me.  All entries must be received by 11:59pm on April 3rd.  If you like the contest, please spread the word by posting a link on your blog - the more entries we get, the merrier!

Good Luck and Go Brewers!

8 comments:

  1. Diamondbacks
    Reds
    Braves
    Phillies (WC)
    Cardinals (WC)

    Angels
    Tigers
    Red Sox
    Yankees (WC)
    Rangers (WC)

    Hitting Categories:
    -Batting Average (Adrian Gonzalez)
    -Home Runs (Matt Kemp)
    -RBIs (Prince Fielder)
    -Runs scored (Curtis Granderson)
    -Stolen Bases (Dee Gordon)

    Pitching Categories:
    -Wins (Justin Verlander)
    -ERA (Clayton Kershaw)
    -Strikeouts (Clayton Kershaw)
    -Saves (Craig Kimbrel)
    -Holds (Jonny Venters)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Giants
    Brewers
    Phillies
    Braves (WC)
    Cardinals (WC)

    Angels
    Tigers
    Yankees
    Rays (WC)
    Red Sox (WC)

    Hitting Categories:
    -Batting Average (Michael Young)
    -Home Runs (Mark Teixeira)
    -RBIs (Albert Pujols)
    -Runs scored (Curtis Granderson)
    -Stolen Bases (Michael Bourn)

    Pitching Categories:
    -Wins (Roy Halladay)
    -ERA (King Felix)
    -Strikeouts (Justin Verlander)
    -Saves (Jordan Walden)
    -Holds (David Robertson)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Giants
    Reds
    Phillies
    Nationals (WC)
    Braves (WC)

    Rays
    Tigers
    Rangers
    Yankees (WC)
    Angels (WC)

    Hitting Categories:
    -Batting Average: Joe Mauer
    -Home Runs: Joey Votto
    -RBIs: Prince Fielder
    -Runs scored: Curtis Granderson
    -Stolen Bases: Brett Gardner
    Pitching Categories:
    -Wins: Justin Verlander
    -ERA: Clayton Kershaw
    -Strikeouts: Tim Lincecum
    -Saves: Heath Bell
    -Holds: Daniel Bard

    ReplyDelete
  4. Boston
    Detroit
    Texas
    Yankees (WC)
    Tampa Bay (WC)

    Philly
    Milwaukee
    Dodgers
    Arizona (WC)
    Cincinatti (WC)

    Hitting Categories:
    -Batting Average: Matt Kemp
    -Home Runs: Albert Puj-ass-ols
    -RBIs: Curtis Granderson
    -Runs scored:Curtis Granderson
    -Stolen Bases: Michael Bourn

    Pitching Categories:
    -Wins: Ian Kennedy
    -ERA: Justin Verlander
    -Strikeouts: Tim Lincecum
    -Saves: Axford
    -Holds: Sean Marshall

    ReplyDelete
  5. NL Playoff teams:

    Philadelphia
    San Francisco
    Cincinnati
    Miami (WC)
    Atlanta (WC)

    AL Playoff Teams:

    L A Angels
    Detroit
    N Y Yankees
    Texas (WC)
    Boston (WC)

    MLB Player Awards (Pitching):

    Wins: Justin Verlander
    ERA: Clayton Kershaw
    Strikeouts: Justin Verlander
    Saves: Jose Valverde
    Holds: Johnny Venters

    MLB Player Awards (Hitting):

    BA: Miguel Cabrera
    HR's: Jose Bautista
    RBI's: Prince Fielder
    RS: Miguel Cabrera
    SB: Mike Bourn

    ReplyDelete
  6. AL East: Yankees
    AL Central: Tigers
    AL West: Angels
    WC: Rangers
    WC: Red Sox

    NL East: Phillies
    NL Central: Reds
    NL West: Giants
    WC: Braves
    WC: Diamondbacks

    Hitting Categories
    Batting Average: Miguel Cabrera
    Home Runs: Matt Kemp
    RBIs: Adrian Gonzalez
    Runs scored: Curtis Granderson
    Stolen Bases: Michael Bourn
    Pitching Categories

    Wins: Justin Verlander
    ERA: Roy Halladay
    Strikeouts: Justin Verlander
    Saves: Heath Bell
    Holds: Tyler Clippard

    ReplyDelete
  7. Phillies
    Cardinals
    Dodgers
    Diamondbacks (WC)
    Reds (WC)

    Angels
    Tigers
    Rays
    Yankees (WC)
    Rangers (WC)

    Hitting Categories:
    -Batting Average (Albert Pujols)
    -Home Runs (G. Stanton)
    -RBIs (Albert Pujols)
    -Runs scored (Ian Kinsler)
    -Stolen Bases (E. Bonifacio)

    Pitching Categories:
    -Wins (Dan Haren)
    -ERA (Jered Weaver)
    -Strikeouts (Lincecum)
    -Saves (Jordan Walden)
    -Holds (Scott Downs)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm in.

    AL East: Yankees
    AL Central: Tigers
    AL West: Rangers
    Wildcards: Angels, Rays

    NL East: Phillies
    NL Central: Pirates
    NL West: Dodgers
    Wildcards: Cardinals, Giants

    AVG: Miguel Cabrera
    HR: Jose Bautista
    RBIs: Matt Kemp
    Runs: Elvis Andrus
    SB: Michael Bourn

    Wins: Justin Verlander
    ERA: Clayton Kershaw
    SO: Clayton Kershaw
    Saves: Craig Kimbrel
    Holds: Mike Adams

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete