Monday, April 19, 2004
So, no one has given me any predictions for the league yet. With that in mind, I'm going to put to use a set of Baseball Tarot Cards given to me by my buddy John Johnston in Erie last Saturday. Using one of the suggested layouts for short readings, the Pitch and Swing, I will give my predictions for each team this season. The Pitch represents the situation faced and the Swing represents the best course of action. If there are any requests for a more-detailed full reading, I'll be glad to do one.
First, the NL No Glory...
Dancin' Homers (Mike)
the Pitch: VI The Team
the Swing: Six of Mitts (Nostalgia)
The Team represents personal relationships. The Six of Mitts represents a love of the past. The Pitch is right on. After being the team that has kept the longest relationship with its players, the Homers have gone through a major transformation this past off-season, losing long time players Kevin Brown, Javier Vazquez, Tom Glavine, and Pat Burrell. Mike also had to make a decision on Trevor Hoffman and he probably wonders for how long Sammy Sosa will continue to succeed. It's a year of turmoil and transition and a good Swing would mean to keep good memories of his departed players but not get hurt by his own nostalgic impulses.
Rabid Woofers (Slave)
the Pitch: Eight of Balls (Choke)
the Swing: Eleven of Bases (Steal)
The Eight of Balls represents the pressure of everyone watching you. The Eleven of Bases is making a commitment to a course of action and the act itself is its own reward. The Pitch is clear, the Rabid Woofers are coming off not only their first No Glory championship but a World Championship, despite being only the fourth best team in the league last season. The pressure is on him to prove it wasn't a fluke. The Swing tells Slave to keep taking risks and to go with his gut, and he will gain reward even if it fails.
Soko Atarijin (Randy)
the Pitch: Four of Bases (Hugging the Base)
the Swing: MVP of Mitts (Accomplishments of the Heart and Spirit)
The Four of Bases represents ensuring security, clinging to safety, and possibly missing new opportunities. The MVP of Mitts represents a spirtual sense of connection. The Pitch clearly represents that the Atarijin are certainly a team that looks to the past in making its roster decisions, almost to a cartoonish extreme at times. But the Swing implies that by looking for accomplishments not related to wins and losses, Randy can have great success this year.
Gas House Gang (Ken)
the Pitch: Three of Bases (Safe)
the Swing: Three of Balls (Shake-Off)
The Three of Bases represents arriving and that you are doing well. The Three of Balls represents admitting unhappiness, the moment when you recognize something is wrong and needs to be changed. The Pitch seems to be saying that the Gang, who had their best season last year, are up in the top of the division and look to be competitive for the future. But the Swing is challenging Ken to notice when there is a problem this season, and to correct it quickly. Last year, with one of the league's best players, Javy Lopez, on the bench all year, a Shake-Off of the decision to start Mike Lieberthal might have led to a championship for the Gang.
Cholesterol Kings (Carl)
the Pitch: Eleven of Balls (No-Hitter)
the Swing: Three of Mitts (Triple Play)
The Eleven of Balls represents determined attention. The Three of Mitts represents celebrating cooperation. For the Kings, the Pitch is a situation of having a tremendously skilled team but a question of having the determination to use that skill to its fullest. Carl's very busy with other things in his life. Will he have the determination and attention to take advantage of the last years of a great player's career? The Swing recommends team work as being the solution. If Carl is too busy to worry about his team, maybe a friend of his could help him out by keeping an eye on things, and together they can win the championship.
Crooked K's (Lou)
the Pitch: Eleven of Mitts (Signs)
the Swing: Three of Mitts (Triple Play)
The Eleven of Mitts represents deepening understanding. The Three of Mitts represents celebrating cooperation. This is a very similar reading to the Cholesterol Kings. The Pitch for the K's is a situation of awareness of the signals and information that is available. Lou can often disappear off the face of the earth and not be aware of what is going on with his team, not getting reports, sending in lineups, etc. The Swing for Lou suggests cooperation. He is already partnering with his brother Byrd to take over his AL team, and Byrd seems up to the task. Maybe Byrd could also help Lou stay on top of the K's and remain competitive.
Autoexec.Bastmen (Jeff)
the Pitch: The Six of Balls (Fastball)
the Swing: The Eight of Bats (Batter Up)
The Six of Balls represents represents positive movement, mental clarity to cut through confusion. The Eight of Bats represents speedy movement, an invitation to opportunity. The Pitch for the Batsmen this year seems to imply that Jeff is really getting a grasp for the game, his team, and for baseball. Jeff has worked very hard to catch up to a level of clarity that the rest of us have had driven into us over the years. With that understanding arriving, the Swing suggests that Jeff take this opportunity to go beyond the past anticipation, planning for future competition, and go for it all this season.
Smoking Guns (Matt)
the Pitch: XV The Goat
the Swing: The Twelve of Mitts (Circus Catch)
The Goat represents doubt, pessimism, stagnation, sense of having no options, a "bad attitude". The Twelve of Mitts represents following dreams, reaching for a seemingly impossible goal. The Guns Pitch is a seemingly bad situation and the Guns finishing in last place for many years seems to back that up. But the Goat is also a great climber, even in the rockiest of situations. The Swing tells Matt that though things seem dark, keep trying for that goal that seems out of reach and you might be surprised at what happens.
Predicted Orders of Finish based on the Baseball Tarot
The Kruk
Autoexec.Batsmen
Cholesterol Kings
Dancin' Homers
Soko Atarijin
The Kerfeld
Gas House Gang
Rabid Woofers
Smoking Guns
Crooked K's
First, the NL No Glory...
Dancin' Homers (Mike)
the Pitch: VI The Team
the Swing: Six of Mitts (Nostalgia)
The Team represents personal relationships. The Six of Mitts represents a love of the past. The Pitch is right on. After being the team that has kept the longest relationship with its players, the Homers have gone through a major transformation this past off-season, losing long time players Kevin Brown, Javier Vazquez, Tom Glavine, and Pat Burrell. Mike also had to make a decision on Trevor Hoffman and he probably wonders for how long Sammy Sosa will continue to succeed. It's a year of turmoil and transition and a good Swing would mean to keep good memories of his departed players but not get hurt by his own nostalgic impulses.
Rabid Woofers (Slave)
the Pitch: Eight of Balls (Choke)
the Swing: Eleven of Bases (Steal)
The Eight of Balls represents the pressure of everyone watching you. The Eleven of Bases is making a commitment to a course of action and the act itself is its own reward. The Pitch is clear, the Rabid Woofers are coming off not only their first No Glory championship but a World Championship, despite being only the fourth best team in the league last season. The pressure is on him to prove it wasn't a fluke. The Swing tells Slave to keep taking risks and to go with his gut, and he will gain reward even if it fails.
Soko Atarijin (Randy)
the Pitch: Four of Bases (Hugging the Base)
the Swing: MVP of Mitts (Accomplishments of the Heart and Spirit)
The Four of Bases represents ensuring security, clinging to safety, and possibly missing new opportunities. The MVP of Mitts represents a spirtual sense of connection. The Pitch clearly represents that the Atarijin are certainly a team that looks to the past in making its roster decisions, almost to a cartoonish extreme at times. But the Swing implies that by looking for accomplishments not related to wins and losses, Randy can have great success this year.
Gas House Gang (Ken)
the Pitch: Three of Bases (Safe)
the Swing: Three of Balls (Shake-Off)
The Three of Bases represents arriving and that you are doing well. The Three of Balls represents admitting unhappiness, the moment when you recognize something is wrong and needs to be changed. The Pitch seems to be saying that the Gang, who had their best season last year, are up in the top of the division and look to be competitive for the future. But the Swing is challenging Ken to notice when there is a problem this season, and to correct it quickly. Last year, with one of the league's best players, Javy Lopez, on the bench all year, a Shake-Off of the decision to start Mike Lieberthal might have led to a championship for the Gang.
Cholesterol Kings (Carl)
the Pitch: Eleven of Balls (No-Hitter)
the Swing: Three of Mitts (Triple Play)
The Eleven of Balls represents determined attention. The Three of Mitts represents celebrating cooperation. For the Kings, the Pitch is a situation of having a tremendously skilled team but a question of having the determination to use that skill to its fullest. Carl's very busy with other things in his life. Will he have the determination and attention to take advantage of the last years of a great player's career? The Swing recommends team work as being the solution. If Carl is too busy to worry about his team, maybe a friend of his could help him out by keeping an eye on things, and together they can win the championship.
Crooked K's (Lou)
the Pitch: Eleven of Mitts (Signs)
the Swing: Three of Mitts (Triple Play)
The Eleven of Mitts represents deepening understanding. The Three of Mitts represents celebrating cooperation. This is a very similar reading to the Cholesterol Kings. The Pitch for the K's is a situation of awareness of the signals and information that is available. Lou can often disappear off the face of the earth and not be aware of what is going on with his team, not getting reports, sending in lineups, etc. The Swing for Lou suggests cooperation. He is already partnering with his brother Byrd to take over his AL team, and Byrd seems up to the task. Maybe Byrd could also help Lou stay on top of the K's and remain competitive.
Autoexec.Bastmen (Jeff)
the Pitch: The Six of Balls (Fastball)
the Swing: The Eight of Bats (Batter Up)
The Six of Balls represents represents positive movement, mental clarity to cut through confusion. The Eight of Bats represents speedy movement, an invitation to opportunity. The Pitch for the Batsmen this year seems to imply that Jeff is really getting a grasp for the game, his team, and for baseball. Jeff has worked very hard to catch up to a level of clarity that the rest of us have had driven into us over the years. With that understanding arriving, the Swing suggests that Jeff take this opportunity to go beyond the past anticipation, planning for future competition, and go for it all this season.
Smoking Guns (Matt)
the Pitch: XV The Goat
the Swing: The Twelve of Mitts (Circus Catch)
The Goat represents doubt, pessimism, stagnation, sense of having no options, a "bad attitude". The Twelve of Mitts represents following dreams, reaching for a seemingly impossible goal. The Guns Pitch is a seemingly bad situation and the Guns finishing in last place for many years seems to back that up. But the Goat is also a great climber, even in the rockiest of situations. The Swing tells Matt that though things seem dark, keep trying for that goal that seems out of reach and you might be surprised at what happens.
Predicted Orders of Finish based on the Baseball Tarot
The Kruk
Autoexec.Batsmen
Cholesterol Kings
Dancin' Homers
Soko Atarijin
The Kerfeld
Gas House Gang
Rabid Woofers
Smoking Guns
Crooked K's
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