Review: Athlon Sports Baseball Annual

February 15, 2008

You know the season is just around the corner when the baseball annuals hit the newsstands. When I first developed an interest for the game, back in the mid 1960s, Street and Smith‘s — Likes Topps baseball cards — was the only game in town.

Since then — again like Topps — other publications have come and gone, with a few, like Athlon, still going strong. Of course the Internet has made print versions almost anachronistic. By the time spring training is over, a fair portion of the information will be no longer be valid, in part due to trades or injuries (or Senate investigations).

Athlon puts out a slick product. These days, publishers print regional covers so my area gets David Wright and Derek Jeter, while Chicago would highlight comparable stars of the Cubs and White Sox.

Every annual contains certain similar information: schedules, the previous year’s stats, a recap/preview of the overall minor league (and perhaps college) picture and top prospects, as well as a brief fantasy component. Each also has its own version of rosters and capsule reports for all the major league teams, with some analysis of how the big club is set at their positions. For example, Athlon examines each team’s starting pitchers, bullpen, middle and corner infielders, outfield, catching, bench and/or DH, management, and a “final analysis.” They predict the team’s starting lineup and rotation. As previously stated, any data can change in a heartbeat with a twisted ankle or surprise mega-deal. There’s also a “beyond the box score” for each team, consisting of bits of trivia.

Speaking of predictions, most publications will stick their necks out by offering their considered opinions about way the 2008 season will play out. Athlon‘s picks Boston, Detroit, and LA to take the American League divisional crowns, with the Yankees as wild card, with the Sox winning the pennant and besting the Arizona Diamondbacks in the World Series. They also pick the MVP (David Ortiz), Cy Young (Justin Verlander), and Rookie of the Year (Jacoby Ellsbury). I believe forecasting how individual players will do is much more problematic than teams.

Over in the NL, it’s Philadelphia, Chicago, and Arizona, with the Dodgers as the wild card. and Ryan Howard as MVP, Brandon Webb as Cy Young winner, and Kosuke Fukudome as ROY. (The fact that Athlon has the Mets slated for third place in the East I attribute to the magazine’s release before the Johann Santana deal. See what I mean? These things are obsolete before the first copy sells. (Speaking of erroneous predictions, read Gregg Easterbrook’s piece on how football pundits got it so wrong in the 2007 season. I know, I know, it’s football, but it’s still relevant.)

So how do you pick which mag to read?Look at the features. Are they original? Entertaining? Stuffy? Repetitious? In-depth? That’s a matter of individual taste.

Athlon‘s feature stories include “Short Hops: Our annual Calendar of the Weird highlights; an affectionate look back at 2007”; “12 Things to Watch in 2008” (Including Joe Torre in Dodgertown, the final seasons of Shea and Yankees Stadiums, and, of course, Roger and Barry); “Young Star on the Rise”; and “Penny Wise Dollar Foolish: A rundown of baseball’s best bargains and biggest financial blunders.” Overall, nothing very original here; all these themes have been covered before. Same stuff, different day.

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