The annual baseball preview issues are here. We look forward to these every years, especially with the dearth of “real baseball” (as opposed to fantasy) magazines available this year.
Before the days of the Internet, you took what you could get and appreciated it, even if the information was “old” by the time you read it. Obviously there was no was to plug into your RSS feeder and find out the latest trade or tweet that was just posted minutes ago. We were more forgiving if the dope had changed since the magazine hit the newsstand, which we would probably not be today.
In addition to its usual team-by-team scouting reports, Sports Illustrated features a cover story on Albert Pujols (the cover folds out to reveal some interesting data on the new Angel). There’s also a fascinating piece about key players– including Johan Santana, Justin Morneau, Stephen Strasburg, Buster Posey, and Kendrys Morales — coming back from major injury that saw all or part of their 2011 seasons lost. And Jane Leavy’s essay on Mickey Mantle and Boston Red Sox pitcher Frank Sullivan serves as a book excerpt from Damn Yankees: Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World’s Most Loved (and Hated) Team
While the feature stories are quite good, the format of the preview section bothers me for some reason. Usually each team gets an entire page to itself. This time the general text flows from page to page for each division, making it — at least for me — a bit confusing at first, until I realized what was going on stylistically. You’ve been warned. The presentation is also a bit straightforward and, well, dull, with projected starting lineups, rotations, bullpen set-up and closers, and key bench players. Other team items include brief reports from other teams’ scouts, and “modest proposals,” suggestions on how the team could improve. The overall league introductions include best and worst case scenarios for each ball club and project finishes and award winners.
ESPN The Magazine, on the other hand, makes much better use of graphics (the paper stock has also changed over the last few issues to a heavier, glossier product). The cover story features the head-to-head competition between the Giants’ Tim Lincecum and the Dodgers’ Cy Younger winner, Clayton Kershaw, a match-up of aces we haven’t seen since the days of Gibson-Marichal or Seaver-Carlton.
Other features include Steve Wulf’s photo essay, “It’s Good to Be a Tiger”; Lindsay Berra’s examination, as it were, of rotator cuff injuries and how they have traditionally been treated, and Siobhan Morrisey’s profile of Garrett Wittels, a promising college player — he challenged Robin Ventura’s NCAA hitting streak record, coming just two games shy — whose career was derailed by a sexual assault charge which turned out to be false.
The actual preview section — written by Tim Kurkjian and Buster Olney — looks at the teams as they pertain to their ballparks, with simple best/worst case scenarios and which player will move up to the next level (for example, now that the Mets are bringing in their outfield fences, Ike Davis is expected to enjoy a good power year).
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