Eternal springing

Every spring brings new paeans to baseball, poetic accounts of the beauty of the new season and hope springing eternal. Forget that. I may not have time next season to write such obligatory nonsense. Baseball should focus on that which remains. Toward that goal:
--A new season will again bring new hope for the Chicago Cubs. Better pitching, fewer cleanup hitters striking out, a more unified clubhouse and quicker outfielders will lead to -- another disappointment. The Cubs no doubt will point to the Red Sox and the 2004 World Series as proof of the possible, and no doubt the Cubs will win again, eventually. However, the smart fans will keep their hopes carefully under control. Leave this prediction forever.
--Players will continue to hit record numbers of home runs. The steroid issue is important as a reminder of how drugs will make people stupid, but all Americans are bigger every year -- even the ones who use food as their primary addiction. Meanwhile, the baseball stays the same size. Regardless of whether fans should like home runs, the fact is they do. Baseball will keep using tightly wound balls, Minute Maid (Minute Made?) Park, extra batting practice and timid pitching. The home run is here for good. Leave this prediction forever (or at least until good sense makes its arrival in Houston -- i.e., forever).
--Veteran players will set amazing new records. Some new Clemons, Henderson, Furcal, Finley, Bonds type star will embarrass much younger opponents with a combination of savvy and surprising strength for such an old guy. To some extent, this expansion of opportunities for 40-year-olds is a function of the expansion of the major leagues. More teams need more players, and a few old guys stick around longer than they would have, and baseball is enough about luck, that a few of those old guys have great years. Mostly the change is about better medicine, better training and better pay, all of which minimize the aches. Partly this phenomenon is about intelligence. Baseball players rely mostly on instinct and reflexes, but part of the game is thinking. As classrooms full of college freshmen prove every year, experience comes with age. Leave this prediction forever.
--Fans will make fools of themselves going after foul balls. Afterward, the souvenirs will gather dust, forgotten, until some grandchild eventually loses them in the weeds at the edge of the playground in some gathering darkness. Before that happens, though, grown men will leap over seats, dive into concrete steps, screen out children going for rebounds and otherwise act completely goofy while trying to grab some connection with the game. Leave this prediction forever.

Jeff Cox, would-be baseball commissioner, March 10, 2005