Darrell Moody: Baseball finally gets started for real tonight

My favorite time of the year starts tonight when the Cubs and Cardinals kick off the 2015 Major League season.

While I’m not wild about playing games on Easter Sunday, I’m anxious to see if the Giants can break out of their even-year World Series success and win a title in an odd year.

The Giants were pretty quiet during the off-season, picking up outfielder Nori Aoki from the Royals and third baseman Casey McGehee. The team is counting more on Matt Cain and Angel Pagan to come back from injuries and have great seasons. Both are vital to any long-term success. Another key is how well the Giants hold up until Hunter Pence returns from a broken bone suffered after being hit by a pitch in a preseason game.

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The Athletics made plenty of moves in the off-season, but I believe they will have trouble replacing Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss. I like the addition of Ben Zobrist, who can play five or six positions, and DH Billy Butler, who I think will have a comeback season. Can Coco Crisp, Craig Gentry and Sam Fuld give Oakland something more than speed in the outfield?

I think the Athletics will finish second or third in the AL West and miss the playoffs.

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My predictions for the coming season: AL East: Red Sox; AL West: Angels; AL Central: Royals; NL West: Giants; NL Central: Cardinals; NL East: Nationals. No real surprises. I do think on paper the Dodgers are a better team than the Giants, but a Giants fan can never pick the Dodgers.

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I watched the Lady Senators play on Friday afternoon, and I think with some hard work over the summer, they can be competitive next spring. It’s a young team and young teams are prone to make a lot of mistakes, and the Senators have made more than their share thus far.

Carson was the victim of two officiating mistakes, though neither had any outcome on the result of the game. Carson trailed 11-0 after three to Reno, and the plate umpire called the game, thinking four innings had been played. When there isn’t a scoreboard to refer to, umpires are supposed to be checking with team scorekeepers. In a loss to James Logan, the umpires allowed a girl who had already been inserted as a courtesy runner to later hit in the same half inning. The girl hit a two-run single, increasing Logan’s lead from 3-0 to 5-0. The interpretation given to assistant coach Scott Vickrey was incorrect. Head coach Shane Quilling was told on Saturday the officials had indeed erred.

Officials are human. Coaches need to know the rules, too, and should review the rule book prior to every season.

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Carson’s baseball team is plugging away and currently sits at 6-5 at the halfway point of the season, including Saturday’s upset of previously unbeaten Manogue. The team has some good wins in recent days (Spanish Springs and Manogue), and I remember telling somebody that if Carson could steal a win or two against Reno, Spanish Springs or Manogue, it might be able to sneak into the first division.

I don’t think there;s a world of difference between first and fifth place this year. Damonte, providing it won on Saturday, is the only unbeaten team right now.

Carson plays Manogue on Monday, and I would throw the kitchen sink at the Miners in an effort to sweep the series.

The upcoming tournament at Bishop Gorman is nonleague and doesn’t mean squat. The Manogue game is much more important.