So now the calendar turns to April, which means spring is here. The weather is getting warmer and the boys of summer now have the main stage in the sports world. This also happens to be my favorite time of the sports year. Baseball is back.

First let's talk about teams that have gotten off to good starts. Although we are just a week in, I don't think anybody thought the Baltimore Orioles would get off to such a torrid start. They basically dumped payroll and traded away two legitimate all-stars for prospects as they start to rebuild for the future. The Chicago White Sox are also off to a great start as they find themselves in first place in the early going. They were slated to finish somewhere in the middle of the pack, but the off season acquisition of Nick Swisher and solid pitching out of the gate has Southside fans feeling optimistic. Not to be upstaged by the Sox, the Chicago Cubs have been making so early noise as Kosuke Fukudome has become an instant hit with fans on the Northside as he acclimates himself to life in the States. He is hitting .458 and merchandise with his likeness is selling like hotcakes. That Central Division looks like it is going to be a dogfight all year, because The Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals aren't just going to hand it over to the Cubs.

Now the teams that came into the season with really high expectations like the Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners they have gotten off to really slow starts, some of it has to do with injuries like the Mets but the Tigers really have no excuse. They are just getting beaten up every night and I mean bad. The hitting is terrible and the pitching is worse. It's early for these teams that are struggling so there's no reason to hit the Panic button yet, but with really high payrolls and through the roof expectations look for fans to get a little restless if things don't turn around rather quickly. I know the fans in New York are already lighting up the sports talk phone lines.