You can't walk past a newsstand these days without seeing the smiling faces of the boys of summer .  Every sports publication imaginable is predicting who will win the pennant, who will be the home run king and whose fans will suffer through another long, hot summer.  This tradition of pre-season prognostication has been going on for ages.  While we were checking out a few of this year's editions, we decided to take a look back at some predictions from the past.

Earlier today we pulled out this gem from 1956.

It's the baseball edition of a magazine called True, The Man's Magazine.  Here's their predictions for the 1956 baseball season.

So how'd the folks at True do?  Here's the way the season finished:

American League:

1. Yankees

2. Indians

3. White Sox

4. Red Sox

5. Tigers

6. Orioles

7. Senators

8. KC Athletics

Three for eight.  Not too impressive.

National League:

1. Dodgers

2. Braves

3. Reds

4. Cardinals

5. Phillies

6. Giants

7. Pirates

8. Cubs

Three for eight again.  Not a great year for predictions.

A couple other facts from the 1956 baseball season -

World Series Champions - Yankees

MVP - Mickey Mantle

Cy Young Winner - Don Newcombe

Rookie of the Year - Luis Aparicio

We'll show you predictions from another year in a couple of days, but for now it's your turn. 

Let's start in the west - tell us who you think will win the AL West & NL West?

In case you're wondering, a quick survey of the M&N offices has the Angles and Dodgers at the top.

“People ask me what I do in the winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”
—Rogers Hornsby

Pitchers and catchers are reporting to spring training today and following closely behind are the positon players, who are required to report in two weeks. We thought we'd kick off the beginning of spring training with the release of the Mitchell & Ness No Hitter Tee! Check out some of your favorite teams below:

We love it when the legends of the game speak out on the current state of affairs. No need to tell you what they're talking about.  You know.

First was Carlton Fisk.

"There's a reason they call it performance-enhancing drugs. That's what it does — performance enhancement. You can be good, but it's going to make you better. You can be average, but it is going to make you good. If you are below average, it is going to make you average.

Carlton Fisk on Mark McGwire

Now Ferguson Jenkins.

"It's tough to hit a home run off your back," Jenkins said. "In my era, Seaver, Gibson, Drysdale, Carlton, there were so many guys that would have probably knocked him on his butt. He wouldn't have hit home runs the way he did in that era."

Ferguson Jenkins on Mark McGwire

Keep talking guys.  Your opinions matter and your voices should be heard. 

Are you as surprised as we are?  Of the 26 eligible candidates only Andre Dawson is headed to Cooperstown.  Congratulations to Andre.  He was definitely on our list.  But we're pretty shocked about Roberto Alomar, Bert Blyleven, Lee Smith and a few others.  How about you?

Here are a few of Andre's jerseys that we currently make.  We will also have his 1987 road Cubs jersey available in time for his induction this summer.

Hall of Famer Bob Gibson was born on November 9, 1935 in Omaha, Nebraska.  If you know a little bit about baseball you probably know a little bit about Bob. 

Here's some stuff that you might already know about Bob:

•   A two time Cy Young winner, Gibson recieved the award in 1968 and 1970.
•   In 1968 Gibson was also named National League MVP.
•   He was the World Series MVP twice - 1964 & 1967
•   Bob was a 20 game winner five times in his MLB career.
•   He recieved nine Gold Glove Awards
•   Spent his entire 17 year career with teh St. Louis Cardinals
  
•   He attended Creighton University on a basketball and baseball scholarship

  

Now here's something that you might not know about Bob.  While he was playing basketball at Creighton he participated in a college All Star Game against the Harlem Globetrotters.  As you probably know the Globetrotters win almost every one of their games.  Well they obviously had never come up against Bob Gibson before.  Bob didn't get a minute of playing time until the 4th quarter.  When he finally did step onto the court he put on an amazing display.  Gibson finished the game with 15 points and the All Stars beat the Globetrotters by one.  A very impressed member of the Globetrotters organization approached Gibson about joining the team.  Bob wasn't ready to give up on his baseball dream yet, but he did agree to play for the Globetrotters for one year.  After one season as one of the stars of the Globetrotters, Gibson was certain that it was time to commit full time to baseball and to the Cardinals he went.  The rest, as they say, is history.