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.

Get ready for opening day with the Mitchell & Ness MLB Hot Corner Hoody!

There are names in professional sports which are considered to be synonymous with greatness. In baseball, there are quite a few which come to mind. Amongst them, Mickey Mantle. On March 1, 1969, Mickey Mantle retired from baseball after an 18-year storied career filled with awards and achievements.

Here are just a few of the great moments throughout his career...enjoy!

Mickey Mantle walking off field during his rookie season in 1951. 
Mantle sported jersey #6 for just a short period of time before being sent down to the Kansas City Blues. 
He returned to the Yankees 40 games later, wearing #7.

In 1953, Mickey's 546' shot coined the term 'tape-measure home run'. 

Mantle showing off where he had dented the ball with the record-breaking shot.

On May 14, 1967, The Mick hits his 500th career home run off of Baltimore Oriole's pitcher, Stu Miller.

Check out our latest edition to the Mitchell & Ness MLB Collection!

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“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: