3-0, 198 to go

Micah Hoffpauir (pronounced Hoff-POWER, as in he hit 25 HR at AAA Iowa last year) celebrates his grand slam in the Cubs' first spring training game.

The Cubs are 3-0 in spring training, posting 5-3, 7-4 and 10-4 victories. They are clearly a runaway victory train; a true juggernaut that can't be stopped. Joey Gathright is 3-3, Micah Hoffpauir has two home runs and seven RBI, and Ryan Theriot is batting .571. With additional contributions from players such as Jeff Stevens, Mark Johnson and Doug Deeds (seriously), this is a team so laden with talent from top to bottom that the "W" flag may spend the entire season atop Wrigley's flag pole.

PREDICTION: The Cubs will go undefeated in spring training, and then go 162-0 in the regular season. This is my first Cubs prediction of the year, and I have to admit: I feel pretty good about it. The Cubs finished 97-64 in 2008, and I think if a few more hits fall in and a few more calls go their way, they could easily add 65 victories to this season's total. For the record, this would result in a combined spring + regular season record of 201-0.

Some may say this prediction is overly bold, or even stupid, or perhaps completely asinine and ridiculous. Some may say this prediction undermines my status as a Cubs analyst, throws my baseball acumen into question, and casts doubt on my general mental competency. Some may think this prediction premature, or baseless, or dismiss it as a comical take on a small sampling of meaningless spring training games. To those people I say: good points.