My World Series pick is already looking bad as the Detroit Tigers (0-4) lost their fourth straight game to start the season on Friday night. It brings up the question of how important is it to get off to a solid start?  Baseball is a long season, so there is always time to turn things around.  We need to look no further than some of the Reds' seasons over the past 20 years to find examples to support both sides of the argument:

GOOD STARTS

1990
Won first 9 games (18-6 in April); Team was in 1st place for 156 days

2002
15-9, including 7-0 wining streak at end of the month, but finished with just 79 wins

2006
16-7 during the season’s first month, stayed in the race until the end, but fell out of the race w/2-8 West Coast swing in late August

BAD STARTS

1995
Started year 1-8, but finished with 85 wins and won division

1999
10-14  in April, but followed it up with a 17-9 May on their to 96 wins

2007
Won 4 of their first 5, including Opening Day. However, they would go 14-32 over their next 46 games and fall out of the race by Memorial Day